Still the only Netherlands captain to ever lift a major trophy, Ruud Gullit is full of praise for the current incarnation of the Oranje, who face Uruguay in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ semi-finals on Tuesday in Cape Town. But the 1988 UEFA European Championship winner said on Monday that fortune had played a big part in the team reaching the last four.
“I think we've played well, but we've had luck at the right moments,” said the 1987 FIFA World Player of the Year. “The own goal against Denmark was lucky, the goal against Japan was so-so, and of course the own goal [which was later ruled to have been scored by Wesley Sneijder] against Brazil helped us to get confidence. We have played well and had a little bit of luck – that's the difference.”
The former Feyenoord, PSV, AC Milan and Chelsea star said that things could have been very different against the Brazilians, and that the Dutch couldn't take all of the credit for the famous quarter-final victory. “I was surprised by the outcome against Brazil,” he admitted. “In the first half, I think Brazil played much better than the Dutch team. If [Maarten] Stekelenburg didn't save that shot into the top corner and it had become 2-0, I think the game would have been over.
“Holland came out a little bit differently [in the second half], but I think the key moment was the own [Sneijder] goal. It was a gift. I was surprised that the Brazilians lost the plot. They lost their confidence, they lost their heads. We took advantage of them by playing our own game,” he said.
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