It was a day for Netherlands to forget ( No doubt a trip to Amsterdam can sort that)
Things got off to a flyer for the Dutchmen as current Manchester United Donny Van Der Beek set up former manchester United player Memphis Depay with a glorious oppurtunity. Depay was left in a one on one situation with the keeper, and opted to put the ball to the goalies left. The Oranje were one nil up, and Arnold Schwarzenegger looked on furiously from the stands.
Austria seemed to conscious of their defeat 5 – 1 to Hungary in the last round, despite dominating that game their leaking defence and poor shooting had let them down tremendously. They suddenly received a lifeline from the referee, as Daley Blind was judged to have harshly challenged Arnautovic while he was on route to goal, thus resulting in a red card. To be fair, Austria were not denied a goal scoring opportunity, so the fans in attendance singing “ben je blinde scheidsrechter” or “Are you blind referee” in English seemed fair. The singing intensified more after the cleverly worked free kick seen Arnautovic equalize after Baumgartinlinger’s shot was parried by Jasper Cillessen.
In the 1930’s led by Manager Hugo Meisl, Austria were a team that earned the Nickname Wunderteam after a 14 matches undefeated run. Well no doubt this Austria team felt like a wonder a the half time whistle. They led 3 -1 after taking further advantage of Holland’s gaping hole in their defence. Goals from Sabitzer and another from Arnautovic allowed them some breathing space at half time.
All was certainly not lost, Netherlands no doubt encouraged by Denmark making a comeback against Belgium, knew that it was completely possible to stage a comeback. A cheeky little dink of the Cillessen from Schaur put a swift end to those aspirations , followed swiftly by Laimer hitting the back of the net. It was 5 – 1 before Arnautovic secured his hatrick and the match ball by scoring his third on the 81st minute. Arnold Schwarzenegger was have heard to have been partying until they closed down the residents bar, assuring the staff that he’ll be back when they opened
Netherlands mathematically are not out but likely need to win their final match by 7 or 8 goals for a chance of making the knockouts.
