Day 2: Spain vs. Netherlands

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Señor

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Nice one, @gooDevil. I see you're carrying on with the tradition of the stadium pictures :lol: Well in!

Back on the game, I think it'll be a draw. Spain lost their first game four years ago and drew their first game at the Euro's too. I can see RvP and Fabregas scoring so I'll go for a 1-1.
 

bosnian_red

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Predicting a boring 1-1 draw like the World Cup final. Neither team will want to lose it as it will allow chile in with a good chance so it will be a tight affair.
 

margarito86

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that skyline in the back compliments the stadium quite well - love that image.
 

united_99

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According to rumours that will be Spain's starting 11. Only question seems to be Silva or Perdo:

Casillas; Azpilicueta, Ramos, Piqué, Alba; Xabi Alonso, Busquets; Pedro/Silva, Xavi, Iniesta; Diego Costa
 

JefferiesTube

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united_99 said:
According to rumours that will be Spain's starting 11. Only question seems to be Silva or Perdo:

Casillas; Azpilicueta, Ramos, Piqué, Alba; Xabi Alonso, Busquets; Pedro/Silva, Xavi, Iniesta; Diego Costa
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Netherlands can beat that team. Juanfran should play in place of Alba. De Gea is better than Casillas and Mata should play
 

united_99

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JefferiesTube said:
Netherlands can beat that team. Juanfran should play in place of Alba. De Gea is better than Casillas and Mata should play
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Eh? Juanfran is a RB. And no, Netherland are average, they can be very happy with a draw.
 

Stocar

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JefferiesTube said:
Netherlands can beat that team. Juanfran should play in place of Alba. De Gea is better than Casillas and Mata should play
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:confused:

Alba is one of the best LB in the competition, and very important for providing width, pace and directness on that flank for Spain. Juanfran is RB.

As much as I like Mata, he's far down the pecking order as Spain is stacked with players of that type. He would start for any other team.
 

mata10

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Would you rather dutch get knocked out early for van gaal to concentrate on united or want dutch to win the world cup and have a coach that is world cup winner ?
 

Lyricist

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Nice and finished stadium that is!

Reminds me a lot of Greenpoint in SA which I thought was amazing!




I need Spain to win this for my bets to go well. Alternatively I could care less about my bets if Spain happen to crash out completely by losing to NL and not getting more than 3/4 points against Chile+Australia. :D
 

Patchbeard

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Got a friends leaving work do when this is on..
BBC Red Button will offer a range of additional coverage, including a number of archive matches in the run-up to the tournament, selected full match replays including all England games, and match highlights throughout the World Cup.
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Really hope this includes this game. And I resist the temptation to look up the score.
 

Cantonarightboot

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very tough one to call... every second post is saying something different.

I'm edging towards 1-1 simply cause neither will want to lose leaving chile in a great position to qualify...
 

Xaviesta

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I'll stick my neck out here and say there'll be 3+ goals in this game.
 

CurryCantona

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The Dutch have to go for it. Winning against Spain will be easier than winning against Chilé. I'm going for a 2-1 victory for the Dutch. Robben goal, Sneijder free kick - Ramos header.
 

Scarecrow

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What are the odds for Ramos and/or De Jong getting red cards?
 

Ruht

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Reckon Spain to win this one easily. Lots of inexperienced players in this Holland team for them to have a go in my opinion. Hopefully it's not a 1:0 borefest though.
 

PlayerOne

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Van Gaal: I'm proud of my Barça protégées

For Louis van Gaal, the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Final left him feeling strangely conflicted. As a proud Dutchman, he naturally felt inclined to root for his home country as they attempted to lift the Trophy for the very first time. The coach in him, though, looked at the line-ups of the respective teams and saw more former pupils in the blue of Spain than the orange of the Netherlands.

The result, he confessed, was divided loyalties. "It was a little bit double-edged," he toldFIFA. "The Netherlands were there, but there were also five players in the Spanish squad that I trained and coached. In the Dutch squad, there was only Arjen Robben and [Mark] van Bommel. So you feel, well, maybe I have to support the Spanish team, although your nationality is Dutch and, in the end, that made my mind up. But [when Spain won] I was proud, that's for sure."

