Holland U21 4-1 Serbia
U21
Maceo Rigters picked up the golden boot as Holland Under-21s
retained their European Championship crown by crushing 10-man
Serbia in soggy Groningen.
Rigters scored his fourth goal of the tournament hosted by the
Dutch but the damage had already been inflicted by Otman Bakkal and
Ryan Babel before the NAC Breda forward edged ahead of Leroy Lita
in the goalscoring charts.
After Rigters slotted in his goal, Aleksandar Kolarov was
dismissed, Babel had a penalty saved and Dragan Mrdja pulled one
back in a one-sided final which meant back-to-back titles for Foppe
De Haan's youngsters. Substitute Luigi Bruins completed the scoring
with a late tap-in.
Referee Damir Skomina was told to halt the final if there was a
repeat of the racist chants that marred Serbia's clash with England
earlier in the tournament. Although flares were lit just after the
interval, play at Euroborg Stadion went on uninterrupted.
Skomina was kept busy early on with matters on the pitch as tackles
flew in on the slick surface, with Roysten Drenthe given a
ninth-minute yellow card for clipping Antonio Rukavina.
Drenthe, Holland's player of the tournament, missed a chance at the
far post in the opening stages, but Jong Oranje were ahead in the
17th minute.
Daniel De Ridder dribbled in from the right flank and flicked the
ball over the Serbia defence, with Bakkal holding off Rukavina and
stabbing home.
Bakkal had a chance to double his tally but had an effort saved,
while De Ridder sliced a glorious opportunity over when he was
found at the far post.
Despite looking good value for their lead, the hosts were given a
huge let-off nine minutes from the break when goalkeeper Boy
Waterman totally mis-judged a tame free-kick from Kolarov, with the
ball rebounding off the upright.
Waterman also missed a corner but Dusko Tosic could not direct his
header in.
The Holland goalkeeper made saves after the interval from Dusan
Basta and Bosko Jankovic, yet Babel doubled the lead on the hour
mark. Serbia failed to clear De Ridder's low cross from the right
and Babel steered the ball.
It got worse for Serbia as Kolarov was dismissed for two bookings,
the second for sliding in on Babel just after he scored.
Babel set up Rigters to round Damir Kahriman in the 67th minute and
finish for his goal, but Kahriman then clawed away Babel's
spot-kick.
Mrdja's consolation came from a near-post header with 11 minutes
remaining, and Bruins tapped in to complete the scoring.
Cheers.
CK