Dutch finally discover their winning system

THE Dutch struggle to survive group D finally ended with a place in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals against Sweden on Saturday and in the process they finally found the tactics that suit them best.

The Netherlands began conservatively against the Germans in their first match by playing with two defensive midfielders but they struggled throughout the game and were lucky to draw.

“It proved that the system did not suit us best and then we changed to one midfielder just in front of the defence and two proper wingers,” Philip Cocu said yesterday.