- Internationals
- 2 June 2012, 7:00pm
- Amsterdam Arena
Holland | v | N Ireland |
6
| 0 |
live commentary
92 mins:Full Time: Holland 6-0 Northern Ireland. Its all over in Amsterdam! The Dutch were in imperious form as they cruise to victory over a completely outplayed Northern Ireland.
91 mins:The corner comes in and drops for Heitinga but his volleyed effort is scuffed wide.
90 mins:Holland grab a late corner as we move into the two minutes of stoppage time.
88 mins:David Healy registers a shot on target for the visitors but the tame effort is saved by Stekelenburg.
86 mins:Just a few minutes to go now. Van der Vaart tries his luck from range once again but Carroll deals with this effort with relative ease.
84 mins:No signs of any consolation for the visitors. David Healy not had a kick since coming on upfront.
82 mins:Arjen Robben heads for the bench as Luciano Narsingh comes on.
81 mins:David Healy replaces Shane Ferguson.
80 mins:The Amsterdam ArenA is rocking now. The home fans are clearly excited by their side's impressive pre-tournament form.
78 mins:GOAL: HOLLAND 6-0 NORTHERN IRELAND. Afellay delivers a corner and picks out VLAAR who rises above the crowd and powers the header home.
77 mins:Jetro Willems is replaced by Stijn Schaars.
77 mins:Robben steps inside from the left flank but can only send a shot sailing over.
75 mins:So close to six. Van der Vaart unleashes a powerful left-footed drive that thumps back off the post before spinning agonizingly across the goal.
74 mins:Afellay looks to thread the ball through for Kuyt but the pass fails to connect.
73 mins:A prolonged spell of possession play from the Dutch as they work the ball around their back four and midfield.
71 mins:Bert Van Marwijk will be pleased to see Afellay in such good form after a long injury lay-off.
70 mins:Sneijder's work is done as he is replaced by Dirk Kuyt.
69 mins:Carroll makes a hash of a Dutch corner and the ball falls for Vlaar but the defender fails to hit the target. Lucky escape for the veteran keeper.
66 mins:Ferguson is easily beaten by Afellay but this time there's nobody in the middle to convert the low cross.
65 mins:Willems finds Sneijder in the box and the number 10 spins brilliantly only to see his rasping drive fly just wide.
64 mins:Afellay loses possession once again. This time its a poor cross that squanders the ball.
63 mins:Afellay carelessly loses possession inside his own half but the visitors lack the quality to create a scoring chance.
62 mins:Michael Duff is replaced by Rory McArdle.
61 mins:Roy Carroll, once of Man United and now playing for Olympiakos, comes off his line to gather a stray ball from Sneijder.
59 mins:van der Vaart is seeing a lot of the ball in his holding role in midfield. Holland are cruising.
57 mins:Andrew Little is replaced by Nial McGinn.
56 mins:Two changes for the home side. Van der Vaart and Huntelaar come on for van Bommel and van Persie.
55 mins:Despite conceding again, the visitors are remaining more positive but Norwood can't pick out Clingan in the final third.
53 mins:Afellay and van Persie both on a hat-trick now and you wouldn't bet against them getting it in this kind of form.
51 mins:GOAL: HOLLAND 5-0 NORTHERN IRELAND. AFELLAY adds the fifth in spectacular fashion as he rifles a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.
50 mins:Shane Ferguson looks to get in behind Willems but the pacey full-back races back to recover.
49 mins:Better pressing from the visitors after the break. McGivern harries van Der Wiel high up the park and forces the defender to play it back to his keeper.
48 mins:Holland have been impressive so far, but the second half is yet to ignite.
46 mins:The second half begins.
46 mins:Halftime changes: Carroll, McGivern and Carson on for NI with Camp, Lafferty and McCann making way.
45 mins:Halftime: Holland 4-0 Northern Ireland. That's halftime. The home side are in complete control at the Amsterdam ArenA.
