Holland vs Spain
Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg
Kick-off: Sun July 11, 7.30pm BST
At last, and in what ought to be a delight to all lovers of fine football, it is time for one of the two greatest footballing nations never to have won the World Cup to join the exclusive club of ‘magnificent seven’ winners alongside Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina and France.
Not before time, they will doubtless tut in Holland, where Johan Cruyff’s lovely 1974 side and their 1978 successors, both finalists, would have made handsome champions – so too the 1998 semi-finalists.
Bert van Marwijk’s current bunch, now unbeaten in 25 games, could cast off all the old ‘nearly men’ clothes by emulating the peerless 1970 Brazilians as the only team to have a 100 per cent record in both qualifying and the tournament itself.
Spain, home to arguably the two greatest clubs in football history, famously boast a dismal World Cup record, having never finished higher than fourth, their previous best being in Brazil 60 years ago.
Yet having won Euro 2008 and on a wondrous run themselves, with two defeats in 25 games under Vicente del Bosque, the coach believes their time has arrived.
Strangely, for two of the great footballing nations and bearing in mind the historic links between players such as Cruyff and Barcelona, Spain and Holland have met only nine times over 90 years of international football, and only three times in championships.
Perhaps their biggest clash, ironically, was their very first when they met in Brussels in an Olympic medal match.
Being the ‘nearly men’ of the modern game, though, it is no surprise to learn they were not actually playing for the gold, but for the consolation of silver, with Spain prevailing 3-1.
Their only ‘modern’ competitive matches came in qualifying for the 1984 European Championships, where they shared a win apiece, with Ruud Gullit scoring the winner for Holland in Rotterdam and Juan Antonio Señor converting a penalty to give Spain a 1-0 win in Seville.
Touchline duel
In a sitcom, you would cast Lambertus ‘Bert’ van Marwijk as Victor Meldrew figure – grumpy, sighing, never quite satisfied with anything – while Vicente del Bosque would be reprising René in ’Allo ’Allo with a whispered aside to Xavi: “I will say zees only once – pass, pass, pass!”
Van Marwijk, who was seen as uncharismatic and untested, was not really wanted by many when Marco van Basten’s reign ended but has yet to put a foot wrong, while Del Bosque, a double Champions League winner with Real Madrid, has been the most comforting safe pair of hands, preaching continuity after taking over from the man who won the European Championship, Luis Aragonés.
Key clashes:
Wesley Sneijder v Xavi
The brains of the respective teams, and what brains. Sneijder has enjoyed a stellar year, guiding Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan to a unique treble, topped by their Champions League triumph, and enjoying a blinding — and, on occasion, blessed — tournament in South Africa. He can also be encouraged that when he went head to head with his Xavi in the Champions League tie with Barcelona, he prevailed.
Maarten Stekelenburg v Iker Casillas
If it comes down to a penalty shoot-out, you would have to favour Casillas, who has been Spain’s shoot-out hero a couple of times, earning victory with two saves against Ireland in the 2002 World Cup round of 16 (when he was 21) and also when he kept out two to beat Italy in Euro 2008.
Stekelenburg has no such experience but is not short of confidence, as his text calling Ajax team-mate Luis Suarez the “Lev Yashin goalkeeper of the tournament” suggests.
Arjen Robben v Joan Capdevila
Robben, after his fine season for Bayern Munich, has enjoyed a big tournament here too, with crucial goals against both Slovakia and Uruguay. He could turn out to be Sunday’s match-winner as he marauds in from the right flank with the goal in his sights.
A major responsibility rests on Capdevila, the Villarreal defender who, at the age of 32, is not the most agile any longer and may have to rely on his experience to try to neutralise Holland’s single most potent threat.
Probable teams
Holland: Stekelenburg; Van der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst (capt); Van Bommel, De Jong; Kuyt, Sneijder, Robben; Van Persie
Spain: Casillas (capt); Ramos, Puyol, Pique, Capdevila; Busquets, Alonso; Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro; Villa.
Referee: Howard Webb (Eng)
Assistants: Mike Mullarkey (Eng), Darren Cann (Eng). Fourth official: Yuichi Nishimura (Jpn)
Previous meetings
Played 8: Holland 4 wins, Draws 1, Spain 3 wins
1957: (Madrid, Friendly): Spain 5 Holland 1
1973: (Amsterdam, Friendly): Holland 3 Spain 2
1980: (Vigo, Friendly): Spain 1 Holland 0
1983: (Seville, ECQ): Spain 1 Holland 0
1983: (Rotterdam, ECQ): Holland 2 Spain 1
1987: (Barcelona, Friendly): Spain 1 Holland 1
2000: (Sevilla, Friendly): Spain 1 Holland 2
2001: (Rotterdam, Friendly): Holland 1 Spain 0
Facts
David Villa has scored six of Spain’s last eight goals at World Cup finals. And he is on 43 goals, just one goal away from joining Raul as Spain’s top scorer of all time.
Spain have been the good boys of the World Cup, receiving just three yellow cards, the fewest in this summer’s finals. Holland, by contrast, have had 15 bookings.
Xavi, of Spain, has created 25 goalscoring chances – an impressive eight more than any other player.
And if Spain win the World Cup they will become the first team ever to be World champions after losing their opening game.
Expect Spain to use Carlos Marchena at some stage. The veteran now holds the World record for consecutive appearances without loss, his latest against Germany in the semi-final being his 54th game without tasting defeat.
Interestingly, either Holland or Spain will make history. No European team has previously won the World Cup outside of Europe.
Holland are on a roll: The Oranje have won their last 14 games in the World Cup qualifiers and finals, an all-time record.
Prediction
Spain are bidding to copy their success at Euro 2008 and, in David Villa and Xavi, they have two of the best players at the tournament.
But the new-look Oranje know how to win games and may just have enough, albeit by one goal. Paul the octopus disagrees.
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