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In Group C matches in Frankfurt, the Argentina national team played a goalless draw with the Netherlands and, due to a better goal difference, secured the first place in their group. The Netherlands team remained in second place.
Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena, 48,000 spectators Referee - Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain) Argentina 0 - 0 Netherlands
Argentina: Abbondanzieri, Burdisso (24' Coloccini), Ayala, Milito, Cufre, Mascherano, Maxi, Cambiasso, Riquelme (79' Aimar), Messi (69' Cruz), Tevez.
Netherlands: Van der Sar, Boulahrouz, Ooijer, Jaliens, De Cler, Sneijder (86' Maduro), Cocu, Van der Vaart, Van Persie (67' Landzaat), van Nistelrooy (56' Babel), Kuyt.
The match started cautiously and both teams were observant, neither blindly attacking, testing new players. The Dutch team did not have Mark van Bommel, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and Arjen Robben, who were replaced by Tim de Cler and Khalid Boulahrouz. Meanwhile, the head coach of Argentina, Jose Pekerman, allowed Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola to rest. In their places, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez played the match.
Argentina was a bit more active in the match, trying to impose their close and physical game. One of the most dangerous players, Juan Roman Riquelme, could have scored several times, but De Cler saved the ball from the goal line with the help of Edwin van der Sar.
Riquelme had one of the most dangerous chances, but after his free-kick shot, the ball was deflected by Dutch defender K. Boulahrouz into his own goalpost.
Tevez, who started the match actively, had his only real chance in the second half, when van der Sar saved his strong shot from about 18 meters.
The Dutch team attacked less and less dangerously throughout the match. Dirk Kuyt had the best chances in the match, but his shot in the first half was saved by Roberto Abbondanzieri, and Phillip Cocu's shot from a sharp angle was also blocked by the Argentine goalkeeper.
After this match, it became clear that Argentina, who finished first in the group, will face Mexico in the round of 16, while the Netherlands will face Portugal. By the way, both Portugal and the Netherlands have not lost any official international matches since the 2004 European Championship. Marco van Basten is one of the four coaches in this World Cup who have not yet lost any official international matches with their national team.
Interesting statistics. De Cler's yellow card was already the 209th in this tournament, surpassing the "record" of 208 shown in the group stage of the 2002 tournament. In the meantime, Cambiasso's yellow card was the 1600th in the entire history of the World Cup.
Match statistics Netherlands - Argentina
Ball possession 56.5% - 43.5% Goals 0 - 0 Attempts 11 - 12 Shots on goal 3 - 2 Shots off goal 5 - 8 Blocked shots 3 - 2 Corners 7 - 10 Offsides 1 - 4 Yellow cards 3 - 2 Red cards 0 - 0 Successful tackles 22 - 25 Successful tackle accuracy 77.3% - 64.0% Passing accuracy 79.0% - 75.8% Passes 463 - 356
