Well, Dutch are simply better than us right now and that's it.
They're definitely not 6-1 better than us but the combination of Yugoslavia missing Mirkovic, Djorovic, Jokanovic (all first choices) and having Jugovic playing injured plus playing in Rotterdam in front of 50,000 Dutch fans contributed to score being what it is.
I repeat once again: even if the above guys played and game being in Rotterdam, the Dutch would probably still win but it would be a lot closer.
Now for Yugoslavia and how they played tonight as well as in the rest of tournament:
Kralj - I really don't like this guy. He makes some spectacular saves but is unable to deal with simplest crosses, shots etc.. He is terrible coming out and his hesitation gave Kluivert 2 goals today (although the dead-horse Miha should've reacted faster, too). Was a bit better in the other games in the tournament but I think it's now clear more than ever that Yugoslavia needs a new keeper.
DEFENCE:
Djukic - Definitely our best defender. I've never seen him used on the flank in a big match until today and he did decent enough job but that left a gaping hole in our central defense which...
...Saveljic - wasn't able to cover. I've seen him play some good football for Bordeaux but was terrible today and generally played poor in the tournament.
Miha - Still an important part of our team but had a very sub-par tournament. Up to now his defensive deficiencies were overlooked due to his play-making abilities and expertise in dead-ball situations. Definitely needs somebody to cover for him in the center of defense (in Lazio he's got Nesta and in NT there's Djukic. Who, of course, wasn't there today due to Boskov's 'brilliant' setup). Miha was never an agile player, and is now getting older and slower in a hurry.
Komljenovic - Did OK playing on the right instead of Mirkovic. Should be around the team in the future.
MIDFIELD:
Jugovic - Had a great tournament. But a back injury he picked up vs. Spain, prevented him from playing better against Holland.
Piksi - Still a feisty figure, but too old to be able to contribute fully to a team. Boskov didn't really plan on using him at all as a starter, but Dejan Stankovic's failure to impose himself in midfield meant that Piksi got his chance one last time. Was excellent as a sub against Slovenia, good game vs. Norway, average vs. Spain and pretty bad against Holland. His inability to contribute defensively has always been a minus in games like tonight where the other team forces you to play in your own half most of the time.
Govedarica - Just terrible. This guy couldn’t connect a pass tonight if his life depended on it. Only got his chance because Jokanovic was suspeded and did awful trying to replace him. Not that Jokanovic was sooo good in the matches he played, in the first place, but still is Maradona compared to Govedar.
Drulovic - Revelation of this tournament for me. Unfortunatelly, he’s past 30 and that fact makes me wanna punch that idiot Slobodan Santrac in the face for not using him more in the past. If there was one good thing that Boskov did as a coach it’s giving Drulovic a regular place in midfield.
FORWARDS:
Mijat- After France ’98 he cited a lack of service from midfield as a reason for his poor showing. Well, this time he got plenty of it and the overall impression he left on me was even worse than in France two years ago. He missed 2-3 sitters against Norway, and who knows what could’ve happened had he been able to score in 10th minute when he was alone in front of van der Sar. He was relieved of his midfield duties, so since he can't buy a goal, is now completely useless.
Savo Milosevic - One of the few bright spots in our team. Every time he had a chance to score he took it. What more can you ask from a forward.
SUBS:
Kovacevic - Not many chances to play. Was completely overshadowed by Savo. I’d like to see them play alongside each other in a normal game (they did tonight for about 20 minutes with no major results).
Dejan Stankovic - EURO 2000 was supposed to be his coming out party. It was anything but, replaced after 20 minutes vs. Slovenia, he never re-appeared until last 20 minutes vs. Holland. Perhaps, Boskov was a bit too hard on him but his bad form for Lazio which started in the second half of Serie A season has carried right over into EURO 2000.
The biggest problem for us in this tournament was that left side of defence. Djorovic getting injured in Spain game was a huge blow. In Slovenia game, Boskov started midfielder Albert Nadj as a left back in Djora’s place which means that Djorovic had some injury problems even before. So, why oh, why then didn’t Boskov pick somebody like Mladen Krstajic in the team, who’s a natural left back who’d be able to cover for Djora, instead of filling that spot with midfielders like Jovan Stankovic and Nadj and playing them out of their natural position.
Today vs. Holland he put Djukic out wide and as I said he didn’t do badly but then the center was exposed and the Dutch used that to put the game out of reach in the first half.
All in all, this is our ceiling right now. Yes, I’m very disappointed but realistically it was tough expecting us to do any better under the circumstances.
