Here we go again. For the third consecutive World Cup, the Netherlands have found their stomachs churning from twelve yards, only to be left counting...
Here we go again. For the third consecutive World Cup, the Netherlands have found their stomachs churning from twelve yards, only to be left counting the cost. The Oranje now possess a curiously persistent mental block. Against Morocco, they were largely nullified by a disciplined Atlas Lions defence and paid the ultimate price when Ismael Saibari stepped up to slot the winning penalty. That ball hitting the net was a moment of repressed fury for the North Africans, who for large spells of the second half appeared the more assertive side.The equaliser, slotted home by a Moroccan forward who exploited a rare gap in the Dutch block, was enough to force the tie into the lottery that the Netherlands seem fated to lose. Coach Ronald Koeman looked haunted on the touchline, his tactical tweaks in extra time failing to break the Moroccan low block. You could argue that the Dutch lack a true killer in the final third, a striker with that instinct to punish sides that refuse to engage. But the narrative now is not about their finishing. It is about the penalty spot. Their bottle. And that is a far more damning indictment.Meanwhile, in a match that sent shockwaves through Stuttgart, Paraguay pulled off the upset of the tournament so far. They knocked out Germany. On penalties. Again, we saw the script: Germany pressing high, dominating possession, but finding a stubborn Paraguayan rearguard that refused to be breached. The flashpoint came deep into added time when Jonathan Tah thought he had bundled the ball home. The referee's whistle cut the celebrations short. A foul. A shove on the Paraguay goalkeeper. Was it the right decision From this chair, it looked soft. Very soft. But football does not care about sentiment. The VAR check confirmed the call, and Manuel Neuer's side were left to rue a late conceded equaliser that forced the shootout.So two European heavyweights exit in the same evening. The Netherlands carry the mental baggage of three straight shootout defeats. Germany carry the sting of a controversial refereeing decision and a failure to kill the game when they were on top. Morocco, now buzzing with confidence, meet Canada in the Round of 16. A winnable tie for Saibari and company. Paraguay They face a potential date with Spain or Japan, and on this evidence, no one should take them lightly. Sometimes, this sport just loves to kick the establishment in the shins.What we saw here was the raw, unglamorous side of knockout football. Clinical finishing is vital, but so is nerve, so is luck, and so is the ability to suffer without panic. The Dutch and the Germans, for all their sophisticated tactical systems, could not manage that on the night. The Atlas Lions roared. The Guaraní warriors pierced the German armour. And the beautiful game reminded us, yet again, why we love and loathe it in equal measure.
