World Cup Service – The Final

Fri, Jul 9, 2010

By James Cochrane

Holland v Spain

After 63 games we finally reach the final of the 2010 World Cup. It started with South Africa against Mexico and it ends with Holland against Spain.

When Spain lost to Switzerland in their opening game a place in the final looked a long way off and talk was of them not making it out of their group. Despite keeping the ball for pretty much the whole of the game, chances were created at a minimum and a crisis looked on the cards. However, since then, Vincent Del Bosque has managed to pick up his team and, although goals haven’t been at a premium, the quality of play has been magnificent.

David Villa has scored five of the team’s seven goals and without him it’s a wonder how long they would have lasted but he has once again shown he is a class above. Xavi has also stepped up his game since the opener. His ability of keeping the ball is second to none and he is happy to sit back and pass the ball around all day. His partnership with Iniesta (whose pass completion stands at 92%!) has to be one of the best in the world and it makes the Spanish side what it is.

Like we have said all along, Spain needed to drop Torres to really work and it was proven last night. Barcelona’s Pedro came into the team and was superb, he held the ball up well, made some menacing runs out wide and when needed pulled inside to create space for players like Xavi. Torres is still one of the best strikers in the world but he is simply not fit and he is struggling to get away from his man like he is used to.

Amazingly there have only been 16 shots on target against Spain in their six games and its going to be extremely hard for the Dutch to break them down.

Our interests from the start, the Netherlands, have gone against their traditional way of attractive football and, under the influence of Bert Van Marwijk, have altered to a more defensive style and it has worked. They still possess the flair players such as Wesley Snejder and Arjen Robben but with the likes of Nigel de Jong and Mark Van Bommel in the middle there is a much grittier look to the team.

At first the Orange army displayed their disappointment at the style of play but they have little to moan about now. The team has worked hard for each other and they are all willing to lay their body on the line for the cause, something which you haven’t seen for a number of years. They are tough to break down and their team spirit, which was shown against Brazil, is at an all time high.

Wesley Sneijder has carried his tremendous club form into all of the games and is also in contention for the golden boot. He is instrumental in what the Dutch do and what happens will hugely depend on how he plays.

We stand in a great position coming into the final. We obviously have the Dutch each way for the title at 10/1 so we are guaranteed a 5/1 payout whatever the result. However, we also have David Villa top scorer at 8/1 and, having scored five of Spain’s seven goals, there’s a very good chance he will bag again, so if we are being greedy we want Holland to win 2-1 with Villa scoring for Spain and Sneijder not to score, Ok?!

In all seriousness we can have a couple of savers in here as we already know we have a winner. I feel it will be the Spanish fans that are celebrating after the final whistle. The Dutch have played well and by knocking out Brazil, will know they can beat anyone, however, Spain made a very good German side look very ordinary in the semis and that is no mean feat. If they keep the ball and play like they did then they will win, simple as that. The Spanish midfield is sure to make the difference and the difference in class on paper is quite alarming.

Xavi and Iniesta will frustrate the likes of Van Bommel and De Jong with their short passing and ball control and I fancy both to give away a large number of free kicks and, with them likely find their names in the book, a sending off is not out of the question.

It is likely to be another tight game and, with the Spanish happy to keep hold of the ball for the 90 minutes and take their chance when it comes, I want to enter the correct score market again. I don’t really ever look at scorecasts as they normally offer no value but Villa 1-0 with Victor Chandler is 33/1 and in my opinion that needs to be taken, it’s just too big.

Good luck, enjoy the game and bring on the domestic season!

Bettrends Advice

Spain – 11/10 (general)

Spain 1-0 – 11/2 (VC, Ladbrokes)

David Villa 1st scorer and Spain 1-0 – 33/1 (Victor Chandler)

To be a sending off – 3/1 (Victor Chandler)