National stadium
Spectators: 5149 (Terracing: 3862,
Seating: 1184, VIP seats: 103) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Svetaslav Yanchyk started the match with the kick off. Frenkie de Jong received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 4th minute. Stepan Firago tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Tadej Pogačar showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Svetaslav Yanchyk in the 5th minute of the match. Stepan Firago showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Frenkie de Jong, who was totally free with the ball in the 8th minute. After some fancy dribbling in the 10th minute, Frenkie de Jong managed to get in a good position for a shot. Netherlands's supporters rose to their feet, but Frenkie de Jong was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Stepan Firago breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The audience thought a goal was coming when Svetaslav Yanchyk got free with Tadej Pogačar in the 11th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 12 minutes had been played when some careless play by Netherlands's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Patap Rebryn was slow to take the kick. During this time Belarus's players had a chance to rest. Belarus's Stepan Firago played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Guus Harmsen in the 15th minute of play. When Robin Boelens fell near the penalty area in the 16th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Netherlands's protests and gave Robin Boelens a yellow card for diving instead. The supporters of Belarus booed when Netherlands was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 16 match minutes in a wonderful position. Robin Boelens didn't get a good kick on the ball. After 18 played minutes Belarus got a freekick which was hit by Marat Lebedev. Stepan Firago took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Frenkie de Jong, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Stepan Firago made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Guus Harmsen in the 23rd minute of play. The audience was convinced that Guus Harmsen's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Stepan Firago was relentless in the 25th minute of the game. Stepan Firago came out of the goal in the 29th minute to try and stop a shot by Netherlands's Frenkie de Jong. But to his dismay, Frenkie de Jong quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-1. Netherlands's Corné van Basten quite brazenly broke a throw-in by Svetaslav Navojka, made in the 34th minute of the game. Stepan Firago stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Frenkie de Jong's shot from short distance in the 36th minute. The audience was convinced that Frenkie de Jong's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Stepan Firago was relentless in the 36th minute of the game. Svetaslav Yanchyk could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 37th minute of the match, but Tadej Pogačar made a huge save. After having played for 38 minutes, Marinus Doren managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Netherlands's supporters crossed their fingers, but Marinus Doren was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. With an all-out effort, Belarus's Tadej Pogačar threw himself towards the right post 43 minutes into the match and grabbed hold of the ball from Vadim Borisenko, which otherwise would have been placed in the net. Vadim Borisenko sent away a hard shot on goal in the 45th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 48th minute Frenkie de Jong shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Stepan Firago saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 0-1 lead.
The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Guus Harmsen to strike the kick off in the second half. In the 52nd minute Frenkie de Jong shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Stepan Firago saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Svetaslav Navojka hit a great freekick 53 minutes into the match. After a defensive mix-up in Belarus's zone, Frenkie de Jong stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Stepan Firago came out of the goal and Frenkie de Jong tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Frenkie de Jong could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 60th minute of the match, but Stepan Firago made a huge save. In the 62nd minute the ball was on its way in behind Belarus's goalkeeper Stepan Firago, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Belarus's Stepan Firago played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Guus Harmsen in the 63rd minute of play. Stepan Firago was in the perfect position, and the defense had done a good job marking him, but Frenkie de Jong showcased his skills and made a perfect shot to score 0-2 in the 65 minute of play. Frenkie de Jong could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 68th minute of the match, but Stepan Firago made a huge save. An unexpectedly hard shot by Guus Harmsen in the 70th minute of play forced Belarus's goalkeeper Stepan Firago to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Frenkie de Jong blasted a shot towards the goal in the 74th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Stepan Firago having to make a save. In the 74th minute Frenkie de Jong shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Stepan Firago saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Stepan Firago showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Guus Harmsen in the 78th minute of the match. Stepan Firago showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Guus Harmsen in the 78th minute of the match. 79 minutes into the match, Netherlands's Frenkie de Jong sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Stepan Firago narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Stepan Firago took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Guus Harmsen, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Netherlands's Marco Hegeman was substituted for Robin Boelens. Netherlands's Joop Bakker was substituted for Marinus Doren. Netherlands's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Frenkie de Jong in the 85th minute. The corner ended in Corné van Basten almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Belarus's Stepan Firago did a great save. Belarus's Stepan Firago proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 91st minute of the match, managed to save Belarus from getting a goal against them. Frenkie de Jong hit a great freekick 93 minutes into the match. The Belarus supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching Netherlands's performance. The match ended with a win for Netherlands.
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