World Cup Preview: Spain vs. Netherlands

After much chatter of the European teams losing their hold on the world of futbol, soccer for us Americans, two European teams will face off on Sunday during the most watched sporting event across the world. I’d advise all of you (my 5-8 readers) to tune in.
Let’s start with the most basic thing in futbol, the starting XI and their positions.

Goalie: Iker Casillas (#1): The captain of the Spanish squad happens to be a great leader, confident and completely in control of his defense in front of him. He is one of the world’s best keepers and definitely deserves to wear the armband for Spain.

Right Back: Sergio Ramos (#15): Like his goalie, Ramos plays his club futbol at Real Madrid. The 24 year old loves to create width on the pitch by over-lapping with a midfield player while Spain retains possession.

Right Central Defender: Puyol (#5): This 32-year-old rock of a defender has a mean streak and a do or die mentality that earns him the captain armband for his club team, Barcalona. Puyol also earns my vote as the least likely player to flop or take a dive in the World Cup, no matter the circumstances. Puyol scored Spain’s biggest goal in their history against Germany, he came crashing into the penalty area during a corner and was on a freight train to immortality with his overall play against Germany.

Left Central Defender: Pique (#3): Puyol’s club and country defensive partner is much younger, 23, and composed when he has the ball at his feet compared to Puyol, Pique is considered the trigger-man from the back. He delivers crisp passes and timely tackles to regain possession for his team.

Left Back: Capdevila (#11): Capdevilla is a bit of an after thought on a team full of world wide super stars, but the Villarreal man has done well to hold onto his spot. He seldom makes an error and is another piece of the puzzle for manager Vicente del Bosque. Like Ramos, Capedevilla over-laps with his teammates while in possession and is able to deliver a timely cross into the box for the Spanish forwards.

Left Defensive Midfield: Sergio Busquets (#16): Busquets is still looking for his first Spanish goal but he has done a great job preventing goals. A defensive midfield’s job is to protect the defense from looking bad. Often overshadowed by the skillful and flair in the attacking midfield, defensive midfielders are generally responsible for containing the other teams playmakers and nobody did a better job on German playmaker Mesut Oezil than Busquets. Expect for him to have a similar job responsibility on Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder.

Right Defensive Midfielder: Xabi Alonso (#14): Much like Busquets, Alonso’s job is to not make the defense look bad. Alonso will most likely be assigned to try and contain Dutch winger Arjen Robben. Alonso is another great distributor to the forwards and attacking midfielders and he also likes to shoot from distance, as he has the ability to be deadly on a free kick.

Central Attacking Midfielder: Xavi (#8): As the conductor of the Spanish offense, Xavi has a hand in every build-up play and free kick. He possesses incredible vision and touch to go along with the ability to make all those around him look exceptional. Xavi may not possess the physical athleticism as some of the top players in the world, but his technique and footwork is impeccable.

Since the next three players are incredibly fluid, consider them all forwards.

Andres Iniesta (#6): He and Xavi have a great understanding of each other and this comes from playing together throughout their lives in Barcelona. Iniesta is incredibly important to the Spanish attack as he is comfortable in many positions and assignments.

David Villa (#7): The man who has carried the goal-scoring burden with Torres below fitness, Villa has not disappointed. Villa is showing the world why Barcelona payed close to $55 million dollars to buy him from Valencia.

Pedro (#18): The young Barcelona forward should get the start in front of Euro 2008 hero Fernando Torres. Pedro provided great attacking width along with some scintillating runs against Germany. With Torres not fully healthy, Pedro seems as if he is the logical choice.

Netherlands:
Goalie: Maarten Stekelenburg (#1): He’s a goalie, he’s tall and enjoys screaming at his defense whenever they make a mistake or allow a shot on goal. One of a few Ajax players on the roster, Stekelenburg has avoided costing the Dutch any crucial goals.

Right Back: Gregory van der Wiel (#2): The young Ajax man has been a bright spot in the defense. He managed to recover very well against Brazil and Robinho after allowing Robinho to get past him for an early goal.

Right Central Defender: John Heitinga (#3): The Everton man has provided a great partnership with Mathijsen all tournament. They have been able to avoid the big mistake that would have prevented them from being in this final.

Left Central Defender: Joris Mathijsen (#4): the 30-year-old Hamburg player has continued to improve throughout the tournament. Partnering with Heitinga, they lack much ability to distribute the ball to the forward players, but as long as they continue to play well together, Spain may find it difficult to break them.

Left Back: Giovanni van Bronckhorst (#5): The captain and Feyenoord man provides veteran leadership for the defense while he has the ability to over-lap with Kuyt.

Left Defensive Midfielder: Nigel de Jong (#8): De Jong will be handed the tough assignment of covering the 3 forwards that flow around in the Spanish attack. For the Dutch sake, de Jong needs to follow his tactical assignment for success. Getting caught out of position and not following his defensive responsibilities may prove costly to the Dutch.

Right Defensive Midfielder: Mark van Bommel (#6): Van Bommel will be assigned to help cover the plethora of attacking players that Spain posess. The son-in-law of the coach has had a very good World Cup so far and as long as he and de Jong avoid big mistakes, the Dutch will have a great chance of winning.

Central Attacking Midfielder: Wesley Sneijder (#10): From the midfield, Sneijder pulls all of the strings. He triggers the counter-attack as well as maintaining possession and distributing the ball to his teammates. He is able to play a variety of positions and has become a top player in the world after a relatively unsuccessful stint at Real Madrid.

Right Winger: Arjen Robben (#11): Robben and Kuyt are considered inverted wingers, meaning their strong foot is on the inside of the flank they attack. Robben is incredibly likely to cut inside and hope to smash a left footer from distance on a counter attack. Robben doesn’t have much defensive responsibilities and he is most likely to play as a second striker off of van Persie.

Left Winger: Dirk Kuyt (#7): Kuyt is the grinder on the offense. He tracks back to help defensively and isn’t afraid to get in a couple of tough tackles to win the ball back. Kuyt is a non-stop worker for this Dutch side and is most likely to be taken off during the game if they go down early.

Striker: Robin van Persie (#9): This Arsenal man is comfortable playing anywhere in attack for his club team but for his country he plays up front as a lone striker. Van Persie has struggled at times to make an impact after his broken leg sidelined him during the season, to win van Persie must attack the back 4 for Spain and cause a mistake by one of them.
Prediction:
As well as the Dutch have played this World Cup; I think it will be difficult to keep Spain away from the ball and at least two goals. If the Dutch get a set piece early on, Sneijder can be lethal on the ball. Xavi and Iniesta may be too much for de Jong and van Bommel to handle. If the Dutch can counter after a long period of possession, they may catch the two outside defenders off guard and capitalize with great wing play by Robben and Kuyt. I think the final score will be 2-1 after a late push to equalize by Netherlands.