Uruguay v Netherlands
Football : FIFA World Cup 2010 : Semi-final
Tuesday, 6th July 2010 - Kickoff 20:30 local

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The first semi-final match takes place Tuesday night at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.

Uruguay

Uruguay advanced to the semi-finals on penalties over Ghana in one of the wildest finishes the World Cup will ever see. The bad news from that ending is that Luis Suarez will not be available for this match after the red card. Sebastian Abreu should take Suarez place up front with Forlan and Cavani.

The trouble doesn’t stop with Suarez for the South Americans. Defender Jorge Fucile will also miss the game with two yellow cards. With Diego Lugano picking up a possibly serious injury against Ghana, the backline could be in disarray. Diego Godin may return, but Nicolas Lodeiro will miss the match with a broken bone in his foot.

While the backline has been a strength for Uruguay, the match with Ghana showed how things can change with an absence in the starting group.

Uruguay seemed to be in control of the match until Lugano was forced off with his injury. They weren’t dominating by any means, but they hadn’t been seriously troubled in the first 30 minutes or so. The last ten minutes of the first half Uruguay always seemed in danger and were as rattled as they have been in this tournament.

With 2-3 starting backline players missing for this game and having to face Sneijder and Robben, it seems like Uruguay will be challenged to hold off Oranje.

Netherlands

The Oranje will not be known as under-achievers at this World Cup. They were dominated for 45 minutes or more by Brazil, but then took advantage of defensive lapses to pull off a shocking upset. Shocking at least in that Brazil lost a game they led at halftime.

Holland will also be missing two players for this match. Nigel de Jong and Gregory van der Wiel will both miss the match due to yellow cards. De Zeeuw should step in for de Jong and Khalid Boulahrouz is likely to start for van der Wiel.

Both Robert Van Persie and Joris Mathijsen have been cleared to play after having slight injury concerns.

Sneijder and Robben have been great thus far. Their excellence has allowed the team to advance with far without a great performance by Van Persie.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

These sides met in the 1974 World Cup in group play with Holland winning 2-0.

THE BETTING PREDICTION

I have been on Uruguay since the opening match with France. With a full squad, the case for a draw could be made. With Uruguay missing key players in the front and back, this should be the end of the road for them.

Holland has not been dominant thus far, but they will keen to overcome their history of not finishing at the World Cup. It won’t be easy, but a solid performance should see them through to the final.

The Pick :

Uruguay 0-2 Netherlands

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Netherlands to win @ 1.66 (main bet)

HANDICAP BETTING :

Also consider Netherlands AH -1 @ 2.80 (especially if Lugano is ruled out of the match).