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Euro 2008 News
Huntelaar Rues Woeful First Half
2008-03-27 18:39:18

Ajax striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar admitted Holland can kiss goodbye to their hopes of winning Euro 2008 if they play like they did in the first half of their 4-3 international friendly win over Austria on Wednesday.

The forward scored twice, including the 87th-minute winner, as Marco van Basten's side recovered from 3-0 down against the tournament co-hosts.

But, with Holland drawn in the so-called group of death alongside Italy, France and Romania, Huntelaar knows the team needs to improve significantly if they are to do more than just make up the numbers this summer.

He said: "If we start against Italy in the first match of Euro 2008 like we did on Wednesday in Vienna we can forget it."

The Oranje were three goals down inside 36 minutes against Austria, whose previous friendly outing had been a 3-0 defeat to Germany.

Huntelaar pulled a goal back before half-time and second-half strikes from John Heitinga (67) and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (82) pulled Holland level before Huntelaar's late winner.

But the former Heerenveen hitman did not believe a comeback was on the cards.

He added: "We had a bad first half. All the chances Austria got ended up in the net.

"In the second half we did not score a goal very early. Because of that you couldn't and wouldn't expect that we would turn the match around after all."

Holland's captain for the night Giovanni van Bronckhorst also admitted his side's performance in the opening 45 minutes had been woeful.

The Feyenoord full-back told the Dutch Football Association's (KNVB) official website: "We just started very poorly. We gave away the goals too easily, reacted badly to the corners. We made it very difficult for ourselves."

Marco van Basten selected a far from scratch side for the clash in Vienna, with Raphael van der Vaart, Clarence Seedorf, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie all featuring.

But the boss felt individual errors were responsible for the situation in which they found themselves at half-time.

He added: "We did not start too well and found ourselves 3-0 down because of unnecessary individual errors. Those should not happen but sport is often unpredictable.

"In any case, a number of things become clear. I have seen good things and some that were less good. And of course I am pleased that we have won."


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