PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil -- The Netherlands is on the verge of qualifying
for the World Cup knockout rounds after fending off a belligerent
Australia 3-2 on Wednesday to follow up its opening 5-1 rout of
defending champion Spain.
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Memphis Depay scored the clincher in the 68th minute, seconds after
Australia missed a chance to go ahead again.
Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie, who each scored twice against Spain,
added to their tournament tallies before and after Australias goals,
which included a stunning volley from Cahill that levelled the score at
1-1 in the 21st.
Australia is almost certainly out of contention following consecutive
defeats, and Cahill will be missing in its last match against Spain
after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament. Van Persie
will miss the Netherlands last group match against Chile for the same
reason.
"They just kept running. They actually scored well. The second half we
went to our own system, what were used to," Van Persie said. "But
everyone did well. Im really happy with the result."
After a quiet start, the game burst into life in the 20th minute when
Robben collected the ball near halfway, sped through a gaping hole in
the Australian midfield and shot powerfully past the outstretched left
foot of Maty Ryan.
Another rout seemed in the works, but only for only a matter seconds.
Australia equalized with Ryan McGowan sending a long, looping pass from
the midfield to Cahill, who volleyed over Jasper Cillessen onto the
underside of the bar in one of the best goals of the tournament so far.
Australia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, kept pressuring
Netherlands, with Mark Bresciano and Matthew Spiranovic missing chances
that could have given the Socceroos a halftime lead.
Just before the interval, Cahill needlessly clattered into the back of
Bruno Martins Indi and was given a yellow card. He was also booked in
Australias opening 3-1 loss to Chile, meaning the veteran Socceroos star
may have played his last World Cup game. Martins Indi was helped off
the field, replaced by Depay to start the second half, and later taken
to a hospital with a suspected concussion.
At the start of the second half, Netherlands changed from a 5-3-2 system
that worked so well against Spain to a more traditional Dutch 4-3-3
style to incorporate Depay, but it was Australia which took the surprise
lead with a penalty after Daryl Janmaat handled the ball in the area.
Mile Jedinak converted from the spot in the 54th to make it 2-1 but Van
Persie levelled again four minutes later, collecting the ball in space
on the edge of the penalty area and firing into the roof of the net.
In the 68th minute, Tommy Oar had a shooting opportunity down on the
left hand side of goal but chose to cross to Mathew Leckie, who couldnt
beat the keeper.
It proved costly on the next attacking play when Depay fired a swerving
low shot from around 25 yards that beat the keepers outstretched right
hand,.
Australia coach Ange Postecoglou said he was "heartbroken" by the loss.
"Bitterly disappointing," he said. "Just for the players, they were
magnificent. They took it to a world-class team. Full credit to them,
but I just feel bitterly disappointed they werent able to get some
reward out of it today."
Postecoglou said his team had proved some critics wrong with two gallant
games.
"We came to this World Cup and were playing against three of the best
nations in the world," he said. "People were saying we wouldnt score a
goal. In both games weve taken it to the opposition."
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This is not some token job for a prominent, popular former player. All
of those areas need a lot of work, so Molitor is going to be busy.
"Hes certainly got a history and knowledge and a high baseball IQ,"
general manager Terry Ryan said.
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As they are wont to do, the Spurs made things real easy.
The Spurs signed Parker to a multi-year contract extension on Friday,
ensuring that the six-time All-Star point guard will be in the fold
whether Duncan and Ginobili are able to continue their careers or
not.SOCHI, Russia -- Pavel Datsyuk took a significant step toward
playing in Russias Olympic opener by participating in practice.
Datsyuk, who missed his teams first practice while nursing a lower-body
injury, took line rushes between Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov.
Alexander Svitov had been holding a place for him.
Coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov said through an interpreter Monday he didnt
think the injury was serious enough to keep Dattsyuk from playing
Thursday against Slovenia.
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The 35-year-old star centre missed over a month with the injury,
returning to play less than 15 minutes each in two games for the Detroit
Red Wings prior to the Olympic break.
Detroit general manager Ken Holland said he understood Datsyuks desire
to play in this tournament, adding that he hopes his player and the
Russians make the right decisions about his health.
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