Dutch face midfield dilemma

Jun 03, 2010 |

Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk is pondering whether Wesley Sneijder or Rafael van der Vaart should be the creative midfield motor for the Neth-erlands at the World Cup.

Or whether he can squeeze both of them into his starting lineup. “It’s not easy or difficult,” Van Marwijk said after his team beat Ghana 4-1 on Tuesday night in a warmup match at Feyenoord’s de Kuip Stadium.
“I like to have this kind of choice, rather than not knowing who to pick because we have less quality,” he added.
Sneijder, fresh from winning the Champions League with Inter Milan, and Real Madrid’s Van der Vaart both scored second-half goals against Ghana. But coming on after an hour for Ibrahim Afellay, Van der Vaart showed what he can contribute to the team. His goal came as he ran onto a chipped pass by Mark an Bommel and calmly slid the ball under the advancing ’keeper Richard Kingson.
Then — knowing he has to fight for a starting position at the World Cup — He just got better. “You are never happy if you are not in the starting lineup,” Van der Vaart said. “It’s always nice to come in to score a goal. I am happy,” he added.
Van der Vaart also set up the next two goals. First Van der Vaart nearly scored with an audacious lob from just inside Ghana’s half. Then Van der Vaart fired a corner with pinpoint precision to Sneijder who volleyed home. — AP

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