Holland line-up: Stekelenburg, Van Der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Van Bronkhorst (c), Van Bommel, Kuyt, De Jong, Van Persie (Huntelaar, 88'), Sneijder (Afellay, 83'), Van Der Vaart (Elia, 72')
Japan line-up: Kawashima, Abe, Komano, Tulio, Nagatomo, Endo, Matsui (S.Nakamura, 64'), Okubo (Okazaki, 77'), Hasebe (c) (Tamada, 77'), Honda, Nakazawa
England's result last night suddenly toned down the entertainment value which was increasing by each game and this game wasn't great either. Again Holland were involved in a battle which they only just come out on top. The first half was very cagey as Japan allowed Holland near complete possession of the ball while they had ten men behind the ball making it extremely difficult for Holland to break them down. The surprise really was that Van Der Vaart and Sneijder were both picked again when many thought Elia should have replaced Van Der Vaart.
The second half however started more brightly as Holland desperately sought to pick the lock. Van Persie was denied a couple of times by good goalkeeping by Kawashima. Wesley Sneijder set the game alight with a blistering strike from distance in the 53rd minute which Kawashima could only palm into the other side of the net. The commentators blamed it on the ball, but replays showed it didn't move at all it was just down to poor judgement from Kawashima. This forced Japan to come out and attack Holland which led to a more open flair about the game. Stekelenburg was forced to make a couple of decent saves from Tamada and Okazaki. However it looked like Holland were more likely to score a second and really should have done. Substitute Ibrahim Afellay had two brilliant one-on-one chances with Kawashima but it was the goalkeeper who won the battle of wits on both occasions. Okazaki had a golden opportunity to equalise in the final minute when put through on goal but he could only blaze over which leaves Holland practically though to the next round.
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