Netherlands-Denmark preview notes..
Storylines
• Can the Dutch stay healthy? Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Arjen Robben are all brilliant talents in the classic Dutch mold but they have a history of being fragile. Robben will miss Monday's game due to a hamstring injury.
• Wesley Sneijder: Led Inter Milan to UEFA Champions League and Serie A success this season -- and was outstanding for the Dutch in qualifying. Could be a breakout star of the World Cup.
• Dutch are on a hot streak: The Oranje went 8-0 in qualifying and enter the game on a 19-game unbeaten streak.
• Danish injuries: Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen (elbow), key defender Simon Kjaell (knee) and striker Nicklas Bendtner (groin) have all been battling injuries heading to the opener but are expected to start.
Series history
• In 28 previous meetings, Netherlands leads 11-7-10, although the teams have never met at the World Cup. Netherlands is unbeaten in their last seven matches against Denmark (2-0-5), which hasn't officially defeated the Dutch since 1967 (they advanced past them in the 1992 European Championship on penalties).
What to look for
• Will Dutch dysfunction manifest itself again? Just when everyone was waxing lyrical about the reemergence of "Total Football" at Euro 2008, Russia upended the Dutch in the quarterfinals. There always seems to be something that gets in Holland's way at the big tournaments -- internal friction, bonus issues, personality clashes within the team and with the coach.
• Illness forced Denmark coach Morten Olsen to miss training on June 8. The 60-year-old coach contracted a virus that had circulated through the squad for two weeks and temporarily left assistant Peter Bonde in charge.
• Will Denmark's18-year-old Ajax midfield prodigy Christian Eriksen become one of the young stars of the tournament? He's also the youngest player in the tournament.
From the research room
• The Netherlands has lost only one of their last 12 group stage matches at the World Cup.
• Denmark scored just 16 goals in 10 World Cup qualifiers -- the fewest total of the European group winners. After grabbing 12 goals in the first five games, Denmark managed just four goals in its final five encounters.
• Denmark Captain Jon Dahl Tomasson is looking to become the top scorer in national team history but is mired in a lengthy drought. He needs one goal to tie Poul Nielsen's record of 52 but has not scored in his last 13 matches.
ESPN.com
Personally the only thing Dutch backers need fear is Denmark scoring a goal and playing for a point. Any sort of outright win by the Danes would be a huge upset and set Dutch football back years.. Dig deep and play the Oranje on the money line to protect yourself against an intentional play for a tie and the point that goes with it by the wily and patient Olsen-Banden side....BOL..wil.
Storylines
• Can the Dutch stay healthy? Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Arjen Robben are all brilliant talents in the classic Dutch mold but they have a history of being fragile. Robben will miss Monday's game due to a hamstring injury.
• Wesley Sneijder: Led Inter Milan to UEFA Champions League and Serie A success this season -- and was outstanding for the Dutch in qualifying. Could be a breakout star of the World Cup.
• Dutch are on a hot streak: The Oranje went 8-0 in qualifying and enter the game on a 19-game unbeaten streak.
• Danish injuries: Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen (elbow), key defender Simon Kjaell (knee) and striker Nicklas Bendtner (groin) have all been battling injuries heading to the opener but are expected to start.
Series history
• In 28 previous meetings, Netherlands leads 11-7-10, although the teams have never met at the World Cup. Netherlands is unbeaten in their last seven matches against Denmark (2-0-5), which hasn't officially defeated the Dutch since 1967 (they advanced past them in the 1992 European Championship on penalties).
What to look for
• Will Dutch dysfunction manifest itself again? Just when everyone was waxing lyrical about the reemergence of "Total Football" at Euro 2008, Russia upended the Dutch in the quarterfinals. There always seems to be something that gets in Holland's way at the big tournaments -- internal friction, bonus issues, personality clashes within the team and with the coach.
• Illness forced Denmark coach Morten Olsen to miss training on June 8. The 60-year-old coach contracted a virus that had circulated through the squad for two weeks and temporarily left assistant Peter Bonde in charge.
• Will Denmark's18-year-old Ajax midfield prodigy Christian Eriksen become one of the young stars of the tournament? He's also the youngest player in the tournament.
From the research room
• The Netherlands has lost only one of their last 12 group stage matches at the World Cup.
• Denmark scored just 16 goals in 10 World Cup qualifiers -- the fewest total of the European group winners. After grabbing 12 goals in the first five games, Denmark managed just four goals in its final five encounters.
• Denmark Captain Jon Dahl Tomasson is looking to become the top scorer in national team history but is mired in a lengthy drought. He needs one goal to tie Poul Nielsen's record of 52 but has not scored in his last 13 matches.
