Netherlands miss another chance at Euro 2008

Basel (Switzerland): The Netherlands added another chapter to the list of tournaments it might have won after its high-powered attack was tamed by Russia on Saturday in the European Championship quarterfinals.

The Dutch, whose only major title was the 1988 European Championship, saw another golden chance of glory pass by at St. Jakob Park, where it rarely looked like scoring and was completely outclassed by an upstart Russian team.

"They were really a good squad today," Netherlands coach Marco van Basten said. "Better than we were."

Playmaker Andrei Arshavin set up one goal and scored another in extra time to give Russia a deserved 3-1 victory and a semifinal date on Thursday in Vienna, Austria. It will play either Spain or Italy.

Arshavin set up the winning goal when he skipped past defender Andre Ooijer in the 112th minute and lobbed a cross over goalkeeper Edwin van der Saar toward the far post. Substitute Dimitry Torbinski was there to tap home.

Four minutes later, the star of the Zenit St. Petersburg team that won the UEFA Cup last month did all the work himself by getting behind the defense and scoring from a tight angle through the legs of Van der Sar.

"We had a lot of problems with the attackers (Roman) Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin," said Van Basten, who scored a memorable goal when the Dutch won the European Championship 20 years ago. "That's the reason we couldn't come into the game."

Arshavin said Russia expected the Netherlands to come out aggressively.

"But they ran out of gas," he said.

Earlier, Pavlyuchenko scored in the 56th to give Russia a 1-0 lead after Sergei Semak crossed from the left. Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy equalized in the 86th minute with a diving header off Wesley Sneijder's free kick to force extra time.

The Netherlands' loss was a surprise considering the way it dominated world champion Italy, World Cup runner-up France and Romania in its first-round matches. The Dutch had scored nine goals and conceded only once, while wowing fans and pundits with their attacking football.

"We were marvellous in the first round, but that does not count anymore," attacking midfielder Rafael van der Vaart said.

Led by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, Russia sought to snuff out the Netherlands' attack with Semak playing deep to frustrate Van Nistelrooy up front, and Sneijder and Van der Vaart tucked just behind.

Dirk Kuyt gave a timid performance positioned on the flanks, and was replaced at halftime by Robin van Persie. He fared little better, and with star Arjen Robben out with a groin injury, the Dutch lost their usual strength down the wings. Most of its attacks, as a result, were directed down a packed middle of the pitch, where it could not break a defense led by Denis Kolodin and Sergei Ignashevich.

"I don't want to use big words but it is almost a miracle," said Hiddink, who coached the Netherlands from 1995 to '98. "It is unbelievable what the boys performed. They tactically and physically outplayed the Dutch."

For the Dutch, the reasons may be different this time but the end result is an all too familiar one. The Netherlands goes home with a positive goal difference of six — the best in the tournament — and having arguably made the best overall impression.

In the crowd, the greatest Dutch player of all watched on and must have seen this coming. Johan Cruyff led the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup final with a brand of "total football" that mesmerized opponents. It lost 2-1 to West Germany.

The Dutch returned to the final four years later, only to lose to host Argentina in extra time. There were also penalty shootout eliminations in the 1998 World Cup to Brazil and in the Euro 2000 semifinal match to Italy, when it failed to score against an Italian team that was reduced to nine men.

In that match, it missed two penalties in regular time and another three in the shootout to crash out at home.