Netherlands picked up a 1-0 win over Ghana in their penultimate game before the World Cup starts in two weeks.
- By Michael Bell
- Follow Michael on Twitter
The Dutch started with Robin van Persie, and Arjen Robben up front, while Wesley Sneijder was in the number 10 role just behind them.
It was this trio that put Netherlands ahead after only five minutes. Sneijder played a one-two with Robben before playing the ball across the box for Van Persie to tap into the net from a few yards out.
Daley Blind was impressive on the left, and his ball across the box set up Robben to make it 2-0, but the Bayern Munich winger somehow scooped over from four yards out. Robben was then played through on goal, but Ghanaian keeper Kwarasey made himself big and pulled off the save.
The second half saw Ghana make a number of changes and they looked to put the Dutch under pressure, but Netherlands back five could not be breached, as they dealt with anything thrown at them. The away side only registered a shot on target a few minutes before the end, as Jasper Cillessen had an easy night.
In stoppage time Jeremain Lens sent a header just over the bar, as the match trickled out to a 1-0 win.
It wasn’t the most convincing performance from Netherlands as they only managed to score once against a Ghana side that was far from their best.
The 5-3-2 made the defence look solid, and Nigel de Jong impressed in front of the back four, while left back Daley Blind looked to join the attacks at every opportunity. However in the 2nd half, Netherlands looked to have settled for the 1-0 win, and were happy to play the ball back to Cillessen at every opportunity.
Netherlands now face Wales in the final warm up match on Wednesday, before flying to Brazil, where they face Spain in their opening game on June 13th.
Follow
Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter
