Saturday June 26th

Dutch Bury Penalty Jinx

The Netherlands finally won a penalty shootout, after a 0-0 draw with Sweden. Isaksson pushed away a shot by Robben in the 10th minute, and in the 33rd minute he punched away Cocu's strike for another corner kick. Svensson's 42nd minute shot came off a defender. In t he 56th minute Ibrahimovic came close when Stam missed a clearance, and van Nistelrooy's 62nd minute shot came off the keeper. Ljungberg turned and shot wide in the 74th minute, and Makaay's shot, which went over the bar, was the last kick of the second half, which produced very few changes. Extra time was much more exciting. With only 3 minutes gone Isaksson couldn't hold on to a shot by Robben and the ball came off the post. In the 9th minute Isaksson had to get down to punch away a shot by Seedorf, and van Nistelrroy met a cross, but shot over. In the last minute of the half, Källström's shot from inside the area went wide, and 2 minutes into the second half of extra time Isaksson made a one-handed save from a fierce Seedorf free kick. Larsson turn in the 22nd minute to get a shot in, but it struck the post, and with 4 minutes remaining Ljungberg came closest when his shot beat van der Sar, but came off the woodwork. The match had to be decided by penalty kicks, and after Ibrahimovic and Cocu had missed their spot kicks, it went to sudden death where Mellberg failed to convert, and Robben scored to insure a semi-final place against Portugal.