WHAT THE FUCK DO WE NEED TO DO TO WIN A FUCKING SHOOTOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holland ended brave England's European Championship hopes with a dramatic 13-12 sudden death penalty shoot-out victory in Heerenveen.
Gianni Zuiverloon scored the crucial winning penalty in the 16th round of spot-kicks to send the hosts and holders into the final after Anton Ferdinand had seen his penalty come back off the crossbar.
Maceo Rigters' last-gasp goal cancelled out Leroy Lita's first half opener to force the game into extra-time and the marathon shoot-out.
Dutch full-back Gianni Zuiverloon had the first shot on goal after 18 minutes when he latched onto Daniel de Ridder's pass and drove his shot over the crossbar.
De Ridder had a sight of goal on 23 minutes, but the winger dragged his shot well wide of the target.
Ryan Babel wasted a great chance to score three minutes later when strike partner Mace Rigters teed him up on the edge of the box, but the Ajax ace curled his shot straight into the arms of Scott Carson.
Babel looked the man most likely for Holland when he cut past three challenges and exchanged passes with De Ridder only to clip his shot harmlessly over the top.
England broke the deadlock on 39 minutes with Lita netting his third goal of the tournament.
David Nugent flicked on a long punt upfield from Carson to Lita who cleverly turned Ron Vlaar inside the box before volleying his effort past Boy Waterman at his near post.
Holland tried to hit back before the break, but Hedwiges Maduro and De Ridder failed to trouble Carson with their shots from the edge of the box.
Leighton Baines failed to return for the second half because of injury and Liam Rosenior replaced him at left-back.
England were unlucky not to double their lead on 50 minutes when Lita smashed a free-kick on the edge of the box against the post after Ashley Young was felled by Vlaar.
Holland threw more and more men forward in search of an equaliser and Maduro fired in a long-range effort which Carson parried away and from the rebound Steven Taylor got a vital block on Rigters's effort.
England suffered a blow 15 minutes from time when Mark Noble picked up a booking to rule him out of the final. Things got worse for England five minutes later when skipper Nigel Reo-Coker picked up a costly booking to also rule him out of the showpiece final after chopping down Roy Beerens.
England had a lucky escape on 85 minutes when Babel got down the right and flashed a dangerous cross right across the face of goal which Steven Taylor just about managed to clear.
Holland drew level a minute from time with a controversial strike from Rigters.
With Taylor down injured inside the box the home side refused to kick the ball out of play and Ryan Donk headed a ball back across goal for Rigters to acrobatically volley home from close-range.
Babel almost won it for Holland in the dying seconds when he flashed a fierce free-kick just inches over the crossbar, but the game was forced into extra-time to decide who would reach the final.
England's problems increased in the first period of extra-time with Nedum Onuoha being forced off with a groin injury leaving Stuart Pearce's men to play the remainder of extra-time with just ten men having already used all their allocated substitutes.
Six minutes from the end of extra-time James Milner picked up a booking to see him suspended for the final.
Despite their numerical disadvantage England battled manfully to keep out Holland and force the game into a dreaded penalty shoot-out.
Arnold Kruiswijk missed the chance to win the game for Holland when he fired his penalty over the top after Reo-Coker missed his effort in sudden death.
The tenth penalty sparked controversy as the injured Taylor appeared to be excused from taking a penalty, but after complaints from Holland coach Foppe De Haan the referee changed his mind and the Newcastle defender was forced to take his penalty and he kept his cool to score.
Holland fluffed a second chance to win the game when De Ridder saw his effort saved by Carson after Matt Derbyshire had seen his spot-kick saved by Waterman.
Ferdinand missed England's 16th penalty allowing Zuiverloon the chance to score the crucial spot-kick to send Holland into the final.
Its nice to our U21s can take penalties as the senior team fucking suck. But fucking hell are we ever gonna get any luck, and how the fuck did Scott Carson only save one penalty and concede 13, thats pretty shit. Seriously we are leading 1-0 til the 89th min and the centre half twists his ankle so he can't defend a cross and they score WTF and then we lose a player to injury so we've got 9 fit players and 1 playing on 1 leg, all that bad luck and Holland still manage to score 13 fucking penalties. Until they abolish shootouts England will never win anything![]()
Bookmarks