Netherlands 2-0 Denmark
This game turned out to be a real disappointment. The first half barely kept me awake and the second half was at best a mild improvement. The Dutch are good at passing but if I'm a Netherlands fan I'm starting to worry about another early dismissal in the knockouts. This is the #4 team in the world? I don't doubt they'll emerge from the group with all nine points but they hardly looked like world-beaters. Their defense was fine but I wonder how much of that was Denmark's anemic attack (bizarre fact of the day from Healey and Harkes: Denmark only carry three forwards), and while the offense had a few moments of brilliance they seemed to spend most of the game playing ping-pong. The first goal was a fluky own-goal that really never should have happened; the second was earned (although much more by substitute Eljero Elia, the most dynamic Dutch player on the pitch, than by credited goal scorer Dirk Kuyt, who easily poached the goal after Elia hit the post). All in all I was severely disappointed; even if this game was never going to be the back-and-forth of Ghana-Serbia, at least I hoped the Dutch could run free, but Denmark's packed midfield helped make things boring for everyone. The real question now is who the second team in this group will be; Denmark probably seemed like the favorites coming in, but I'd give Cameroon a very good shot now. Although let's see if they beat Japan in the game that's about to start.
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