World Cup 2014 Team Spotlight – Netherlands
The defending runner-up in the 2010 World Cup Holland begins this year’s edition of the World Cup looking a tad underwhelming after an early exit in Euro 2012 – a tournament in which they lost every game in the Group stage.
Holland
(FIFA Rank #15)
Odds to Win World Cup: 25/1
Odds to in Group B: +225
When things are right for the Dutch, they are a world powerhouse – when things go bad, Holland looks like a bunch of over-inflated egos, unable to come together on the biggest stages. So which Holland team will show up – the one that gave Spain a run for their money in the last World Cup of the one that bowed out of Euro 2012 in unspectacular fashion?
The good news is that Holland exorcised their 2012 demons during the qualifying stage of this year’s World Cup. They finished with a 9-0-1 record and outscored opponents 34-5.
The bad news is that they have landed in a tough Group and will have to fight just to hold off Chile in order to advance to the knockout stage.
Up front, there is little doubting the class of the Dutch. Arjen Robben M (Bayern Munich); Robin Van Persie F (Manchester United); Wesley Sneijder M (Galatasaray) provide the experience and the talent needed to compete in the biggest football tournament on the planet.
They, along with an emerging group of young talent up front should keep Holland competitive – assuming that egos don’t get in the way and that things go well for this team right off the bat.
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The problem for the Dutch is on the back end. Defensively there are some glaring holes especially since Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman went down with a knee injury. Holland will enter World Cup 2014 with a young group of defenders – largely untested on the biggest stages.
Inexperience in goal may also come back to haunt this team – Maarten Stekelenberg who was viewed as Holland’s shoe-in keeper for the tournament was left off the squad due to an unflattering season to say the least for Fulham in the Premier League this past season.
Betting Prediction: The Dutch are the second favorite in Group B but question marks are plentiful as we approach June.
Young and inexperienced defensive corp. threatens to be an issue as does the goaltending situation, Robin Van Persie has had his share of injury problems the last year and the memory of a disastrous Euro tournament is still fresh in the minds of the Dutch players and fans.
With arguably their best player not at 100% and with a sketchy recent past, Holland looks to be in some trouble in the Group stage. Chile, on paper may be the better all-around team threatening the Dutch’s chance of advancing past the Group stage.
A date with defending World Cup and Euro champs Spain in their opener also threatens to derail any possible momentum that this team garnered during qualifying.
Expect Holland to struggle early on and if that happens, optimism may wane has the Dutch head into games they should win. Holland is likely to become a fragile group early in this tournament en route to another disappointing result on football’s biggest stage.
World Cup Prediction
Holland finishes third in Group B as more questions than answers emerge.
