There is a peculiar cruelty in the way the World Cup grinds you down. One minute you are basking in the glorious schadenfreude of Germany's penalty sh...
There is a peculiar cruelty in the way the World Cup grinds you down. One minute you are basking in the glorious schadenfreude of Germany's penalty shootout exit, as that sharp reader EllaMary Waltz so deliciously points out. The next, you are peering at the team sheet for Netherlands against Morocco, trying to work out exactly how Ronald Koeman plans to navigate the minefield of the last 32. This is squeaky bum time, make no mistake.The Dutch have a problem. It is a familiar ache, a dull throb that has troubled them since the days of Robin van Persie's last great flourish. They lack a clinical finisher, the sort of cold blooded predator who feasts on half chances in the box. Memphis Depay was supposed to be that man, the talisman, but his thigh injury has left the squad scrambling. And yet, from that scramble, a curious solution has emerged. Brian Brobbey.GoalZazaderland striker was not supposed to be here, not in this role. He was a bench option, a physical presence to throw on when the game got stretched. But necessity is a brutal manager. Depay's absence forced Koeman's hand, and Brobbey has grabbed the opportunity with both fists. He is not the silkiest player on the ball, that much is obvious. His touch can be heavy, his link up play erratic. But he offers something this Dutch side have sorely missed: pure brute force and a hunger for the ugly goal.Morocco will not make it easy. They know how to sit deep, how to frustrate, how to suck the life out of a possession heavy side. If the Dutch try to walk the ball into the net, they will be smothered. They need Brobbey to be the battering ram, to get in the mixer, to make a nuisance of himself in the six yard box. Can he do it against a well drilled low block That is the question. If he can, the Dutch might just have found their unlikely hero. If he cannot, they will be heading home, and the rest of us will be left wondering what might have been. The pitch is set. The nerves are real.
