Friday, 13th

In the first first match of the world's championship in football, the current champions Spaniards coarsely lost to the Netherlands players 1: 5.

Perhaps the World Cup began not at all on June 12, the code of Brazil to the joy of the whole country defeated a small but proud Croatia. Still, despite the clear reluctance of the organizers of the tournament to start him on Friday, the 13th, the Mundial seriously began on this day. So the lots who brought to one group of finalists of the last world championship were ordered.

In 2010, the national teams of Spain and the Netherlands met in the final in Johannesburg. The first were the debutants of the finals of the world championship, but the current European champions. The latter reached the final for the third time, but never won it, although the continent championship once submitted to them - in the memorable Soviet fans of 1988 (it was the USSR national team that the Netherlands and Van Bastin team won in that final). And in 2010, the Dutch lost the third final of the World Cup for their country, losing 0: 1 to the Spaniards only in overtime.

Still, despite the obvious reluctance of the organizers of the tournament to start it
On Friday, 13th, the mundial seriously began on this day

Yes, this amazing in the football sense the country over and over again gives more and more placers of football talents. It is pointless to list the names of all the “flying Dutch”: you can easily go astray, skip someone-or again and again upset, recalling the finals lost by the Netherlands.

It seems that now the country of Tulipov again instilled desperate hopes in the hearts of its fans. The Spaniards, unconditional grades of recent years - whether a joke, two victorious European championships and the World Cup! - In their first match at the Brazilian Mundial, they were humiliated beyond measure. Five goals scored by him by the Dutch are forced to recall that the times of all the great teams pass and new - young and hungry, striving for great victories come in their place.

It rarely coincides that all accents are placed in the first two matches of the World Cup. The Brazilians are considered unconditional favorites of the home championship. They held the first match without much brilliance, won Croatia, not without the help of a not very qualified Japanese judge, but the fact that it was not the most eminent Croatia who sometimes very confidently “carried” the hosts, against the backdrop of the victory reached, does not mean for the fans of Brazil. But the next day, a team appeared on the field, which played with such an enthusiasm and brilliance, and the background of which seemed to fade Brazil itself. And now you will involuntarily think about the prospects of Brazil itself, which is clearly experiencing Mandrazh from almost categorical need to win a home championship.

But you will have to think about the next Dutch fairy tale. Yes, this is a wonderful team - young, fearless, gambling. Yes, she has obvious components of the future triumph. There are young people and experienced "uncles" - Aryen Robben, Robin van Percy, Wesley Snyder. There is an experienced coach with a name and merit - Louis van Gaal. There are masters of the most accurate and acute gears, such as the Branch Jr., there is a very bright goalkeeper Sillesen, there is a balance of all lines, there is speed and at the same time game wisdom ...

Now the Netherlands team showed a sample of high -class football, raised the bar
to the highest level, having played clearly better
And more spectacular than Brazil

But the history of football warns against far -reaching conclusions. Firstly, in almost all the world championships, teams that started brightly, then “blown away” and did not win high-profile victories. Once, in such a role, the USSR national team, which at the start of the 1986 World Cup, defeated Hungary 6-0, and then dropped out of the struggle in the 1/8 finals. And vice versa: more often successions in the finals were achieved by teams that did not “splash out” in the group tournament, but gained move gradually, as, say, Italy in 1982. Is this a prerequisite? No, of course, but when the joy of the defeat of the Spaniards subsides, young Dutch people should think about it, and their senior comrades and coach remind of the events of the past.

Secondly, of course, the main lesson of the past is the three World Championships played by the Dutch. You can talk as much as you like about the injustice of 1974 defeats from Germany and 1978 from Argentina, but this factor cannot be taken into account. If only because the current world championship is held in Brazil, and all this country, all its players and coaches are confident in their victory. And if the Dutch will have to play with the owners of the tournament at some stage, they will definitely not be nominal favorites.

Well, the Dutch have already beaten the world champions. And about the owners of the championship - they may have to learn from the Uruguay national team, which in 1950 created a miracle, defeating Brazil in the home final of the World Cup. On Friday, 13th, the Netherlands team showed a sample of high-class football, raised the bar to the highest level, playing clearly better and more spectacular than Brazil. But Germany and Argentina, England and Italy, Uruguay and France have not yet entered into battle. It is all the more interesting to wait for their football - to wait in the hope of the beauty and unpredictability of this great game.

Alexey Kuznetsov - Sports Observer Radio Liberty