The Bolted Door works again (Italy v Holland (29 June 17:00 BST))

Member Name: B0nfire

Product:	Italy v Holland (29 June 17:00 BST)
Date:	01/07/00 (0 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice to see the better team on the night win

Disadvantages: Is the final going to be ore of the same?

Oh dear oh dear oh deary me. What went wrong here? I was hoping for another storming victory for Holland, culminating in a thrilling final against France, but we are denied by Italian tenacity. I thought they were doomed when Zambrotta got sent off for trying to kill Zenden, but the Italians hunkered down and held on. After Holland’s two penalty failures (one from an excellent save by Toldo), it started to become clear that they were on the way out.
Oh how I wailed and bemoaned the fate of the Dutch, who have always promised so much excitement but not always delivered. But to be honest, they were pretty rubbish. They seemed to lack that extra edge that would allow them to cut through the Italian defence, and were repulsed again and again until a penalty shoot out was the only course left…
I don’t know why Frank de Boer decided to take the first shot. He was always going to be under pressure after missing one earlier, and the added difficulty of going first just put him under even more. And he missed again. Italy cleaned up while Holland struggled (they failed to score from five penalties over the course of the game – quite an incredible achievement) and eventually succumbed.
Oh well, on to the final, and I for one hope that Italy play a bit more of an interesting game this time.

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