Netherlands vs Italy

If you ever wanted to know what a counter attack was, watch this game as the dutch team demonstrate to perfection the meaning of a counter attack. 

Marco van Basten was missing star winger Arjen Robben, while Italy were without their injured inspirational skipper and main defender, Fabio Cannavaro. 

Both teams were lead by their goal keepers, with Netherlands captain Edvin van der Sar, playing in his 125th game, while Itlay`s stand in captain was keeper Gianluigi Buffon, who won the bronze ball in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. 

It was the world champions who made a brighter start with Udinese winger Antonio di Natalie making some good runs down the right flank. 

And the first real chance was also from them. Gattuso`s cross found Luca Toni in the center, just a few yards from goal but the Bayren man headed it wide. 

But then the Netherlands started to get back into the game and in the 18th minute they could have had a penalty. Kyut`s through ball found Ruud van Nistelrooy one on one with Buffon, and in trying to go round him, the Juventus keeper tried to stop the former Manchester United man. IF the 31 year old went down, the refree would have had no choice but to give a spot kick. Instead the Real Madrid striker tried to regain his footing and control the ball. A lot of sportsmen ship from the big dutchman. 

They had another moment soon, when Wesley Sneijder`s free kick was almost headed into his own net by Marco Meterazzi. The man who was famously head-budded by Zinedine Zidane in the World cup final 2 years ago, just managed to head the ball wide of the post.

But 2 minutes later the dead lock was finally broken. Sneijder`s grounded ball was taped in by van Nistelrooy to give Holland the lead. The Italians protested claiming that the goal scorer was offside but the officials did not give in. Replays showed that the striker was indeed offside. Before celebrating his goal, the number 9 even looked at the linesmen to see if he was holding the flag but a controversial goal was given, much to the displeasure of all the ITalian officials and fans. 

The goal seemed to tick off the Italians a bit, and that was shown as Marco van Basten`s side scored another. If there ever for a definition of a "perfect counter attack", this was it. Giovanni van Bronckhorst cleared a conner from Pirlo. Midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart ran with the ball before giving it back to the former Barcelona defender on the left hand side. van Bronckhorst then crossed the ball to the far post for Dirk Kyut who headed it back for Wesley Sneijder, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, and he was given a perfect birthday gift when he scored from a beautiful curling half volley. One of the best goals we have seen all tournament. A finish similar to his manager`s from 20 years ago when Netherlands won their only trophy. 

The 4 time world champions gave the leaders a scare when di Natalie`s shot went between the legs of Khalid Bhaularouz and rolled onto Edvin van der sar. But the Manchester United goal keeper pounced onto the ball to deny the Azzuri a passage back into the game. 

The Euro 1988 winners could have sealed the game 2 minutes from the break when a stunning ball from Van der Vaart found Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the goal scoring machine shot straight onto the legs of the advancing keeper. 

Roberto Donadoni`s team had one last chance to go into the break just one goal down when the Udinese forward`s shot from distance went just above the bar.

Luca Toni finally got a shot on target when he controlled Panucci's pass really well but shot straight at the keeper.

Donadoni had seen enough and brought on Serie A`s top scorer, Alessandro Del Piero for Antonio di Natale. The Juventus forward had a amazing impact on the game, bringing his team back to life. It all started when he curled a right-footer into Van der Sar's arms from just outside the Dutch penalty area.

Making more changes, Italy`s bad boy, Antonio Cassano was sent on to replace Mauro Camoranesi. And it was the Samprodia man`s long ball which found Toni alone with the keeper, 8 yards from goal, but the former Fiorentina striker lobbed it way too much and it went over the bar. 

But the pressure wasent over as another second half sub, Fabio Grosso forced an amazing save from the Dutch skipper.

But just as Italy were uping the tempo, another great counter attack finished off the game. A Andres Pirlo free kick was fisted away by Edvin van der Sar and Sneijder broke and fed Van Bronckhorst who gave it to Kyut on his right. The Liverpool forward tried to chip it but was saved by Buffon. Kyut, who was in the team due to injuries to Robben and Babel, then crossed the ball and the Feyenoord defender made no mistake in heading in his team`s third and killing off the game.

It could have been 4 when PSV Eindhoven youngster Ibrahim Afellay, who came on in the 81st minute, shot from a tight angle on the right. His strike kissed the crossbar as it went just above goal. 

That was about it for both sides. If the first match of the day was the most boring game so far, this was certainly the most exciting contest up till now. Netherlands go on top of the "group of death" but with 2 matches left, it is still anybody`s to win.