Winning enough for van Marwijk

1 March 2012 04:11

Netherlands boss Bert van Marwijk was pleased with his side despite almost throwing away a two-goal lead against England on Wednesday.

Arjen Robben scored a 93rd-minute winner at Wembley after England almost pulled off a miraculous comeback, with goals from Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole erasing the visitors 2-0 lead.

But van Marwijk was not concerned about the late lapses, instead pleased to see his side win for the first time in four matches.

"We expect them to play like this," van Marwijk said. "The English squad have a lot of players who are very fast. That is a weapon so you have to defend well against England."

"For us we had the possibility to play football against England. It is a fantastic stadium, the pitch is unbelievably good. We like that. These are the games we like to play."

"It wasn't a great game but it was a spectacular second half from us and the spectators were entertained."

"I'm always glad after winning a game. We had two games where we didn’t played too well. For our team it’s important to win here."

"The first half was not that bad. After the Germany defeat, we didn’t want to lose the game in the first half through counter-attack. The second half was better because we had more opportunities on the counter-attack."

The Dutch did suffer several injuries though, with star striker Robin van Persie withdrawn due to a groin strain and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar breaking his nose in a nasty head clash with England defender Chris Smalling.

"He (van Persie) had a little bit of problems with his groin. So I spoke to him before the game to say that we don't take any risks. I said, 'You’re playing one half'," van Marwijk said.

"(Huntelaar) has a broken nose and is suffering from concussion. He has gone to hospital but it looks better in the dressing room than on the pitch."