Wednesday, 30th March, 2011
Having beaten Hungary 4-0 away from home last Friday, few expected Holland to have much trouble recording another comfortable Euro 2012 qualifying victory against the same country, least of all Rafael van der Vaart. But the midfielder ended the night as a relieved man.
Dutch fans were treated to a pulsating game which ended 5-3 and that needed two late Dirk Kuyt goals to settle the contest in their favour.
Holland raced into a 1-0 lead when Robin van Persie scored after just 13 minutes and when the teams headed in with the score still 1-0 at half time, it was hardly a portent for what was to come.
But the second half saw seven goals, with Hungary scoring in the 47th and 53rd minutes to lead 2-1. The Dutch struck back through Wesley Sneijder and Ruud van Nistelrooy to go 3-2 ahead, but then Zoltan Gera got his second with 15 minutes to play, leaving the score 3-3.
Holland needed Kuyt to pop up twice (79th and 81st minutes) to secure a 5-3 victory in what had been a rollercoaster ride.
"I am relieved", said Van der Vaart after the final whistle blew.
"Football is entertainment and we offered that tonight. The second half we played was dramatic, but it was also like that because of the rapid first goal and it did not become 2-0."
But Van der Vaart did admit coach Bert van Marwijk would not be best pleased, despite the three points.
"The coach will not be satisfied, but we won and that was ultimately the goal."
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