Euro 2008 - 6

The clash of the other two teams, Holland and reigning World Cup holders, Italy, in the "Group of Death" saw two fantastic goals and one that will have the pundits frothing at the mouth until the next contentious goal in this tournament.

I missed the first 15 minutes as I was on my way back from training but I saw the first goal for Holland. A corner from the Italian left wasn't dealt with by the goalkeeper Buffon and he also managed to push one of his defenders off the field of play, behind the goal line. As the ball was played back into the Italian goal area, Van Nistelrooy was clearly in an offside position, but sidefooted the ball low and to the left of Buffon. The Assistant referee did not flag and the referee saw no grounds for disallowing the goal but had to issue a caution for dissent. My own thoughts are that the Assistant regarded the Italian defender's apparent reluctance to re-enter the field of play immediately as a deliberate tactic and acted as if the defender was on the field of play, therefore two defenders between RVN's position and the goal line!

The second Holland goal was a lovely piece of teamwork. Van Bronckhorst, having cleared an Italian cross from his own goal line took the ball up the left wing and crossed to Kuyt who headed the back back for Sneijder. He swivelled and struck the ball in between Buffon's outstretched left hand and the near post - pure counter attacking class.

The third Holland goal was another sweeping cross to Kuyt who knocked the ball back for van Bronckhorst who crashed the ball past a defender and goalkeeper to give Holland an unassailable 3-0 lead. The Italians forced Van der Saar into a number of world class saves from various distances but the Holland team moved into pole position in the "Group of Death" - Holland 3-0 Italy.