* Denmark midfielder Krohn-Dehli grabs only goal
* Netherlands dominate but miss hatful of chances
* Dutch face tricky task to qualify in tough group
(Adds quotes)
By Simon Evans
KHARKIV, June 9 (Reuters) – Denmark survived a sustained
assault by Netherlands to emerge with a 1-0 victory in their
opening Euro 2012 Group B game on Saturday thanks to a
first-half goal by Michael Krohn-Dehli and some poor Dutch
finishing.
Krohn-Dehli cut in from the left to surprise keeper Maarten
Stekelenburg with a low shot through his legs after 24 minutes
in a rare Danish attack, while Dutch winger Arjen Robben hit a
post after 37 in one of many chances for his side.
“We created an improbable number of chances but if you fail
to finish than this happens,” Netherlands coach Bert Van Marwijk
told NOS-TV. “Before the Danes scored they never came close to
our goal.”
Dutch captain Mark van Bommel added: “I don’t know if you
can call this bad luck when you play like this and create so
much chances. We can’t blame one player as four or five of our
guys appeared in scoring positions.”
The defeat leaves highly-fancied Netherlands needing
positive results against Germany and Portugal, who play later on
Saturday, in what is a very tough section.
The 2010 World Cup runners-up dominated from the outset,
smartly working the ball through midfield and creating openings
around a static Danish defence but they struggled to turn
opportunities into shots on goal.
Robin Van Persie, who endured a difficult evening, set the
tone in the seventh minute when Robben found him with an
incisive pass but the striker screwed his shot wide.
Robben was more accurate with his effort nine minutes later
with a low left foot shot but Danish goalkeeper Stephan Andersen
got down well to save.
Van Persie produced a trademark turn to create space for a
shot in the 23rd minute but his off-target effort was far from
his usual high standards.
DUTCH ATTACKS
The Danes had looked disjointed and ineffective in midfield
but they grabbed the lead against the run of play.
Left back Simon Poulsen raced down the wing and pulled the
ball back into the path of Krohn-Dehli, who skipped past John
Heitinga and fired into the net.
That prompted a wave of Dutch attacks but apart from when
Robben hit the post, after collecting a poor clearance from
Andersen, they ended in wasteful off-target efforts.
Krohn-Dehli threatened again just before the break with
another low shot – a reminder to the Dutch that they could not
throw caution totally to the wind in the second half.
Nonetheless they had four good chances in the opening 10
minutes after the break but their frustration was encapsulated
by Van Persie losing his balance and falling over after being
put through by the enterprising Wesley Schneider.
Again, Krohn-Dehli responded with a sharp shot on target and
it was no surprise when in the 71st minute Netherlands coach
Bert van Marwijk introduced striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the top
scorer in both Euro qualifying and last season’s Bundesliga.
But the change had little impact on what was a disappointing
start for the Dutch and a night to remember for Denmark.
While the Dutch have the quality to achieve that, their lack
of sharpness in front of goal will need to be addressed.
“Now it is clear we have to beat Germany,” said Van Marwijk.
“We showed that we can play good football and create chances,
while we proved in the past that we can beat Germany.”
(Reporting By Simon Evans; Additional reporting by Theo
Ruizenaar in Rotterdam; Editing by Ken Ferris)
