Prediction: Holland vs Spain

July 10th 2010

After 30 days of football and 63 games, it all comes down to this. The World Cup title is up for grabs and with neither Holland nor Spain winning the coveted trophy in the past, we are set to get a new winner. Having won all six games so far, Oranje will try to finish the tournament with a 100 percent record, while Spain will try to justify their favourites tag and finally win the World Cup title.

Even though Holland won all their games in South Africa, their fans are not entirely satisfied with how their team played, since Bert van Marwijk was the first coach to discard the famous total football style and he is the one who made the team learn to win ugly. Oranje had a lot of problems in the group stage even though their opponents were hardly world class as they simply couldn’t dominate the games against Japan, Cameroon and Denmark, and were very lucky to win all of those. They then defeated Slovakia and Uruguay, but it is interesting to note Bert van Marwijk’s side haven’t had a single big game on their way to the final. This is one of the reasons why I don’t think they will do well against Spain, as they simply don’t have what it takes to match the best sides in the world. Apart from Sneijder and Robben, they don’t have any other players capable of stepping up to the plate and they will have their work cut out for them in such a high-profile match.

Spain started the tournament with an unlucky defeat to Switzerland, but even then everyone knew they would reach the closing stages of the tournament. La Furia Roja kept raising their form from one game to the next and they look to be on top of their game at the moment. They completely outplayed impressive Germany, who, let us not forget, hammered both England and Argentina, and I would be very surprised if Spain fail to win this match as well. The pressure of expectations will not pose a problem for players like Xavi, Iniesta and Villa, who thrive under pressure and give their best when everyone expects them to. Spain’s possession-based style will help them gain control of the match and it will give them plenty of chances to hurt the opponent’s defence, while at the same time restricting Holland from finding their way to Casillas’ goal.

Conclusion

Despite reaching the final, Holland haven’t shown all that much in South Africa and this will be their first real test, which I doubt they will pass with flying colours. Spain look and play like the best side in the world at the moment, and with seven Barcelona players in the starting line-up, that is not really surprising. La Furia Roja have got a marvelous chance to win their first World Cup title at Holland’s expense and I am confident they will seize the opportunity. With such high odds offered on Spain, this looks like one of the best football predictions this week.

Verdict: Away win Spain(2)

Best Odds: 6/5

Bookmaker: William Hill