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A to Z of WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 - Holland
HOLLAND
From 1973 to 1978 the future was bright and very definitely orange. ‘Total Football’ was the phrase on everybody’s lips as Ajax playmaker, Johan Cruyff, and coach Michel Rinus led Holland to two World Cup Finals. Sadly they did not win either, losing the ’74 Final 2-1 to hosts Germany. Similar charity was shown to the’98 hosts, Argentina, losing 3-1 after extra time. On six other occasions the Dutch made it through to the Finals but, other than 4th place in 1998, have generally failed to live up to their potential. The National Team has fared rather better in the Euro championships, winning in 1988 and making 3 semi-final appearances between 1992 and 2004. In qualifying for the 2010 World Cup Finals, Holland were unbeaten, securing a maximum
24 points in the process. The Dutch were the first European team to qualify for South Africa.
The current head coach is Bert van Marwijk who, as club coach, won the UEFA Cup in 2002 with Feyenoord. He took over the national post from Marco van Basten after Euro 2008. The side is captained by veteran defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst, once of Rangers and Arsenal, and latterly with Feyenoord. Now aged 36 he is by far the most experienced member of the squad. Followers of the Premier League will be familiar with the squad names of Nigel de Jong (Manchester City) and the Liverpool duo of Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel. Assuming he is fit, Arsenal’s Robin van Persie will be the side’s likeliest goal-scorer alongside Milan’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Van Persie is 40/1 with bwin to be the tournament’s top scorer whilst Huntelaar is tipped at 50/1 with Sportingbet for the Golden Boot award. Much longer odds (100/1) can be had from William Hill on Arjen Robbin, now at Bayern Munich, to lift the same trophy. Despite this upfront firepower and the midfield guile of Mark von Bommel (son-in-law of the coach!) and Rafael van der Vaart, concerns remain about the Dutch defence. Notwithstanding the team’s excellent performances in the qualifiers (10/10 wins and only 2 goals conceded), there are still many who hope that veteran ‘keeper Edwin van der Saar (130 caps) can be persuaded out of retirement for South Africa.
When the draw was made in November 2009 for the Finals, Holland, as one of the seeded teams, ended up in Group E alongside Denmark, Cameroon and Japan. With a FIFA ranking of 3 there is every expectation that the Dutch will top this Group: Victor Chandler has them at 4/5 to do so. Reaching the semi-finals is at 13/2 with Bwin. Mindful of their being the first European team to qualify, it might be worth a punt with Skybet at 7/1 on Holland being the top European team in South Africa. For the nostalgics amongst us, you can get odds of 40/1 with Paddy Power on a repeat of the 1978 Final, Holland v Argentina, though the Orange hordes will be hoping for a different result!
Posted: Monday, February 22nd, 2010 @ 11:02 am by Mark
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