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Oranje wants to finish unique series in style

September 7th, 2009 | By: Jan | 11 Comments »

The last qualification game for Oranje against Scotland in Glasgow will not have any serious implications. After an impressive qualification series, Holland doesn’t need to win anymore. Anything goes.

In fact, the Glasgow game is as relevant as the friendly against Japan, last Saturday.

But, a rarity looms. Oranje could finish with eight wins out of eight games. Pretty unique. Within the KNVB, this is seen as crucial. Bert van Marwijk’s sight is directed at the WC, and a win over Scotland could mean that Oranje goes into the draw as group leader.

And that will lead to an easier group as the one Oranje was in at the last EC, when France and Italy – the last finalists of the 2006 WC – were Oranje’s opponents. The Group of Death. Although the Dutch team – under Van Basten’s management – made sure it was death for the opponents. Oranje withstood the test with glory.

After the poor performance against Japan, Oranje will want to show itself in a better light. The motivation is there and the players know the critical eye of Van Marwijk is watching over them. Despite the fact that the starting eleven is known in broad terms, there are still lots of question marks. Van Marwijk is constantly probing and testing to see how he can make the core even stronger.

It can’t have been a coincidence that Heitinga and Schaars were benched against Japan. The two played poorly against England. Van Marwijk politically said he merely wanted to see Mendes Da Silva and Van der Wiel in action, but the real deeper thought behind the change wasn’t revealed.

The selection should see this as a sign. There is massive internal competition. Players will not back away from friendlies this easily. They know that a taciturn attitude could easily mean that their spot goes to someone else.

Van Marwijk has several holding midfielders (De Zeeuw, De Jong, Van Bommel, Schaars, Mendes Da Silva and potentially Fer, De Guzman and Sneijder as well). With Elia, Van Marwijk has an alternative for Robben while Ruud van Nistelrooy signalled he’d like to keep Huntelaar sharp. Loovens and in the near future Boulahrouz and Vlaar will keep Ooijer on his toes, while Marcellis is also waiting in the wings.

The games against England and Japan have also demonstrated that being talented and gifted is simply not enough. It took Oranje quite some effort to play itself out of the pressure of these opponents. Drawing against England can still be seen as ok, but being bullied by Japan can only be seen as “a collective failure” as Van Marwijk put it.

The Glasgow match will be a serious test, without a doubt. The Bravehearts are fighting for their last chance to qualify and need to win. They’ll probably storm their way towards the Oranje goal. If Holland allows them to, it could be a thrilling event in Scotland.

Tags: Elia, Group C, Loovens, Oranje, Persie, Robben, Scotland, Sneijder, Stekelenburg, Van Marwijk, Vlaar

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Comments

By sonneveld | September 7th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

im not sure if van der wiel will play but i expect that mendez da silva will not he was the problem in my eyes. it amazes me how reliant our attack is on the two DM. I am glad we have van bommel for this reason.

By Michel-Olivier | September 7th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

orange is the grim reaper

Posted from United States

By sonneveld | September 7th, 2009 at 1:58 pm

if you look at our first team

—kuyt

-robben-sneijder-v. persie

de jong-van bommel

gio mathijsen ooijer heitingaa

stekelenburg

and then our second team

huntelaar

elia van der vaart afellay

de zeeuw schaars

braafheid vlaar loovens van der wiel

vorm

it is a little scary how closs the second team is to the first team.

any news on aissati’s internaitonal selection? i read he chose morroco but he still hasn’t played for them.

By Jan | September 7th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Boulah will make his return for Stuttgart soon…

By Oranje_For_Life | September 7th, 2009 at 9:34 pm

very true Sonneveld

Posted from United States

By sonneveld | September 7th, 2009 at 9:34 pm

apparently boulahrouz captained them for a game recently!

By Marc | September 7th, 2009 at 9:51 pm

I like the defense of the “2nd” team more. More youth and Braafheid is better than Gio, VD Wiel is better than Heitinga, and Loovens is better than Ooijer.

Posted from United States

By Sol | September 8th, 2009 at 7:07 am

As I see it, the upcoming friendlies and this game are all still important to win in regards to the WC seeding. Right now we are very close behind in seedingpoints compared to Argentina and France and maybe just slightly ahead of Portugal. If we want that seeding spot we can’t afford to have a drop in our Fifa world ranking since that is where we are getting most of our seeding points from now (unlike France for example who gets most of their seeding points from their recent results at the WC).

With a little luck, we can keep our 3rd rank in the Fifa world ranking (or perhaps even get 2nd rank again) then every slip-up by France or Argentina (like the draw against Romania and loss against Brazil) will bring them closer to us in regards of overtaking them in the WC-seeding ranking. We have to keep Portugal behind us as well just in case they make it (if they start winning again, their fifa world ranking will rise again as well, then it’s going to be hard keeping them behind us).

But we’ll have to keep winning every match, including the friendlies (and get some friendlies that earn more points, against tough opponents, are there any friendlies already planned after Australia and Paraguay?).

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | September 8th, 2009 at 7:10 am

Oh, and we have till november. I guess that’s not enough time for any more friendlies.

Then we’ll just have to hope France and Argentina have a few draws. That should lower their fifa world ranking (provided the other nations around their ranking are doing well in their games).

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | September 8th, 2009 at 7:27 am

After having another look at the exact points and the way the fifa world ranking could shift….

nothing will change much in regards to WC seeding regardless of what we do. We are completely dependent on whether or not the others qualify or not. Fifa world ranking just doesn’t shift that quickly, especially considering that it’s an average over 3 years which gives you the points for seeding.

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | September 8th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

After reconsidering again, lol, there’s one exception perhaps, that being Portugal, which is closest to us in WC seeding points/ranking.

So winning this match is all about keeping Portugal out of the WC seeding pot 1 and get us in if France or Argentina doesn’t qualify.

That sounds like something to get motivated for.