This is what Dutch people look like
A clinical NYC Holland side gained revenge for their nation’s 1978 World Cup humiliation at the hands of Gemmell, Dalglish, and co. with a 3-2 win over NYC Scotland in Brooklyn on Sunday.
And just like in their previous game against England, it was generous defending that was the downfall of the Scots on a sweltering sunny day.
The Dutch had done their homework on Scottish football: coach Iwan Vandervinne said they had watched several youtube reruns of that bit in “Trainspotting” where Archie Gemmell scores just as Mark Renton is having it off.
But in the first minute it was more like 1982 vs. Russia than 1978 vs. Holland when two right-footed defenders playing on the left side of defence combined in tragic fashion to leave Mick Soepboer with an easy one-on-one against a helpless Malky Anderson.
After this shaky start the Scots came strongly back into the game, steadied by the presence of big Adam “Mitch” Mitchison at the back alongside half-his-age-but-twice-as-good-looking Calvin Moyes.
Soon the Scottish midfield started moving the ball around the field and behind the Dutch defence, and Scott Cowan earned a deserved equaliser as he finished a fine passing move with a left-foot strike across the goal.
The Scots fairly dominated the play for a while but didn’t convert this into clear-cut chances or goals, so the teams went into half-time level.
The Dutch regrouped somewhat during the break, but the Scottish side still had the better of the play and this time converted it into a lead as Glen Reid tucked one past the keeper from the edge of the box.
But the Scots failed to hold on to the advantage, with some skilful work by the Oranje select ending with a tasty Hans Ingram strike to level the score.
Play opened up as both teams tired. Scotland had a few near-misses, but right at the death a failure to properly clear a Dutch corner left Nick Jansen with the ball at his feet a few yards out – and he tucked it away for a 3-2 win to the Oranje.
“We willen klompen en jurk in oranje te dragen,” said NYC Holland coach Vandervinne, who was wearing some kind of bionic knee implement during the match. “Kaas is onze favoriete eten en we ook graag pottenbakken en tulpen. Maar we houden niet van Duitsers!”
“I don’t stereotype people,” said NYC Scotland president Colin Reid. “But we played some real Dutch-style total football out there and deserved at least a draw against this race of giant blond Europeans.”
After the game, both squads headed to the nearby Isle of Skye pub (*) where the Scots explained how Dennis Bergkamp is named after Denis Law and that Queen’s Park invented the passing game in the 19th century, while the Dutch talked about their plans to visit Brazil for the World Cup next year.
NYC Scotland: Malky Anderson, David Sheridan, Mark Wilson, Calvin Moyes, Adam Mitchison, Alex Pole, Scott Cowan, Glen Reid, David Laird, Scott Lamont, Robbie Weir, Rory McCann, Mike McLaren, Niall Gordon.
Next up for NYC Scotland is a pair of games against Argentina and Uruguay on Randalls Island Field #74 from 3pm to 5pm on Sunday 9th June.
###
(*) The Isle of Skye is a great Scottish pub in Williamsburg (Driggs Av b/w N 9th and N 10th). We’re having a quiz night there on Thursday 13th – come and enter!
