9th June 08 – Grp C: Netherlands vs Italy
Netherlands – The joke is if the citizen of Poland is called Poles, why is Holland not called Holes? OK, back to business. I watched the friendlies between Netherlands and Denmark played on 29 May which ended 1-1. The Dutch, much like the Brazilians, expounded what the world refers to as ”The Beautiful Game”. They play really exciting attacking football with a lot of pace and indivdual brilliance. Somehow, they don’t score many goals to reflect their capabilities.
Italy – World champion 2006 and one of the favorites in the tournament. Topped the group in the qualifiers which included France, Scotland and Ukraine. Well known for their air-tight defence and 1-0 scoreline. Of concern, their team captain and defender Fabio Cannavaro had to be stretchered off the field after colliding with fellow defender Giorgio Chiellini and that spells the end of his Euro 2008 campaign. It remains to be seen if Italy can recover from the shock. But Italy had often thrived on adversities and came out on top.
Prediction – The Netherlands had not shown that they can score a lot of goals despite playing beautiful soccer and with Italy’s strength in defense, it will be a lot more tough. Score: Netherlands 0-1 Italy.
Market odds: Netherlands (+975), Italy (-1/4, -0.95)
