Netherlands-Spain
Football : FIFA World Cup 2010 : Final
Sunday, 11th July 2010. Kickoff 20:30

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Probably two most pragmatic teams have reached the final of World Cup 2010. Spain and Netherlands have much in common, but their paths to the decisive match were still a bit different from each other.

La Furia Roja suffered a shocking 0-1 defeat vs. Switzerland on the first match day of their group. Vicente Del Bosque’s side was rightfully punished for its’ academism by the Swiss and were put into a do or die situation by that loss.

Spain recovered the lost confidence with a 2-0 win against Honduras, which was once again more pragmatic than many had anticipated. The 2-1 narrow victory against Chile granted them a pole-position finish and a date with Portugal in the last 16.

A trademark 1-0 winning result saw Spain overcome the neighboring country and then oust Paraguay with the same scoreline in the quarterfinals. How much difference there was behind common 1-0 numbers when Spain beat Germany. Reining European champions became title favorites in the twinkling of an eye shutting down all the displeased skeptics.

Netherlands had a more impressive campaign recording 6 wins along the way. Denmark, Japan and Cameroon were all beaten in style as Wesley Snejder continued his club form for Inter at international level. Arjen Robben’s step-by-step return from injury gave Oranje even more creativity and efficiency up front.

Slovakians were eliminated by Netherlands in the 1/8 and the biggest achievement came in the quarter-finals where Marwijk’s side send Brazil back to Copa Cobana. The 2-1 result automatically launched talks of Oranje huge chances of lifting the Cup from third attempt. Uruguay was swept aside in the semifinal although the 3-2 scoreline may not reflect that.

Oranje had more time to rest as their semifinal was scheduled earlier than Spain’s. Van Marwijk is able to put Ajax right wingback Gregory Van der Wiel instead of Boulahrouz who covered for the youngster in the semifinal. Same goes for Nigel De Jong who is available after serving a one-match ban. Manchester City midfielder will replace De Zeeuw in the center of the pitch.

Vicente Del Bosque is once again with a full available squad. It’s very likely that the Spanish manager will field the same line up, which beat Germany days ago. This means Fernando Torres will once again start from the bench.

Betting advice

Spain had problems in every match prior to the semifinal against Germany. With all my respect towards the Deutsch' mannschaft - I think they psychologically lost that game. If they had more courage and confidence Spain could've easily followed England and Argentina to the exit door.

With tough guys like De Jong and Van Bommel Oranje have the potential to win the midfield battle and, perhaps, even get the ball away from Spain. Robben's pace may be too much for Capdevilla on the right flank of Dutch attack.

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Netherlands to become World Champions @ 2.50 with Bet365