90' (+2): And it's over!!!! French Toast, French Toast

90' (+2): A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Goal!!! Amazing shot!!! Amazing football... From now on I'm officially cheering for the Dutch

90' (+1): GGGGOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!! Sneijder finished the French Toast

90' (+1): A corner for France now. And nothing comes out of it!!!!

86': Free kick for France. Can he get something out of this one?

85': 5 minutes. France still has a chance to qualify after this lost but it doesn't depend only on their own efforts

82': Van Nilsterooy almost scored. He saw Coupet coming up and heade from the top of the box... Coupet recovers and taps it out.

81': Makelele fell when he had the chance to shoot and score! hahaha... France is done!

77': Beautiful play by Van Persie. humillianting Ribery. Then he gets the foul

76': Free kick for France. Ribery puts the ball in the box and Anelka heads it over the bar

74': When I was writing about the great cross by Sagnol and the fine touch by Henry when Sneijder gave an incredible pass to Robben on the left, right on the space where Sagnol should be and Robben scores the most amazing goal of this competition. No angle at all and the ball went in!!! Henry's face was priceless

71': GOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!! NETHERLANDS!!! Robben!!!!

70': GGGOOOOAAAALLLL!!!! Titi Henry!!!

66': Terrible mistake by Thuram. He pretty much gave the ball to Van Persie ... But the dutchmen didn't finish this one

62': I really love the Dutch football... Perfect passes, offensiveness, Goals!!! They are up by two goals and continue attacking! Beautiful!!!

60': Now Van der Saar saved a goal like a voleyballer. hahaha

58': WHAT A GOOOOAAALLLL !!!  ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE MACHINE!!! Van Persie puts it in

57': Ribery was tackled by the linesman!!! hahahaha... The linesman should get a yellow card

55': The goal man Kuyt is substituted by Van Persie

53': Malouda tried a bicycle goal from almost half field (hahahaha) I'm joking, It was a pass... ... Henry thought it was a pass but ridiculously tip the ball way over the bar

52': Van der Saar is taking forever to take the goal kick... The ref is telling him to get the match fucking going!

48': The French got close to the goal again ... Henry is freaking out asking for a penalty... the ref ignores him

47': Gouvou is licking  the grass after Gio fouled him

46': Egelaar is out for Holland... Robben is in

46': Henry tricks get France a corner kick... But no goal yet

45' (+1): And there goes the whistle for the end of first half! The Dutch are doing their job and the French are suffering to pass the ball...

44': The plays created by the French do not have good conclusion. I can't see them scoring goals if they continue playing like that...

42': Henry tries to solve things by himself. turns and shoots ffrom the top of the box. Just a little too high.

40': Bad throw-in for Boulahrouz. How can a professional footballer take a bad throw? This is lame!

37': Great low cross from Ribery. Thierry Henry couldn't get a touch and Malouda didn't get there in time! No goal for Les Bleus

33': France is trying to create offensive opportunities now. But the goal needs to come soon. Time os against them

33': Finally a great play for the French. The ball from the left ends at the top of the box and Govou shoots... Van de Saar is there to save

32': Makelele slapped Van de Vaart's neck and got a yellow card

29': Henry is pissed... The ball comes for him like a brick from Thuram.

27': France already has players warming up on the side line...

26': Boulahrouz came all the way from the defense to take a shot and the ball didn't go far

25': France is attacking but they are not being efficient and might end up in the same trap that Netherlands set up for Italy... KILLER COUNTER ATTACKS!

22': Govou... good touch ... shoots... Van der Saar saves it!!!

21': Ribery got run over again... Are they trying to fix his face or to ruin it once and for all

21': The Dutch supporters are already playing with a giant inflatable doll... I mean, ball... on the stands... they know this match is under control

20': Another mistake by the French defense almost gave Kuijt the chance to score the second one...

18': The Dutch are so comfortable on the pitch. They are passing the ball with perfection and keeping the French team quiet

15': Sneijder with the long blaster!!!! Over the bar

14': Ribery on the run... Engelaar just touches it away from him

12': Govou, wearing the sacred number 10, tries a through ball... Van der Saar picks it up

9': PERFECT corner and Maoulda hugged Kuijt in the box... A hug was not enough to stop the giant guy and the header is perfect!!! France is going down!

