Netherlands v Serbia & Montenegro

The first thing I really have to comment on is the aftermath of Arjen
Robben's goal to put Holland up 1-0. Robin van Persie hugged him and
rolled him down to the ground on his back in a real Brokeback Stadion
kind of vibe, and I seriously thought he was going to kiss him.
Seriously, they showed the Dutch bench and a stunned and teary-eyed
Michelle Williams next to Marco van Basten. The thing that was really
amusing about it was Ruud van Kneestillesore running up late and trying
to get in on the action, but that horse-faced bastard apparently wasn't
getting any. Arjen Robben is really eating S&M alive, though.

Is anybody else enjoying the giant graphics that cover half the screen
that ESPN keeps putting directly over the action? It is a bit better
than the MLS thing of showing ads during the game on a split screen in
some sort of commercialized homage to Brian De Palma. I won't address
John Harkes not bothering to learn any basics of Dutch pronunciation
(ArYEN Robben, not Ardjen or Arzhen), since nobody else at that network
bothers. You may remember John Harkes from appointment as Captain For
Life of the US National Team, rescinded when he had all the blood
drained from his body by the Romanian women's team.

HT Netherlands 1-0 Serbia

Just a random observation, I'm really liking the whole Thundercats thing
the Serbs have going on their uniforms. Maybe Mumra can come on as a
second half sub to mark Robben. The striker who came on for Kezman with
the blond streak down the center of his hair certainly looks like a
Thundercats reject. Which reminds me, when did the rat tail make a
comeback in Europe? I also like how they announced at halftime that
Serbia and Montenegro are now two different countries and will no longer
play as a unified team like it happened in the locker room at halftime,
and during the second half the Montenegrin players are going to
scrimmage in the parking lot with the players from Oost Vlanders and Frisia.

This ball really is just nasty. The slow-mo replay of Van der Sar's
injury shows him perfectly anticipate the path of the ball, and get his
hands up, then get this stricken look as it dips and he slams into the
ground hard trying to stay in front of it. VdS was apparently not
injured, he's just cramping up a lot, which should be a relief to Oranje
supporters.

In the end, Holland holds on for a 1-0 win, which is good. Serbia was a
brick wall in qualifying, I don't think they even got scored on, and
they were without one first choice defender for this game (suspended
from one international), so Argentina and Cote d'Ivoire aren't going to
have an easier time. Why they took Mateja Kezman and Savo Milosevic
both off relatively early in the game is a bit of a mystery, and Ruud
van Kneestillsore didn't do much for Holland. Argentina kept some
really talented players out against Cote d'Ivoire, so it's still too
early to say how this group will shape up. As of right now:

Argentina 3pts +1 2g
Holland 3pts +1 1g
Cote d'Ivoire 0pts -1 1g
Serbia 0pts -1 0g