EC qualifier in Oslo, October 12, 1994 ====================================== Norway - Netherlands 1-1 (0-1) Ullevaal Att: 22.293 0-1 Bryan Roy (22) 1-1 Kjetil Rekdal (pen. 52) Referee: James McCluskey, Scotland. Yellow card: Stan Valckx (43), Rob Witschge (48), Netherlands. Line-ups --------- Norway (4-5-1): Erik Thorstvedt - Pål Lydersen, Henning Berg, Tore Pedersen, Stig Inge Bjørnebye - Sigurd Rushfeldt (Jostein Flo from 63.), Lars Bohinen, Kjetil Rekdal, Erik Mykland, Øyvind Leonhardsen - Jan Åge Fjørtoft (Geir Frigård from 77.). Nederland (4-3-3): Ed de Goey - Danny Blind - Michael Reiziger (Ulrich van Gobbel from 77.), Stan Valckx, Frank de Boer - Aron Winter, Wim Jonk, Rob Witschge - Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp (Ronald de Boer from 71.), Bryan Roy. Other results in group 5 ------------------------ Malta - Czech Republic 0-0 Belarus - Luxembourg 2-0 Czech Republic 2 1 1 0 6- 1 4 ----------------------------------- Netherlands 2 1 1 0 5- 1 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Norway 2 1 1 0 2- 1 4 Belarus 2 1 0 1 2- 1 3 Malta 2 0 1 1 1- 6 1 Luxembourg 2 0 0 2 0- 6 0 Next games ---------- 16/11: Belarus - Norway Netherlands - Czech Republic Match report ------------ The game started brightly for Norway in the first five minutes, when they forced a few corners, but no real good opportunities. After that the Dutch took over, mostly because of their neat ball control and passing. Especially Bryan Roy gave Lydersen a hard time. Norway were not as agressive as expected, and never managed to unsettle the Dutch. Two half chances were missed by Bergkamp (shot 2.5 meters over the cross bar in a free position, after Lydersen missed the offside) and Winter (missconnected flying volley just in front of Thorstvedt, after cross from the left, headed down to him by Bergkamp?). The goal didn't come as a big surprise. It started with a throw-in on the left which Bergkamp appearantly met, but then suddenly raced towards the Norwegian goal instead, before the ball was thrown. This caught the Norwegian defense by surprise (very similar to Bergkamp's goal against Brasil in WC'94), but Berg managed to block his attempted cross. The corner was taken by Overmars and flicked on by Valckx to a completely free Bryan Roy. From 12 meters he hit a first-time volley into the corner, leaving Thorstvedt with no chance at all. After that the Netherlands had a firm grip on the game, as Norway never treathened. No clear opportunities were created though. In the last ten minutes Norway got back into the game, by pressing the Dutch higher up the field and by half-time the situation didn't look desperate despite the 0-1 deficit. In the second half Norway continued to press high, forcing the Dutch to simple errors. The home side constantly won the ball in the Dutch half and the picture was really turned around. Now, the Dutch had to kick the ball into the stands or straight to a Norwegian. The visitors hardly created a good opportunity in the second half, even after the early Norwegian equalizer. The equalizer came after Mykland was brought down, seconds after controlling a cross from Bohinen. Debutant Reizinger was the culprit on the Dutch side, and showed his international inexperience in that situation by tripping Mykland's legs, when he could have awaited the situation instead. I don't think even the most die-hard Dutch fan could argue about that decision. Rekdal scored with ease, by sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. For the rest of the half, Norway pressed for a second goal, but without creating any really golden opportunities. The closest they came were a few headers by Flo, and an attempted backpass which was saved by de Goey's right toes. A draw was probably the correct outcome, as the Dutch were better in the first and the Norwegians were better in the second. In all, there were very few chances in the game, but still I enjoyed it much more than the Belarus-game. Especially in the second half the Norwegian played well, partly because they had to come forward to avoid a defeat, but also because they raised their game and played with more conviction than in the first half. The best Norwegian players were Berg in defense, Rushfeldt on the left (only first half) and Mykland/Bohinen in the midfield (only second half). Of the Dutch players, I noticed Roy who started brightly, and Valcx who was a tough defender. The rest played more or less a decent game. The only exception being perhaps Lydersen, who really was the weak link in the Norwegian defense (both on offsides and when passing), Overmars who was completely marked out of the game by Bjørnebye (sweet revenge for the Rotterdam-game last year), and Bergkamp who really was a disappointment. He managed to ruin at least two good breaks by the Dutch by going on his own instead of passing, and generally didn't work well either.