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Netherlands and Argentina will play the second semifinal of the World Cup at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo.
Netherlands was ruthless in the group stage against Spain and Chile, but looked less sharp in the knockout stage. Holland was down 1-0 in the 88th minute against Mexico but put on a late comeback to win in regular time. Than Holland needed penalties to subdue the surprising team of Costa Rica. After Nigel De Jong’s injury, who many believe is the key man in Holland’s first 11, Netherlands adopted a more cautious approach and their offense looked blunt against Mexico and Costa Rica – also Van Persie’s poor form contributed to this. Team news for Netherlands say that De Jong is out. Vlaar and Fer are questionable. Cillessen will continue to deputise in goal despite that famous substitution between him and Krul in the 120th minute of the Costa Rica game.
Netherlands: Cillessen – De Vrij, Vlaar, Martins Indi, Blind – Sneijder, Wijnaldum, Kuyt, Depay, Robben – Van Persie
Argentina got another win by 1 goal against Belgium in the quarters, but it was probably their best match in the World Cup. Argentina took the lead early and should have also scored a second goal, Belgium never stood a chance. It was a breath of fresh air for Argentina after the struggle against Switzerland. The South Americans will try to keep up the same defensive intensity for today, while hoping that Messi, Higuain or Aguero can come up with the goods up front to decide the match. Team news for Argentina say that Di Maria is out, but Aguero has returned to fitness and Rojo is available again also.
Argentina: Romero – Zabaleta, Demichelis, Garay, Rojo – Gago, Mascherano – Perez, Aguero, Messi – Higuain
The odds are that Netherlands will probably sit deeper than Argentina and rely more on counterattacks, letting the South Americans to hold about 55-60% possession. It will be an interesting matchup but I believe Argentina will come out on top in the end. Netherlands looked poor in the knockout stage, they miss De Jong a lot and have lost their offensive edge. The South Americans look the better team and they also have Messi, they play on their own continent and will have the fans by their side. Argentina also has the momentum after the great performance vs Belgium, has better players as well. If Argentina denies Holland spaces for counterattacks, I don’t see how they will lose; and they can do that, their defense has been very good. My tip will be Argentina to qualify. Correct score prediction: Netherlands – Argentina 1-2.
Pick: Argentina to qualify
Odds: 1.70 @ Bet365
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 6.3
Event date: 9 July
I dont think Argentina will qualify.
You are missing a very important thing in your preview.
The coach.
van Gaal is brilliant while Sabella is crap.
Argentina looked very unorganised so far.
They looked poor in every match except the one vs Belgium.
vs Iran they almost lost
vs Nigeria they were almost equal.
vs Bosnia they were dominated for large parts of the match, but an own goal and Messi’s brilliance prevented them losing.
You can not rely on a player to give incredible performances once every 3 days. Messi hase done just that, maybe only vs Belgium he has not played good.
The Dutch have good players, I dont see them losing.
1-1 and anything can happen after that, but value is on Holland in my opinion.
personally I think Van Gaal is by no means a brilliant coach. He had so many failures, some colossal failures in his career.