43 mins:Just two minutes to go until halftime. Can't imagine many of the Northern Ireland players will be too disappointed to see this half end.
41 mins:Robben looking dangerous once again. This time he plays in van Persie but he uncharacteristically misses from eight yards.
40 mins:Robben steps inside his man on the left hand side before rifling a shot at goal but Camp beats it away.
38 mins:Willems looks as though he has taken a slight knock but will continue regardless. Obviously nothing serious.
37 mins:GOAL: HOLLAND 4-0 NORTHERN IRELAND. Its four! Robin van Persie slides the ball into the channel for AFELLAY who calmly slots home.
34 mins:Great use of the flanks from the home side once again. This time its van Der Wiel who crosses low across the box. Willems arrives but can only fire wide of the far post.
33 mins:The game has fallen into a bit of a lull in the last few minutes with the Dutch seemingly content with their three first half goals.
31 mins:Robben gets to the byline and pulls back for van Persie but the striker's cheeky back-heel doesn't find the target.
31 mins:Robben is popping up on the left hand side now after a switch of sides with Afellay.
29 mins:GOAL: HOLLAND 3-0 NORTHERN IRELAND. Robin van PERSIE steps up to take and drills it into the bottom corner in imperious fashion.
28 mins:PENALTY for the Dutch! Shane Ferguson handles inside his own area and the referee has no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
27 mins:Sneijder bursts into the penalty area but can only send it straight at Lee Camp from close range. This could be a cricket score...
26 mins:Willems makes a mazy run down the left hand side but the full-back is dispossessed by a wall of green shirts.
26 mins:Willems makes a mazy run down the left hand side but the full-back is dispossessed by a wall of green shirts.
24 mins:Robben looks to be through after being slid in by Sneijder but the offside flag is raised. Marginal but correct call from the assistant.
23 mins:Afellay tries his luck from long range but skews it well wide of the target.
22 mins:The Dutch are moving the ball around beautifully at the moment, which is an ominous sign for the rest of the teams in their group.
20 mins:Afellay drills the ball low across the box for van Persie but the striker can't get on the end of it.
18 mins:The Northern Irish enjoy a brief spell of possession but it comes to nothing.
16 mins:Lee Hodson goes into the book now for a poor tackle on Willems.
15 mins:GOAL: HOLLAND 2-0 NORTHERN IRELAND. Wesley SNEIJDER takes the free-kick and picks out the top corner in world class fashion.
14 mins:Michael Duff is penalized for a clumsy foul on the edge of his own box and consequently goes into the book.
13 mins:Holland have made a good start to this game and are in complete control now they have the lead. The visitors have looked a little in awe of their opponents in the early exchanges.
11 mins:GOAL: HOLLAND 1-0 NORTHERN IRELAND. Sneijder takes a corner won by Robben and picks out van PERSIE in the middle. The Arsenal striker rises well and powers the header home.
10 mins:van Persie shifts the ball out of his feet and looks to curl an effort towards the far corner but Duff makes a good block.
8 mins:Robben looks to get down the left hand side but Ferguson tracks the run well and tackles.
7 mins:Sneijder takes the chance to fire an effort on goal from distance but the shot is easy for Camp.
6 mins:Northern Ireland win the first corner of the match but the ball in is confidently headed clear by Vlaar.
5 mins:Its been a fairly typical international friendly so far. Everything being done at a slow tempo in Amsterdam.
3 mins:Holland are moving the ball well with the visitors happy to let them keep it. Afellay crosses but it sails out of play.
2 mins:Holland are in control in the early moments but a long ball for Robben is well collected by Lee Camp.
1 mins:We are off and running at the Amsterdam Arena.
Ryan McGivern will provide an attacking option from left full-back with David Healy the lone striker.
Robin van Persie, Afellay, Robben and Sneijder are the attacking quartet for the Dutch tonight with De Jong and van Bommel holding in midfield.
Northern Ireland: Camp, Hodson, Duff, McPake, Lafferty, McCann, Norwood, Clingan, Ferguson, Little, Grigg.