9': Kuijt!!!!! GGGOOOOAAAALLLLL

4': Should've been a corner. Malouda didn't touch the ball and the Dutch knocked it out... Referee needs glasses

3': Makelele jumps on Kuijt and takes a piece of his lips!!! And then he says I'm sorry... and no card id shown

2': Both teams are playing the same formation!

Before Kick Off: Here we go... The Netherlands orange colour is predominant on  the stands!!!!

  NETHERLANDS 

The Netherlands great performance against Italy motivated not only the fanatic orange-dressed supporters but also the players and the lovers of the beautiful game. And now after the 1-1 tie between Romania and Italy, the Dutch have a good two point advantage against their opponents in this so-called "Group of Death".

The formation and the line-up will probably be same from the last game. Sneijder, Van Nilsterooy, Gio, Engelaar, De Jong, Kuijt... Here comes the Oranje!!!!

  FRANCE 

France still needs to prove me right. I've been saying for quite some time that France had the best midfield and offense of all the 16 teams of this tournament. Makelele, Nasri, Viera, Malouda, Gouvou, Ribery, Henry, Benzema, Anelka, Gomis... It's a dangerous, fast and extremely talented team on paper. But we didn't see that reflected on the pitch... yet...

Will we see Les Bleus bloom tonight? Will the Orange Machine run over another opponent?

The kick off is just about 30 minutes away!

End Of Match:

For me the most important names of this match were definitely: Sneijder, Engelaar and Van der Saar. They were crucial for this amazing and deserved victory!

As for Italy. Del Pierro came in to late in my opinion. He could've made some damage if he had more time. Another good name was Zambrota. But the World Champions will have now to win both matches against France and Romania if they want to move to the next round!  

90' (+2): A last chance for Italy. Toni does the pivot in the box and Ambrosini shoots. The ball hits the defender and goes out for a corner. Nothing comes out of it. No consolation goal for Italy

90' (+1): 3 minutes of stoppage time to be added. Ciao Ciao Azzurra!

88': Great play by Robin Van Persie on the left. He cuts to the left and shoots. The ball goes really near

87': In the beginning I mentioned that the bright orange kit was blinding the Italians but it was the beautiful game presented by the Dutch opened our eyes and made me happy. I'm glad to see orange tonight

84': There won't be enough beer for the Dutch fans tonight in the pubs of Switzerland. The result is much better than any optimist commentator could've thought.

81': The ball kisses the bar in a great shot by Afellay. The Netherlands is total football in total control right now!

79':

That's what Dutch Total Football is all about... Italy had a great chance from a free kick from Pirlo amazingly saved by Van der Saar and in another incredible counter attack Gio Van Bronckhorst serves Kuyt and gets rebound after the shot and the ball is inside the net!!!

79': GGGGOOOOAAALLLLLL for the Netherlands!!!!

77': Oh MY!!!!!!! Great ball to Grosso and he cuts to the middle and shoots!!! Van Der Saar makes another great save!!! Fantastic!!!

75': Luca Toni received a perfect ball from Cassano and he didn't have the patience to put the ball down and score. It wans him and the kepper... another wasted chance for Italy...

73': And I was right! Cassano comes in for Camoranesi... let's see if Italy can at least score one

73': I hope Cassano is coming in for Camoranesi. He touched the ball only once in the second half

72':

Long, Loooooong ball for Del Pierro. He can't get it.

Cassano is on the side line waiting to come in 

68':

Another great shot by Del Pierro... The canon ball goes over the bar.

Sub for Netherlands: Nistelrooy is out and Van Persie is in 

68': ... and it goes way over the crossbar

68': Free kick for the Netherlands. A long range one. Sneijder on the ball

68': Italy attacking more now but the Dutch defense looks solid.

