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The Netherlands face Argentina in the second semi final of the FIFA World Cup 2014. It's going to be an enthralling encounter, a battle that renews a historic rivalry. The game is going to be played in Sao Paulo. The stakes are at an all time high. The winner meets Germany in the final. Here's a brief Preview of what's going to be a great game:
Team News:
The Netherlands have a few injury doubts ahead of the game. Captain Robin Van Persie and Defender Janmaat have stomach complaints, but should be fit to play. Nigel de Jong will go through a last minute fitness test to assess his physical condition. He looks set to take a place on the bench. Ron Vlaar is also a doubt for the game, so Veltman may be expected to slot in
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Argentina have lost the services of Angel Di Maria following a thigh strain in the quarter final game against Belgium. There’s good news too, though. Sergio Augero has been declared fit and looks to set to start. The dimunitive striker may prove to be a huge boost to the team. Right back Marcos Rojo is eligible after suspension, he may replace Basanta. It looks very likely that Martin Demechelis will retain his place following an impressive showing against Belgium.
Expected Line ups and Strategies:
The Netherlands:
The Netherlands’ line up and tactics have been of great interest to critics throughtout the tournament. Their line up has a few uncertainities due to the injury doubts about few of the players. But I expect them to retain the same players that lined up against Costa Rica in the quarter final, this is the best eleven they can put out.
Ron Vlaar, Martins Indi and De Vrij will make up the three man central defense. The versatile Daley Blind and Dirk Kuyt will occupy the wingback positions. Wijnaldum and Sneijder will be the central midfielders. While Robben, Depay and Van Persie form a three man attack.
Coach Louis Van Gaal has tinkered between the 4-3-3 and the 3-5-2(3-4-3) throughout the tournament. I would expect him to initially go with the 3-4-3 formation this time around. The three centre backs will aim to mark Messi and Higuain tightly and cut off their supply, the sweeper, will be particularly important in achieving that. Wing backs Blind and Kuyt are the most energetic players in the team. They will be expected to perform dual duties in both defense and attack. In attack they will be tasked with staying out wide to provide width. While in defense, they will drop back to form a five man defense and repel attacks.
Sneijder and Wijnaldum will be expected to perform central midfield duties. They are not Van Gaal’s first choice midfielders by any means but they do their job. Alternatively, Van Gaal may look to deploy the versatile Blind in central midfield, but that wuld require a huge shake up in defense. Jonathan de Guzman may also be an option. The midfielders will be tasked with playing simple passes forward to the forwards and also provide passing options when building from the back. Sneijder being a natural number 10 will surely push up into advanced areas when in attack. He’s not the most defensively sound or pacy, which may leave them overrun in midfield.
Van Perise, Depay and Robben are the attacking trio. Depay will be on the left flank and Robben on the right with Van Persie the out and out striker. Depay and Robben will look to cut in at times to take shots at goal. At the start of the tournament, Van Gaal started with more of a flat 2 man attack with both Robben and Van Persie up front. In the game against Spain, both stayed very central and aimed to stretch the defense. In the quarter final game, it changed to a 3 man attack with Depay and Robben cutting in from wide. It will be interesting to see if Van Gaal persists with the three man attack or tries to shore up the defense with an extra midfielder.
Argentina:
Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella has a few selection headaches ahead of the game. Di Maria has been ruled out with injury, which is a big blow to Argentine chances. He was the only player apart from Messi who looked like creating chances and scoring goals. There’s good news on other fronts though, Sergio Aguero has been declared fit. He should slot straight into the attack. He wasn’t in his best form pre-injury but his class has never been in question. Right back Marcos Rojo is back from suspension and is expected to be recalled to the staring XI. Martin Demechelis will retain his place at the heart of defense after a great showing in the quarter final.
They will be expected to line up with a defensive 4-3-3/4-2-3-1. Demechelis and Garay will be at the heart of defense. Zabaleta and Rojo will be the full backs. It was widely antipicated that their defense will prove to be their undoing come the World cup. But it has held forte suprisingly well, albeit against lower quality opponents. They have generally sat back quite deep to make up for the lack of pace in their defense(It’s gotta be one of the slowest in the tournament). Zabaleta and Rojo have ventured forward judiciously too. Together, the defense will prove to be a tough piece of nut to crack for the Netherlands’ attack.
The Attack of Argentina has been a one man show. It’s been all about Messi. He has scored four and setup one more. He has carried the entire Argentine team on his shoulders. His dribbling, vision, close control and pace has lit up the tournament. He will continue in his number 10 position just behind the striker. He dropped deep quite often in the game against Belgium to pressurize the opposition midfielders and win the ball back. Having done that, he initiated many attacks, which led to good chances for Argentina. Messi being Messi, draws two-three defenders to him to provide spaces for other attackers. Higuain and Aguero may switch roles throughout the match and take up the wide and central roles. Lavezzi wll be stationed wide left to provde natural width and pace. So far in the tournament, the support cast to Messi has failed. If they do click in this game, It will be good news for Argentina.
Key Men:
Arjen Robben: He has been the best player for the Netherlands’ so far. He has combined his sheer pace and dribbling skills with lethal finishing and incisive passing(cynical diving too :P). He will pose the main threat to the Argentine defense. He can stay wide and cross or cut in and shoot. Stop him and it’s job half done for Argentina.
Robin Van Persie: He hasn’t shown his best form in the knockouts yet. But he’s never far away from goals. He can convert half chances into goals with his lethal finishing and intelligent runs into space. In a game of fine margins, he may be the difference between victory and defeat for the Netherlands.
Louis Van Gaal: Call me crazy but i don’t think The Dutch would be playing this game if not for this man. He has taken an inexperienced bunch of players and turned them into serous contenders for the world cup. He deserves many plaudits for instilling a team spirit and cohesion into the team. The Netherland’s are a well-oiled machine and Van Gaal takes much of the credit for that. His well renowned tactical nous has also been on show, Be it the pre-torunament switch to a 3-5-2 formation or substitutions that changed the game, he has impressed us all. Fans around the world will be waiting to see what tricks he has up his sleeve.
Lionel Messi: Is there any match in which in Messi is involved and isn’t named as the player to watch out for? No. There are
already comparisons between him and Maradona’s heroics which single handedly won Argentina the world cup in 1986. Those comparisons will strengthen if he manages to get Argentina through to the final. There’s a lot riding on his shoulders. Here’s hoping he has a good game.
Sergio Aguero: There’s a mini search to be conducted for naming a key player for Argentina other than Messi, such has been influence on the team. The returning Sergio Aguero can be unplayable on his day. The Dutch will be hoping that day comes later.
Prediction:
Football, as we all know, is hugely unpredictable. Not one footballing ‘expert’ could have predicted a 7-1 loss for Brazil. But I will take the gamble of making a prediction and risk looking utterly dumb if the game goes the other way.
I predict a win for the Netherlands in a close match to face Germany in Saturday;s final. There will be no margin for error and one moment of madness or brilliance will decide the fate of the game. They have emobodied team spirit, character, grit and a single minded determination to win. When the chips were down, someone stood up to be counted. They have conjured up comeback wins in almost all their matches which shows their character.
Germany vs Netherlands will be a fitting finale to a great world cup. As for Argentina, they may fall agonizingly short of World cup glory.
