Match Review THE NETHERLANDS vs CROATIA Third place play-off. Croatia 2 - 1 The Netherlands. Parc de Princes, Paris. This was a match which provided spectators with 45 minutes of carefree, attacking football, and then a second 45 minutes of niggle, niggle, niggle. It was also a match which the Netherlands dominated every statistic except the most important one - the score. The Dutch had a huge advantage possession-wise, and also dominated territorially, but they just could not turn that pressure into goals. However, to say that Croatia did not deserve to win would be uncharitable in the extreme. The Croatians scored two beautifully crafted goals, and showed the world that counter-attacking football can not only be effective, but can also be quite attractive. Many teams throughout France 98 have tried to play a game based around containing the opposition and then hitting them on the break, but only one - Croatia - has had any success with these tactics. Sport is full of fairytales, and there were two written during the course of this match. For Croatia, taking home a third-place getter’s medal in its first World Cup finals campaign can only be described as a fairytale, or perhaps a minor miracle. The second fairytale belongs to Croatia striker Davor Suker who, depending on events tomorrow morning, looks like being France 98’s golden boot winner. Unless Ronaldo can score a hat-trick against France in the final, and that looks unlikely even for the world’s top-rated striker, then Suker’s six goals for the tournament will be enough to give him at least a share of the award. It’s a remarkable achievement for a man who has virtually been cast into the wilderness by his club, Real Madrid. No doubt his performances in France will see a host of clubs interested in securing his services for the coming season. But it was not all sweetness and light for all the Croatians. Throughout this match, the mostly French crowd booed, jeered and whistled everytime Slaven Bilic touched the ball. Bilic was the player pushed by Laurent Blanc in the semi-final between France and Croatia. Bilic went down holding his face, Blanc was sent off - and so will miss the final - and the Croatian was labelled a cheat, and worse, by the French supporters. To his credit, though obviously upset by this treatment at the start of the match, Bilic put it behind him and turned in a professional, error-free performance typical of the way he has played throughout France 98. This morning’s match started brightly, with both sides attacking, and creating chances. But after 13 minutes it was Croatia who struck, with a beautifully worked goal. Suker started the movement with a ball knocked into space for wingback Robert Jarni to run on to. Jarni held the ball up long enough for support to arrive, and squared it to Robert Prosinecki. His turn beat the defender and he fired a right-footed shot past Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. Prior to the goal it was the Dutch who had gone closest, with a freekick by Wim Jonk flying just over the bar. Shortly after his side went one down, Jonk sent another two shots - one in open play and the other a set move from a freekick - whistling just over the crossbar. On 20 minutes Patrick Kluivert had a chance to equalise after a quick freekick, but the massively impressive Croatian goalkeeper Drazen Ladic was smartly off his line to smother the shot. Moments later, the Netherlands were back on equal terms, the goal coming after a mazy run down the right by Zenden. Betraying the fact that he’s more a left-sided player, Boudewijn Zenden cut in at the end of his run, and hit a fierce shot with the outside of his left foot. The ball swerved so wickedly it sent Ladic the wrong way, and by the time he’d realised his error of judgement, he was only able to get a fingertip to the ball as it flew into the net. Four minutes later Zenden was in the action again, this time sliding a good ball in to Dennis Bergkamp, but the danger was cleared before the Dutch striker could shoot. It was a strangely subdued Bergkamp on display in this match, following his almost anonymous showing in the semi-final against Brazil. After the magical goal he produced to knock Argentina out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage, much was expected of the Arsenal star at the serious end of the finals, but he has failed to deliver. Ten minutes before half-time, Croatia regained the lead, with Suker’s sixth goal for France 98. Again, it was a beautifully worked move, this time started by Prosinecki who played a ball in to for Asanovic who made ground down the Croatian right. He held the ball up before playing it inside to Zvonimir Boban, who passed it square towards Suker. As a defender moved in, Suker dummied as if to trap the ball, then fired a left-footed shot which went like a Japanese bullet train between the defender’s legs and past van der Sar, who could only stand and watch as it crashed into the net. This goal opened the game up further and Soldo almost capitalised on a 70 metre charge from defence to join an attacking move for Croatia. No sooner had that move broken down than Kluivert was playing a one-two with Bergkamp before crossing to Clarence Seedorf who drew another good save from Ladic. Then Croatia could have gone further ahead with Prosinecki freeing Jarni, who played the ball on to Boban, but he was shepherded wide by Frank de Boer and his shot his the side-netting. Sadly for the neutral, the second-half didn’t come close to approaching the excitement of the first, and fizzled into a series of fouls. In fact, had the match been a more important one, it could have become spiteful, with players from both sides reacting after being fouled. Bergkamp again showed a worrying tendancy to lead with his elbows when making aerial challenges, at one point early in the second half felling Stimac. If anything, during the second-half the Dutch domination increased, and Seedorf, Kluivert and Marc Overmars - on as a half-time substitute - could have scored but for good work by Ladic. In the end the Netherlands just could not convert domination into points, and it was Croatia, and Suker in particular, who won the day. There was always the suspicion that the Croatians would be a little stronger mentally than the Dutch coming into this match. While Croatia was delighted to have progressed this far into the tournament, the Dutch were shattered after their semi-final loss, not only because they went out to the cruelest cut of all - penalties - but also because they would have fancied their chances to lift the trophy had they made the final. In the end, that mental edge may have been just enough to push Croatia over the line. Croatia -Ladic, Jarni, Soldo, Bilic, Stimac, Asanovic, Prosinecki (Vlaovic), Stanic, Boban (Tudor), Jurcic, Suker. The Netherlands - Van der Sar, Numan, Staam, F de Boer, Jonk, Davids, Zenden, Cocu (Overmars), Seedorf, Bergkamp (Van Hooijdonk), Kluivert.