Netherlands 0-0 France: Dutch denied victory after VAR controversy

The man in the black mask came out on to the pitch at the Red Bull Arena for the warm-up before the match and went through all his routines. He adjusted the mask gingerly a few times, getting used to how it felt, trying to make sure it was best protecting his broken nose.

He warmed up on the touchline in the second half as the match between France and the Netherlands remained stuck in a stalemate and watched as Olivier Giroud and Kingsley Coman, were introduced as attacking second half substitutions.

He watched as France, and particularly Antoine Griezmann, who had been drafted into attack in his place, missed a series of gilt-edged chances and still the France manager, Didier Deschamps, decided he did not want to risk him.

And so the match between two giants ended goalless and unfulfilled. It ended with that nagging feeling that it had been waiting for something that had never arrived. It had been waiting for Kylian Mbappe.

This match was a game that showed us what France are without Mbappe: a wonderful side, full of quality and grace and verve but a side that lacks a cutting edge. Any team would miss the best player in the world and France are no different.

In the end, they were even a little fortunate that Holland had a goal from Xavi Simons ruled out by Anthony Taylor because Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to be in an offside positon interfering with goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

It just had to be an English referee at the centre of the first real VAR controversy of this European Championship.

The reality is that France had not won any of the previous six games they had played without Mbappe in the starting line-up and they never looked convinced they would win this. 

The bad news for the other leading contenders to win these Euros is that he will probably be back for France’s last group game against Poland and for the rest of the tournament.

Mbappe, who broke his nose badly during France’s opening game victory against Austria on Monday when his face smashed into the shoulder of Austria defender Kevin Danso, had recovered sufficiently to be among the substitutes.

He had been taken to hospital in an ambulance after the game in Dusseldorf and there had been some fears he might miss the rest of the tournament but he has recovered well and took part in the warm-up. 

Griezmann was pushed up into attack to take his place there and Aurelien Tchouameni moved into Griezmann’s spot in midfield. Mbappe or not, the game got off to an electric, frenetic start.

Only a minute had gone when Jeremie Frimpong raced clear and scuffed a shot through the legs of Theo Hernandez. It was creeping inside the far post until Mike Maignan got his fingertips to it and pushed it wide.

France hit back a couple of minutes later. They orchestrated a break of their own and when the ball was played back to their captain, Antoine Griezmann, his rasping, rising drive was touched over by Bart Verbruggen.

The game barely had a chance to catch its breath. France seemed certain to score when a brilliant backheel in the box left Adrien Rabiot with only Verbruggen to beat. Rabiot squared the ball to Griezmann for a tap-in but Griezmann got his feet tangled up and fell over. He tried to prod it back to Rabiot but could not direct it. France players held their heads in their hands.

Griezmann shot narrowly wide and at the other end, Cody Gakpo cut in from the left and curled a low shot towards the far corner. It was sneaking inside the post before Maignan dived full length to turn it away.

Marcus Thuram timed his run brilliantly to beat offside and sprint clear but then spoiled his good work by blazing over from an angle from ten yards out and a Griezmann free kick from a dangerous area on the edge of the box was blocked by the leaping Dutch wall. 

Griezmann won a corner soon after that and, as he waited to take it, the Holland fans in the seats behind him hurled several plastic cups full of beer at him. Twice, he had to pick up the cups and toss them to the sideline before he could take the corner. It was an ugly moment.

The second half began more attritionally but that pattern was broken ten minutes into it when Ousmane Dembele, who had already used his pace to embarrass his markers, escaped down the right and crossed to the back post. It fell to Rabiot six yards out but he sliced it high and wide.

Tchouameni directed a header just too high from a corner but France, with N’Golo Kante orchestrating directing and orchestrating and hurrying and harassing at the heart of midfield, were starting to turn up the heat.

Midway through the half, France missed another golden opportunity to take the lead. Once more, Griezmann was the culprit. France worked an intricate move in the Holland box and Kante played the ball to Griezmann three yards out.

Griezmann, normally such a cultured and technically assured player, allowed the ball to squirm away from him with his first touch and then had to stretch to try to squeeze his shot past Verbruggen. There was no power in it and the goalkeeper pushed it wide.

Holland thought they had scored when Memphis Depay’s shot was saved by Maignan and Xavi Simons lashed in the rebound. But Denzel Dumfries was standing next to Maignan when the ball hit the back of the net and there was a VAR check to determine whether he was deemed offside.

Dumfries was not in Maignan’s eyeline but there was a suggestion that his proximity had stopped the goalkeeper from diving. The goal was disallowed. The Dutch were furious with referee Anthony Taylor. Cue another fusillade of objects thrown on to the pitch by the Netherlands fans.

Some pointed out, wryly, that the longest VAR wait of the tournament so far had involved English officials. 

It was the last real incident in a match that was always waiting for the man in the mask.