Dutch gamble on star winger Robben's fitness pays off (Feature)

By Michael Logan Jul 4, 2010, 15:40 GMT

Cape Town - Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk took a calculated risk when he brought an unfit Arjen Robben to South Africa, but that gamble has paid off in spades.

Since his first appearance as a substitute in the last group match, Robben has looked every inch the match-winner. He is now expected to be a key man in Tuesday's semi-final with Uruguay in Cape Town.

The former Chelsea and Real Madrid winger's rapidly balding scalp makes him look older than his 26 years. But his skill, direct running and wicked shot reveal a player approaching the peak of his career.

Robben has winners' medals from the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga and the German Bundesliga. This year he was a Champions' League finalist with Bayern Munich and was voted the best player in Germany.

But Robben has had more than his fair share of injuries, and when he pulled up with a hamstring problem during a World Cup warm-up match, it looked like the curse had struck again.

Van Marwijk, knowing how crucial Robben is to the attacking options of a Dutch side that favours a more cautious approach, brought him along in the hope he would recover.

And recover he did.

The Bayern Munich man made an instant impact when he came on for the last twenty minutes of a meaningless final group match against Cameroon.

The Dutch were huffing and puffing at 1-1, when a trademark Robben move handed them victory. He cut inside from the right and cracked a left-foot shot off the post, leaving Klaas Jan Huntelaar with a tap-in.

You would think that Slovakia, the Netherlands' next opponents in the Round of 16, hadn't watched the game given that almost exactly the same thing happened again.

Robben picked up the ball in the same position, cut in again and this time put his left-foot shot into the bottom corner, giving his team the lead in a game they eventually won 2-1.

But Slovak boss Vladimir Weiss said it was simply a case of Robben being too good.

'We were preparing for three days for Robben, for his way of playing but he is an absolute genius,' Weiss said after the game. 'When I saw him in the line-up I knew he would make the Dutch 50-per-cent stronger and I was correct.'

Robben didn't score in the victory over Brazil, but his scampering runs down the wing drew all kinds of fouls and it was Robben whom Felipe Melo stamped on to earn himself a red card.

It is this kind of form that has made Robben so valuable to the Dutch in the 42 caps he has amassed despite his relative youth and injury problems.

The Oranje will be hoping he keeps it up for the next few games as the Netherlands looks to shake off the tag of being the best footballing nation never to have won a World Cup.