65': Del Pierro takes a shot from outside the box. He already did much better than Toni has done in the whole match

64': First ball for Del Pierro but he was caught offside

63': FINALLY!!!! Del Pierro is on for Di Natale.

62': Holland dominates the match. Italy's attack has been clumsy and non-creative.

60': Toni takes another shot that was just way too easy for Van der Saar.

58': Ambrosini puts pressure to recover the ball for Italy and receives the foul.

54': Materazzi is replaced by Fabio Grosso. I'm pissed!!! Materazzi didn't even get a card... if Materazzi doesn't get carded it mean that Italy is really not being Italy

52': Great shot for Zambrotta. On the left side of the Italian attack. The ball went wide but the play was dangerous

52': Nilsterooy just reached for his quadriceps after the cornet kick. That's bad news for the Dutch, he might need to be substituted

51': Gattuso gets his yellow

49': Engelaar is doing a great job controlling the pace in midfield

48': Materazzi almost chipped Nilterooy's leg in half and the referee didn't call the foul.

46': The heat is on. Italians and Dutch fight for the ball.

45': And we're on for the second half

Half Time: Italy needs to go back to the locker room and figure out a way to break through the Dutch defense. They played with Camoranesi, Luca toni and Di Natale up front but the team could not finish their opportunities. Time for Del Pierro (hey, am I being repetitive?)

45' (+1): Great shot by Di Natale. But the ball flies over the bar

45': I see the Netherlands closer to a third goal than Italy getting their first.

42': Nice ball control. And an amazing through ball to Nilterooy. Buffon had to come out and save it with his feet. That should've been a third goal

40': Oh no Kuyt is in trouble... he just "accidentally" slapped Materazzi on the face... He'd better watch for the payback!!!

38': Good ball from Gattuso to Di Natale. Intercepted by the defense.

35': Italy will need Del Pierro really quick. I don't even know why Donadoni kept the topscorer of Serie A sitting on the bench

35': Zambrotta just got a yellow card from fouling Kuyt from behind... Now let's see how long until Materazzi gets his yellow too (or maybe a straight red)

34': Lucky save for Van de Saar. One of the best keepers in the world is also one of the luckiest!

31': Van Bronckhorst save the ball on line and started the most amazing counter attack in Europe.  Total Football in action.  Sneijder's finish was top class... And the Dutch are looking good

31': GGGGOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL..... Sneijder for the Dutch!!!

27':

Buffon punched the ball to the top of the box instead of trying to grab or punch it outside. The ball comes back and after a powerful shot Nislterooy just deflects it inside the net!!!

Great goal... Now the World Champions need to catch up if they want to stay alive in this tough group 

26': GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!! For Netherlands!!!! Take that Azzura!!!

25': Oh... Materazzi just saved that one... He chips the ball with his head and put it out of reach for Nilsterooy... Nice play

23': A little high for Luca Toni.

23': A harsh foul on Ambrosini. Here comes Pirlo

18': But it was a great moment for Nilsterooy!!! He was at the right place... just lost his balance

18': That WAS A PENALTY!!!! It's ok to give the advantage but he lost the advantage!!! ... Oh wai... just saw the replay... it was nothing

15': Another long range shot for the Dutch. Not a problem for Buffon

10': Great move by Panucci and Camoranesi on the right side. The cross finds the target man Toni but the header goes wide. Italy is playing top level but the Dutch are not bad either.

10': Free kick for Holland. Sneijder hits it and the ball hits the back of his team mate. Then V. de Vaart taked a long range shot but he'll need much more to beat Buffon from that distance

8': A much faster paced match. Both teams know the importance of securing 3 points in this group right now

4': Great play by Di Natale on the right. The cross was too hard for Toni to reach. But it was a good attempt

2': The Dutch kit is so bright. It might be part of the strategy to blind the Italians

0': Here we go ... the oranges versus the azzura

Before Kick Off: 1- Buffon; 2- Panucci, 6- Barzagli,  23- Materazzi,  19- Zambrotta; 8- Gattuso, 21- Pirlo, 13- Ambrosini; 16- Camoranesi, 11- Di Natale, 9- Toni.