That pride emanated from his pivotal role in the early promotion of several key Spanish players during his time as Barcelona coach. The scorer of the all-important goal, Andres Iniesta, was one notable example, while Xavi - the team's conductor - Carles Puyol and reserve keepers Victor Valdes and Pepe Reina completed the quintet. And while Puyol and Valdes will be conspicuous by their absence when Spain and the Netherlands meet again later today, Van Gaal is looking forward to a reunion with three players he holds in the highest esteem.

"I have great memories of them," he said, "and that's first and foremost because these boys are also very kind human beings. They haven't forgotten me, that's for sure, because they're talking about me still. They have developed themselves fantastically well since we worked together, and these boys - Iniesta, Xavi and the others - have for many years been the basis of this successful Barcelona side. So I am proud, and happy too, that I still have a good relationship with them.

"I saw these boys playing for Barça B and I brought them into the first team. This was the case with, for example, Valdes and Reina. They developed into top goalkeepers, as you can see at the moment. But I also brought on Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, and we shouldn't forget Thiago Motta, who you now see playing for the Italian national team. They all played in the youth team at Barcelona, I picked them out, and they have developed very quickly and to a very high level."

Now, of course, the task for Van Gaal is to successfully subdue these same players, neutralising the talents that first attracted him to them all those years ago. That, he freely concedes, will be easier said than done, although he had this warning for his formerprotégés and the rest of Vicente Del Bosque's star-studded side.

"My team is ready," he vowed. "We've been living together for three weeks now, planning for this game. But we are also aware of the fact that Spain is in first position in the world ranking for a reason. At the moment we are 15th, and that indicates that Spain are a good bit ahead of us.

"We are a difficult team to beat though, at least I believe so, and that is what I try to get across to the players - that we have a good chance in this match. But it is essential that we take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. We all remember the Final against Spain four years ago, and we know that if Robben had taken the chance he had, we would have won. That is what it is all about."

Talk of being 'hard to beat' carries with it the implication that the Netherlands are preparing for this match, and perhaps the tournament as a whole, with an outlook based on defensive solidity. The much-discussed change from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2 would also seem to lend itself to that theory. But Van Gaal insists fears about the strength of their opponents have been no more significant in affecting this switch than other, internal issues.

"Spain are a team that's been put together very well and I want to make it as hard as possible for them," he said. "That is partly why I've chosen this system we're going with. But it also has a lot to do with losing certain players, and the absence of a real left-back in our team. I searched the whole world for someone in that position, but I was not able to find one. Basically those are the underlying reasons for going with this formation."

Van Gaal has also opted for youth, blooding a number of erstwhile little-known Eredivisie startlets, many of whom are expected to play key roles in Brazil. But he is well aware of the importance of an experienced, battle-hardened core in his team, and highlighted four players as being particularly crucial to the Oranje's World Cup hopes.

"I think that I have players who can give the team an extra dimension, specifically the two captains, [Robin] van Persie and Robben, but also Wesley Sneijder and Nigel de Jong. They are naturally very authoritative guys who also play football at the highest level. That is of course important in the hierarchical world of football.

"As for our chances, they are the same as they are for every other country. We all start from zero and well see what happens. It is certainly a heavyweight group we're going to play in though. Spain are number one, Chile are catching up and are right behind us. Australia are supposed to be the weakest country in the group but, strange as it may sound, they've never lost to the Netherlands. They are an opponent to be feared. Nevertheless, I can say we have a good chance of making it through to the next round."

The question, should that objective be achieved, is whether the Netherlands can once again go all the way to the Final or, better still, win the game's most coveted prize. Van Gaal, though, believes that history is stacked against them.

He explained: "I always look at tradition, at statistics, and it appears that when the World Cup is played in South America, there has always been a South American winner. In that case I think that Brazil and Argentina are most likely to succeed. And if I were to name a European country, I have to feel that it would be Spain or Germany.

"But as a manager there are so many details that are out of your control, but that is something [Joachim] Low and Del Bosque have to deal with as well. It is very important that you get a good result in your first match. Then you can get into a certain flow, where you are able to improve as the tournament goes on.

"As I have mentioned already, I expect we will not be easily beaten. So we are capable of winning against any opponent. It is tournament football and the aim, as always, is simply to score one more than the opposition."
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