Netherlands Sprints Out to Victory
The orange fans ruled the stands, and winger Arjen Robben did the same on the field.
The Netherlands relied on the speed of Robben to get an opening 1-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro on Sunday in Leipzig, Germany. The win put the Dutch in first place along with Argentina in Group C, considered to be the toughest of the first round.
Instead of using the counterattack as it promised, Serbia and Montenegro was caught by it. In the 18th minute, Mark van Bommel fed the ball to Robin van Persie and the winger delicately lobbed it over the defense toward Robben.
No one could match Robben’s pace, and despite some desperate tugging at his shirt, the Chelsea player coolly slipped the ball under goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric.
“I was lucky he was on our side today,” Netherlands Coach Marco van Basten said. “We always create a lot of chances but not a lot of goals.”
It was all the Dutch fans needed to start a party, and half the crowd at the 43,000-capacity Zentral Stadion was heaving with orange -- the color of the Dutch shirts.
Besides the goal, Robben was uncatchable under a scorching sun and made sure the opponents always had to keep plenty of people back.
It’s the first time the Netherlands has won a World Cup match by scoring only one goal.
“This is a very important victory,” Netherlands midfielder Phillip Cocu said. “Especially since the Argentines won too.”
The South Americans beat Ivory Coast, 2-1, on Saturday.
It was a bitter blow to Serbia and Montenegro, which had dominated the opening spell, but badly neglected its vaunted defense.
“We make one mistake and we are punished for it,” Serbia and Montenegro Coach Ilija Petkovic said.
Midfielder Ognjen Koroman put the blame on Petkovic.
“I don’t see any logic starting an opener at the World Cup with such a closed formation,” Koroman said. “If we attacked them from the start, we could have scored. We also might have lost by several goals, but at least it wouldn’t be in such a cowardly fashion.”
Portugal 1, Angola 0 -- Luis Figo and Pauleta, both 33, played central roles in guiding Portugal to a Group D victory at Cologne, Germany.
The veterans produced most of the rare flashes of brilliance in a mostly disappointing Portuguese performance.
Pauleta, who has become Portugal’s all-time leading scorer, scored his 47th goal in 83 international appearances in the fourth minute.
Still sharper than many defenders, he tapped in from close range after Figo slalomed through the Angolan defense and drew out the goalkeeper. He came close to scoring two more.
“I wanted that second goal to calm the team down,” Pauleta said. “I’ll be on my toes again in the next game.”
Figo, the team’s most-capped player, was making his 121st appearance for the national team. He took over the vital midfield playmaker role after Deco sat out the match because of an injury.
The Portugal captain was named “Man of the Match” for his inspiring performance, which included berating and encouraging younger members of the team as Portugal lost its fire after a strong start and Angola threatened to tie the score.
When 21-year-old Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted with 30 minutes left to play, Figo was still rallying his team under fierce Angolan pressure.
“It was a tough game. We got off to a strong start but the second half was more evenly balanced,” Figo said. “People had high hopes for us, but we’re not perfect.”
