World Cup Betting
World Cup Final 2010
According to David Beckham, hindsight is a wonderful thing! If only we’d all taken notice of the form book coming into the World Cup then finalists the Netherlands and Spain would have stood out like the thumbs of a hitchhiker at the end of his gap year! Both teams waltzed through their qualifying groups without dropping a point. The Dutch are on a long unbeaten run which includes six victories in South Africa, while Spain’s only defeats in the last two years came in last summer’s Confederations Cup (against the USA) and in their opener against the Swiss in Durban, which caught everyone by surprise.
Spain's class can see them make history on Sunday
Vicente del Bosque’s team hardly deserved that early setback but quickly recovered their composure to top Group H and haven’t looked back since. As a team, Spain have few equals in the art of ball retention. Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Xabi Alonso produced a masterclass in pass and move against Germany in the semi-finals and, though their winner ultimately came from a set-piece, the psychological damage they inflicted on Joachim Low’s side was a huge contributory factor in their victory. The European champions can still lack a cutting edge at times, and del Bosque is now faced with the dilemma of whether or not to recall the out-of-form Fernando Torres to support David Villa, but their ability to dictate the pace of a game means they rarely have to fight for their lives and they probably come into the final the fresher of the two teams, even though the Netherlands have had a day longer to prepare.
The Dutch have undoubtedly benefited this year from not being near the top of everyone’s list of potential World Cup winners. It was more or less taken for granted that the Oranje would reach the last eight but there they were seeded to face Brazil, and we are all aware that Holland have had a reputation for choking on the big occasion in the past. To be fair, no-one expected the pre-tournament favourites to implode in the manner they did but full marks to the Dutch for taking advantage of Brazilian indiscipline, though they again showed that they may have a soft underbelly by conceding twice against Uruguay in the semi-finals.
I’m still not convinced by several of the Netherland’s first-choice XI. Robin van Persie doesn’t look the ideal man for a lone striker’s role and ball-winners Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel are too reckless. Doubts have also resurfaced about goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, but Arjen Robben’s pace will trouble the Spanish full-backs and Wesley Sneijder is having a tournament to remember. This will be Dutch captain’s Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s finale in more ways than one but I just have my doubts about whether he’ll be able end his career in a blaze of glory. The Netherlands have had two previous appearances in the final but Spain can end their long wait for a world title by winning their first final within 90 minutes (11/10). Paddy Power has made this a final Bore Draw! Money-Back Special in which losing correct score, scorecast and first/last goalscorer singles will be refunded if it ends 0-0 but I’m going for a 2-1 correct score in favour of the European champions is priced at 17/2.
* Spain to beat Holland in 90 minutes – 11/10
* Spain to win 2-1 - 17/2
World Cup Betting Previews
