Given the importance of placing first in the group (to avoid Brazil in R16 and the more dangerous side of the bracket), aren't the Oranje rooting for Spain today? According to FIFA, group rankings are as follows: (1) Total points (2) Goal differential (3) Goals scored Head-to-head doesn't come into play unless other the above don't break the tie. If Spain win, then the Netherlands will have a 3-point lead on both Spain and Chile and 6-points on Australia. If the Oranje then lose to Chile next Monday, this will result in either two-way tie for first (Netherlands and Chile) or three-way tie for first (Netherlands, Chile, Spain). The odds that either team overtake the Oranje in goal differential and goals scored seems unlikely. If Chile win today, then a loss to Chile forces a match against Brazil. Of course the good news is that regardless of what happens in Spain-Chile today, the Netherlands control their own destiny. Draw and win the group (unless Chile completely destroys Spain by 5 goals).
3 Dutchies in week 1 all-star team: http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2014/06/17/best-xi-round-1-world-cup-brazil-bound
old lady in Porto Alegre about the dutch: what a fun and wonderful people! Beautiful! I didn´t know you people were so much fun like that, creature!! Take me there pal, take me there!" lol ps: "creature" is just a weird affectionate regional expression from the south of Brazil dutch tourists touring the other stadium in Porto Alegre good bye Holland! And good luck!
How good were De Guzman or De Jong's handling speed? Non-existent. Handling speed is a non-issue for the CM position
Mexico croatia will be a tight game, brazil v cameroon will be a massacre Today was notma great performance but hey we have made it out of the group. Hope Huntelaar starts next game
^but the match officials noticed and give 6 minutes extra time because of this. What more do you expect? In general it was a well called match by the American official who was in his first big international game!
Overall I was not surprised or happy especially in the 1st Half as Oranje looked slow and sloppy. Defenders on the ball were particularly clueless. We played to the Aussies strengths by useless negative backpasses to Cilessen who in turn lumped the ball aimlessly up the field. Robben' s goal came from nowhere and then immediately Cahill scores insane equaliser. Thought De Vrij, DeGuzman, and Sneijder were especially poor while Blind and Martins Indi were not much better in the first 45. 2nd Half the tactical switch helps it appeared as Oranje look sharper on the ball, but then bogus handball by the rather fussy referee and we are down. Van Persie quickly strikes back thanks to the slow ballwatching left back and then Depay gets a bit of luck perhaps but he looked lively. Overall some shaky moments though with loose passing and sloppy touches (Vlaar) giving Aussies life, but they truly lacked quality when it was needed. Oranje could have added a few more goals, but this performance will not get a win against Chile. No Van Persie is a huge blow against Chile. The card he received was down to overreaction by the Aussie who conned the weak referee. Defensively team must get better and with possession it must improve a lot. Janmaat looked better in 2nd Half and DeJong was very good today. Winjaldum is a better option imo then DeGuzman, but not sure VG will make this change. Huntelaar could be striker next match and his size could pose problems for small Chile defenders. Will be a tough game.
Van Gaal was right to claim that the world cup is all about fitness. A fatigued Spain collapses after two matches, regardless of their enormous amount of quality players. The Chile match will be a challenge, they press even more relentlessly than Australia and our midfield will be overrun if nothing changes. I'm in two minds about the options: On the one hand the team can try to out-pass the press with defenders and midfielders who are comfortable on the ball like Veltman and Clasie. On the other hand if Spain can't outplay the press, can we? Maybe speed and power is an the solution, with Fer and Wijnaldum.
Was spain's problem fitness or just picking the wrong team though? Obviously the fitter you are in the heat the better but in any event its about making the ball do the work for you
WRONG team from the beginning. Xabi Alonso was useless in both group games as was Busquets (which is why I was confident of our chances prior to the WC; you can look up the post where I said I was more worried about Chile than Spain). Silva never got untracked. 2nd half against Chile today was better from them but they really didn't create much danger at all. Iniesta worked hard all match long but it wasn't enough. Chile defense rely on quickness and they are not all that good in the air. It's going to be an interesting match to watch and I'm interested in seeing van Gaal's lineup. Nigelgino is carrying a Yellow and I can easily see him getting a second against Chile. Is Clasie up to the task against such a quick midfield? Don't know.
Chile is a very dynamic team, and they play "at home." I think we will see a 5-3-2 again. Let Chile chase the game and hit them with a counter-attack with Depay and Robben upfront. I'd like to see Wijnaldum from the start, he brings energy and quickness. De Jong has to be smart enough to avoid another yellow. Sneijder has got to step up.
Schweni had poor handling speed. Kroos has very average handling speed. Xabi Alonso has very low handling speed. Carrick for United had very VERY low handling speed. There are a 100 examples.
It did at first. But Huntelaar's knockout in England friendly looked even worse, and he was up and running the next day
well, the thread is still open... some photos of the dutch parade at Porto Alegre ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- full photo thread here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1733731 anyway, cool photos of the "Goal Way", the path from Porto Alegre's point of encounter of fans in the Glenio Peres Square in Old Downtown, up to Beira Rio stadium (Gremio Arena is better , but it´s not in the World Cup). at Glenio Peres Square, public markert on the left, thousands of dutch fans (and aussies too) going up Borges de Medeiros Avenue some World Cup street decoration local Porto Alegre commerce made quite a good amount of money. Aussies and dutch arrived in Porto Alegre wearing only flip-flops, tshirts and bermuda shorts... temperature during the match, at 1pm was 14ºC... at night it was 8ºC. Even europeans will want a light sweater in those conditions. out of downtown and into Cidade Baixa neighborhood