The UrbanWire

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Oranje failed to set the World Cup stage alight, as they had to rely on an own goal and a tap-in to give them all 3 points today.

The game started slowly as the first shot on target came from Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt on the 10th minute.

Both teams were clearly devoid of ideas, as they resorted to long-range efforts on goal. Fortunately for the goalkeepers, none of the shots were threatening at all.

The current Dutch squad seemed to have picked up a lot of pointers from the class of 1978 as they seemed to fancy their chances from long way out. Sadly, they should have paid more attention to the physics of the Jabulani ball instead.

On the 43rd min, Van Persie decided to be indecisive as he shimmy-ed left and right before smashing the ball straight into the camera lens that was behind the goalpost.

The Dutch started off to a brightly in the second half as Van Persie’s cross met with Poulsen’s header and it pinball-ed Agger’s back which eventually bounced into the net.

There was a huge grin on the face of Poulsen when he put the ball in his own new. Certainly, the Danes all around the world do not share the same sentiment as him.

The ball hit the back of the net once again for the Dutch right on the hour mark.

However, it was ruled out this time as Van Persie was straying in an offside position. He then claimed his innocence by saying that he couldn’t hear the whistle when the referee reprimanded him.

Netherlands looked set to appreciate another own goal; this time courtesy of a deflection of Agger.

Fortunately for the Danes, the ball hit the crossbar instead and spared Denmark further blushes.

With 5 mins left to go, Dirk Kuyt doubled the lead when he tapped in from close range after Elia’s effort crashed into the upright.

Poulsen then redeemed his own goal endeavour as he cleared Afellay’s effort from 7 yards off the line on the 87^th min.

The Flying Dutchmen failed to live up to their expectations as favourites of a team capable of bringing home the Jules Rimet trophy. Will they up their game in the forthcoming matches?

The absence of a frontman and a static defence proved to be the downfall for the Socceroos as they slumped to a 4-0 defeat to Germany.

Australia squandered an excellent chance to take the lead on the 2nd min when Garcia failed to build on Cahill’s header as Germany captain Philip Lahm blocked his attempted shot.

Miroslav Klose then looked set to shed his poor form as he exploited acres of space left opened by the Australian defence on the 7 min mark. Sadly, his shot went straight into the oncoming Schwarzer.

A min later, Lukas Podolski opened the scoring for Germany by unleashing an unstoppable left-foot thunderbolt after some brilliant build up play by Ozil and Muller.

The unfortunate Schwarzer could only parry the shot into his goal.

The goal opened the game up, as chances were aplenty on both ends early in the game, only to see long-range shots sky rocketing way above the crossbar.

Muller proved to be a menace on the right flank once again as he fired a dangerous low cross. Fortunately for the Socceroos, there was no one to put the ball in the back of the net.

Miroslav Klose then spurned a chance to take his total World Cup tally to 11 goals when he missed an absolute sitter right on the 24 min mark.

However, he took his chances 3 mins later when he headed home Lahm’s cross from the right wing as his cross asunder the static Australian defence.

The Socceroos were then spared the blushes of having no way of coming back when Ozil had a cheeky attempt on goal that was cleared off the line by Lucas Neill.

They tried to build up their own attacking play only to be intercepted by an efficient German team, as Podolski’s through ball to Ozil left Australia asking questions whether the defence were in for a long, arduous battle.

The first half had been excellent for Die Mannschaft as the whole German team ran Australia riot. It seemed as if the Germans were not missing on the services of influential skipper Michael Ballack.

The referee waved away the Australian protest when Mertesacker handled the box inside the penalty area early in the second half.

It was a stark contrast from the first half as the start of the second half from the Socceroos had been impressive, as they didn’t allow Germany to build on their momentum.

The elusive third goal seemed to be on the cards for Germany when Muller’s shot narrowly grazed the top of the crossbar.

The World Cup campaign for Australia then seemed gloomy when influential playmaker Tim Cahill was dismissed for a two-footed lunge on Schweinsteiger. It was a poor decision from the match official.

Germany couldn’t make the numerical advantage count as Klose came closest to scoring his hat-trick in the 65 min when his shot saw wide of the post.

2 mins later, the numbers game finally paid off as Podolski played Muller through on goal as slotted the ball through the legs of Lucas Neil before hitting the woodwork and into the back of the net.

The substitute Cacau than added a 4^th for Germany with a very composed finish after Ozil squared the ball through to the Brazilian born forward. He only had been on the field for 2 mins.

Australia were left dispirited, tired and disjointed. It will be interesting to see how they recover from this loss and how they will cope without Tim Cahill for the next game.