Holland might currently be the hottest team in the World Cup and they are determined to keep it that way.
Following the shock performance against Spain last week which saw the Oranjes thrash the current world champion in incredible style, the Flying Dutchmen are continuing to their next task at hand when they meet Australia on Wednesday.
Luis van Gaal’s side displayed an inspiring game of football in their World Cup opener, and a lot of it can be attributed to the future Man United’s boss’ decision to line up five defenders and destroy the tiki taka possession style game of El Roja.
When the Oranjes face the Socceroos it’s highly likely van Gaal will choose to return to the typical 4-3-3 formation the Dutch usually play. That kind of tactic will enable Holland to create more chances from open play, unlike the defensive, counter attacking type of style used during the Spain fixture.
Australia launched their campaign against Chile with a 1:3 defeat, but the scoreline does not tell the whole story. The Socceroos dominated the second half against the South Americans, and were much closer to scoring the equalizer than Chile was to their third goal.
The player to watch out for down under will be former Everton striker Tim Cahill, who once again managed to rise to the occasion for Ange Postecoglou’s side. The Australian all time top scorer was a constant threat inside of the box, and managed to score his 4th World Cup goal – surpassing the tally of players such as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
We may have forgiven Holland’s first-half display against Spain, but it’s important to note that up until van Persie’s flying magic trick, the Dutch were mostly involved in defensive work with very few chances created in front of Casilla’s goal. It will certainly be a different game for them this time around, as they are no longer entering the field as underdogs. The Oranjes will need to dictate the pace and the style play, and move more players up top.
Should van Persie, Robben and Blind repeat their performances, Holland should be able to bag the three points and progress to the next round.
Match: Australia vs Holland
Date: June 18, 2014,
TIME: 13:00 Local Time, 17:00 BST, 12:00 EDT
Location: Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre
POSSIBLE LINE UP:
Australia: Ryan; McGowan, Spiranovic, Wilkinson, Davidson; Jedinak, Milligan, Bresciano, Leckie; Oar, Cahill.
Netherland: Cillessen; Janmaat, Blind, Vlaar, Martins Indi; De Jong, De Guzman, Sneijder; Robben, Lens, Van Persie.
(via 101 Great Goals)
