The match was feared and keenly anticipated. There was the threat of violence and the promise of great soccer.
It turned out both themes were overhyped. There was more thuggery committed on the field than in the stands as Dutch and Belgian fans sat peaceably side by side and watched their teams struggle to a scoreless tie Saturday in a cold rain that felt more like November than June.
Given the quality of the game and the disappointed whistles that filled the Stade de France, it was fitting that the best chance of the game went to Dutch midfielder Philip Cocu, whose last name is French slang for “cuckolded.”
Cocu’s short-range, back-heel shot off a corner kick in the 88th minute was cleared out of the goalbox by Belgian defender Eric Deflandre, who stuck his left leg out to meet the ball as he clung to the near post like a sailor lashed to the mast.
This is soccer’s Army-Navy rivalry with even less love lost. Belgium and the Netherlands have played 120 times, including two World Cup qualifying matches last year that went to the Dutch, by far the stronger side.
The Netherlands indeed controlled play, so much so in the first half that lonely Dutch goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar looked as if he would perish from hypothermia. He touched the ball only four times before halftime as the Belgians could not manage a shot.
In the meantime, the Dutch were firing away. But true to their history–a long string of almosts and could-have-beens that includes only one major title, the 1988 European championship–they were unable to finish, even when coach Gus Hiddink completely reversed his statements of the last week and risked gimpy star Dennis Bergkamp on a slippery field.
Friday, Hiddink said he would keep the striker, who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, on the bench to ensure that his strained hamstring was completely healed. But Hiddink’s patience apparently evaporated as the Belgians turned away attack after attack–23 shots in all to their own six.
“They thought they were going to eat us but they didn’t eat us,” Belgian midfielder Marc Wilmots said.
Belgium’s strategy was simple: Get away with as much as possible. When stylish Dutch winger Marc Overmars, another Arsenal regular, opened the game with several spectacular runs up the left side, Belgian coach Georges Leekens waited only 22 minutes to bring in Deflandre, who promptly committed everything short of armed robbery to try to stop Overmars.
The Dutch frustrations were capped in the 81st minute when forward Patrick Kluivert was ejected for a bit of unsportsmanlike conduct.
Kluivert was fouled by Belgian defender Lorenzo Staelens but got a no-call from the officials. Staelens somewhat disingenuously tried to help Kluivert up, but Kluivert refused to take his hand and the two sniped at each other. Kluivert then walked back toward Staelens and elbowed him in the chest.
“He said something that really affected me,” said Kluivert, who plays for AC Milan. “I can’t say what it was, but it was a stupid thing for me to do.”
Even with a one-man advantage, the Belgians were stymied. But it was evident, as Overmars observed, that “they were happier with a 0-0 draw than we were.” Especially after a win by supposedly moribund fellow group member Mexico.
The best news of the night came in and around the stadium. Dutch fans wearing their loud and unmistakable orange and Belgians carrying inflatable pitchforks–a tribute to the team’s attackers, nicknamed “the Red Devils”–mingled without incident and even posed for pictures in front of fully outfitted and bemused riot police.