Holland: Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Willems, Heitinga, Vlaar, van Bommel, Sneijder, De Jong, Robben, Affellay, van Persie.
Hello and welcome to this international friendly as Holland make their final preparations for the Euros against Northern Ireland.
- Internationals
- 2 June 2012, 7:00pm
- Amsterdam Arena
| Holland | v | N Ireland |
6
| 0 |
match report
Northern Ireland were totally outclassed as Holland completed their preparations for Euro 2012 with a 6-0 romp at a sold-out Amsterdam ArenA.
The inexperienced visitors were prisoners in their own half from start to finish as a full-strength Oranje raced into a 4-0 half-time lead, with Arsenal's Robin van Persie (two), Wesley Sneijder and Ibrahim Afellay all on target.
Afellay made it five in the 51st minute before defender Ron Vlaar completed the scoring.
Michael O'Neill, without the vast majority of his first-choice team for the match, has now lost both of his games in charge with a combined tally of nine conceded and none scored.
The starting XIs gave a heavy hint of what was to come, with Northern Ireland's attack spearheaded by Will Grigg - a debutant who plies his trade at Walsall - and Holland's by the imperious Van Persie.
The gulf in class was mirrored across the pitch, with Holland's side packed with household names while their opponents kicked off with just three players boasting more than 10 caps.
In the fifth minute, Northern Ireland produced a strong counter-attack as Andrew Little raced into space on the right before winning a corner.
It was by some distance their best move of the night.
Sneijder unsuccessfully tried his luck from 20 yards in the seventh minute and Van Persie's shot was cleared after debutant James McPake barged Arjen Robben over just outside the area.
The inevitable opener arrived in the 11th minute, Mark van Bommel and Sneijder linking up at a corner before the latter curled a ball to the far post.
Van Persie was waiting and headed home unmarked.
Four minutes later it was 2-0, Michael Duff felling Van Bommel in an inviting position 25 yards out. Sneijder commandeered the free-kick and duly curled it past the despairing Lee Camp.
Despite captain for the night Sammy Clingan desperately attempting to sweep up in front of the back four, Sneijder was controlling things for Holland in the final third.
With 27 minutes gone he dribbled the ball to within six yards of the Northern Ireland goal only to lose control at the last moment.
A minute later Holland had their third after the referee awarded a penalty for handball against Shane Ferguson, who was attempting to smother Van Persie's chip over the top.
The Arsenal striker sent Camp the wrong way with a clean strike into the right-hand corner.
The Oranje were in clinical mood and bagged a fourth after 36 minutes when Clingan gifted possession to the alert Robben.
He fed Van Persie, who touched the ball on to Affelay on the overlap. The Barcelona forward hit a low shot across Camp, who got a hand to it but could not push it wide of his far post.
O'Neill made three changes at the interval, with Roy Carroll coming on for his first appearance in goal for six years. Ryan McGivern and Josh Carson were also sent on in place of Daniel Lafferty and Grant McCann.
Carroll had been on the field just six minutes when he was picking the ball out of the net.
Sneijder's cross-field pass picked out Robben on the right wing and he rolled the ball to Van Persie. He took one touch, laying off for Afellay whose placed effort nestled in the corner.
Holland went to their bench after 56 minutes, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart the high-class replacements for Van Persie and Van Bommel.
Further changes followed for Northern Ireland, with O'Neill sending for Niall McGinn and Rory McArdle.
Carroll had a couple of nervy moments but got away with a mix-up with McPake and a drop at the feet of Robben.
McGivern struck a low shot wide for in a rare break for the visitors, who benefited slightly from the momentum-breaking effect of the second-half substitutions.
Van der Vaart hit the post with 15 minutes to go but the sixth goal was not long coming, Vlaar nodding home Afellay's corner from six yards.
John Heitinga spurned a point-blank chance to add a seventh in injury-time, a rare slice of luck for O'Neill's men on a chastening evening.
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