ESPN.com
Personally the only thing Dutch backers need fear is Denmark scoring a goal and playing for a point. Any sort of outright win by the Danes would be a huge upset and set Dutch football back years.. Dig deep and play the Oranje on the money line to protect yourself against an intentional play for a tie and the point that goes with it by the wily and patient Olsen-Banden side....BOL..wil.
I will play NED to win by nil/with a clean sheet +135 and put in a big bet on DEN Under 0.5 (same like NED clean sheet) +101.
Denmark can be tough to score upon, but NED not only features great individual players but is playing as a team: They circulate the ball really well and their transition game after forcing turnovers is extremely good. They also have very quick and skilled midfielders, who should cause trouble for the Danish defense, which is better suited for "big" physical opponents. In addition to that their offensive players have a great shooting technique, which shold also be a great asset with the new ball at this world cup, which already caused trouble several times for goalies. Free kicks are another plus for the Dutch, who have great free throw shooters with guys like Robben, Snijder, van Persie or van der Vaart.
Although I don't like the Dutch goalie and their defenders might not be the best individuals, they really improved defensively over the last couple of years, first and foremost by changing their coach: Since van Marwijk took over they are a much better team, especially when it comes to tactics and "spacing" the playing field, and their team defense improved much. Denmark also is a lowscoring team and imo will play extremely defensive minded, trying to shorten the playing field for the Dutch and more or less relying on counter attacks.
Denmark can be tough to score upon, but NED not only features great individual players but is playing as a team: They circulate the ball really well and their transition game after forcing turnovers is extremely good. They also have very quick and skilled midfielders, who should cause trouble for the Danish defense, which is better suited for "big" physical opponents. In addition to that their offensive players have a great shooting technique, which shold also be a great asset with the new ball at this world cup, which already caused trouble several times for goalies. Free kicks are another plus for the Dutch, who have great free throw shooters with guys like Robben, Snijder, van Persie or van der Vaart.
Although I don't like the Dutch goalie and their defenders might not be the best individuals, they really improved defensively over the last couple of years, first and foremost by changing their coach: Since van Marwijk took over they are a much better team, especially when it comes to tactics and "spacing" the playing field, and their team defense improved much. Denmark also is a lowscoring team and imo will play extremely defensive minded, trying to shorten the playing field for the Dutch and more or less relying on counter attacks.
hno:Soriano12
I definitely will go by your experience in betting soccer but I was talking about a bet where you lay or take a money line and need an outright winner in 90 minutes of play to collect or pay off depending upon the side you wager. Games that end up pushes on the field also end up pushes as far as the wager goes. Your risk amount is returned and the bet is graded a push.
Any other outcome of a wager that ends up with a final score of say 1-1 would mean laying or taking half a goal plus laying or taking plus or minus money along with your plus or minus half goal.
I am taking about a baseball like ML wager where you must win outright by any score to collect. I believe my stradegy will only work if a game is Pick with an attached money line. Lets say Germany was playing Argentina in a preliminary round game. I would make that game a Pick with perhaps Argentina a small -120 or -130 favorite. Most likely those type of wagers would feature a 20 cent line so at Pick -130 Argentina the other side would be Pick +110 Alemania.
I stand corrected if such a wager does not exist.
Thanks, wil.
I definitely will go by your experience in betting soccer but I was talking about a bet where you lay or take a money line and need an outright winner in 90 minutes of play to collect or pay off depending upon the side you wager. Games that end up pushes on the field also end up pushes as far as the wager goes. Your risk amount is returned and the bet is graded a push.
Any other outcome of a wager that ends up with a final score of say 1-1 would mean laying or taking half a goal plus laying or taking plus or minus money along with your plus or minus half goal.
I am taking about a baseball like ML wager where you must win outright by any score to collect. I believe my stradegy will only work if a game is Pick with an attached money line. Lets say Germany was playing Argentina in a preliminary round game. I would make that game a Pick with perhaps Argentina a small -120 or -130 favorite. Most likely those type of wagers would feature a 20 cent line so at Pick -130 Argentina the other side would be Pick +110 Alemania.
I stand corrected if such a wager does not exist.
Thanks, wil.
Not completely unexpected, but still disappointing 1st half: Netherlands standing around too much, no movement except for the ballhandling player and therefore making it pretty easy for Denmark to defend...also Netherlands not pressing and forcing turnovers, so they also can't switch quickly from defense to offense and no chance of catching the Danish team unorganised defensively....
