Robben: Being reliant on Germany does not feel good

Jun 14, 2012 9:57:00 AM

The winger, who stormed off after being replaced in the loss to Die Mannschaft on Wednesday night, is disappointed that the Oranje's destiny is in their rivals' hands

Arjen Robben has professed that it "does not feel good" that Netherlands will require a favour from Germany in order to progress to the knockout stages of Euro 2012 .

The Oranje are pointless after two rounds of group matches, having suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Die Mannschaft just four days after being upset by Denmark in their tournament opener.

Stefan Coerts
Netherlands Expert

You never want your chances of making it to the next round to depend on the result of another game, and the fact that your arch-rival is involved in that other match only makes matters worse.

A draw in their last game will be enough for Germany to qualify for the quarter-finals, and to eliminate one of the pre-tournament favourites.

Holland can only hope that the Germans don't want to take any risks, and play for the full three points against Denmark on Sunday.

However, even then, Oranje would still need to beat Portugal by two goals, and that's an immense task in their current form.

However, Bert van Marwijk's men will qualify from Group B if they beat Portugal by two clear goals in their final fixture, but only if Germany maintain their 100 per cent record by winning against the Danes.

"For sure there's still a chance of qualifying," Robben told reporters after the game. "We need to think that if Germany fulfil their sporting duty, then it is still in our own hands if we beat Portugal by two goals.

"But we are reliant on them [Germany] and that doesn't feel good."

As for the loss to their great rivals in Kharkiv, Robben argued that the Dutch had proven the architects of their own downfall.

"There were periods where we weren't in the right positions," the Bayern Munich winger explained. "We didn’t have the lines close enough to each other and we let them play far too easily."

Robben, who stormed off after being substituted during the defeat, will now be hoping to inspire his country to victory in the must-win meeting with the Portuguese on June 17.

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