The Netherlands were reliant on Robin van Persie once again as his brace helped them get past Andorra in a poor display.
Andorra vs. The Netherlands: Final score 0-2, Van Persie brace sends Oranje to Brazil
Robin van Persie had to bail The Netherlands out again as his brace helped sink Andorra after a poor display from the Oranje.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos
Jeremain Lens looked to be the best hope of the Dutch breaking through early on, as his pace and trickery caused plenty of problems for the minnows’ defence down the left side, but twice he fired tame efforts at goal when Van Persie was better placed to take advantage.
There was a slightly nervy moment for the visitors early on when Andorra had a penalty appeal, but the referee correctly ruled that Stefan de Vrij had cleanly won the ball. Yet surprisingly, it wasn’t the only decent chance they had as Lima met a free kick with a header after the Dutch defence went to sleep, but it was just off-target.
Garcia had yet another opportunity for the hosts from a corner, but badly miscued his header and failed to punish yet more slack defending from the Netherlands, who were looking pretty awful. Wesley Sneijder appeared determined to make his mark on the game, but could not find the target with a pair of long-range efforts.
After, presumably, a dressing down at halftime, the Dutch slightly improved after the break, and it was no surprise to see who eventually got them out of jail. Van Persie picked up a pass from Kevin Strootman and curled a brilliant effort into the corner from the edge of the area, a vintage goal for the Manchester United striker.
Shortly afterwards, Van Persie doubled his tally and left himself just one goal short of matching Patrick Kluivert’s record tally for the Oranje after the Andorran goalkeeper fumbled a Daryl Janmaat cross directly into his path, leaving him a simple finish which effectively secured the game.
It proved to be enough for Holland, with Van Persie going close to matching the record and completing his hat trick, but the game ultimately fizzled out into what can’t be regarded as anything other than a poor performance from the Dutch. They may have made it to the World Cup with this victory, but they’ll need to improve on it vastly for there to be any point in going.
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