Netherlands vs Slovakia – Match Preview
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The Netherlands will look to oust debutant, Slovakia, out of the tournament when it next faces their European rivals in its Round of 16 clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban tonight.
Holland has not missed a beat so far in the tournament with consecutive victories over Denmark, Japan and Cameroon helping the side clinch top spot of Group E with maximum points.
The Dutch will also be buoyed by the return of Arjen Robben from a knee injury, who made an influential return to the line-up as a substitute in Holland’s 2-1 victory over Cameroon.
In fact, Robben played a huge hand in the Netherlands’ second goal where the Bayern Munich playmaker ran inside Cameroonian defender, Rigobert Song, before firing off a shot that cannoned off the upright and straight to Klass Jan Huntelaar to score the decisive goal for the Dutch.
Meanwhile, Slovakia’s introduction to the FIFA World Cup could not have begun any better for the new kids on the block.
Although the Slovaks followed up a 1-1 draw with New Zealand in addition to a 2-0 reverse to Paraguay, they arguably created the greatest day of the nation’s short footballing history cancelling out Slovakia’s earlier results with a stunning 3-2 upset win over defending champions, Italy, to claim second spot of Group F.
If the likes of Robert Vittek, Marek Hamsik and Juraj Kucka can create enough opportunity in front of goal for Slovakia, it can severely test a workman-like Dutch defence that hasn’t come under any real pressure so far in the tournament.
Kick-off commences at 00:00 (AEST) on Tuesday 29 June.
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