Netherlands-Argentina – G. Hiddink: “We are physically very strong”

“I thought it was a good game which we could almost totally dominate, although there was always the danger of their key players.

We were dominating the midfield. You have to wait for the good passes from the midfield… then BERGKAMP (8) made a very intelligent lay-off, and KLUIVERT (9) was very controlled in scoring. At one point, we were in trouble, after the sending off of NEWMAN (5). Then when ORTEGA (ARGENTINA n°10) was sent off, we were equalised in terms of numbers, and then we saw the fantastic action of BERGKAMP.

We know that we are physically very strong because we had a long preparation stage in Switzerland and Holland, which was very well done. On the other hand, it’s good to have some players who don’t have the fatigue of the tournament, and the combination of those two things is very important.

With regard to the next match: the semi-final to be played against BRAZIL, and as to whether it will be a repeat of the 1994 quarter-final, it has to be said that this is the semi-final, so it’s one step ‘better’. We’re looking forward to playing BRAZIL. Today, we would like to enjoy this enormous success, and then we’ll start thinking about Tuesday. We’re looking forward to that game, because we know BRAZIL and they know us. It will be a very interesting contest.”