Van Marwijk ready for Uruguay battle
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk is predicting a battle royal against the "fighters" of Uruguay in Tuesday's semi-final but believes his Dutch players have added some steel to their renowned brand of attractive football.
The Dutch are the clear favourites to make it to Sunday's Final,especially with Robin van Persie declared fit and the South Americans' striker Luis Suarez suspended following the handball that led to Ghana's exit from the FIFA World Cup?.
Like all the other successors to Rinus Michels,Van Marwijk has had to endure comparisons with the man who invented 'total football' for the Dutch,but he believes he has now added to the flair that they have always been famous for.
He said:"When I took over this job,my first goal was to teach the team to defend better.
"Because we haven't scored that many goals so far in this World Cup,people see it differently as they only associate attractive football with lots of goals.But we still play attractive football.
"Uruguay are a team of fighters.They battle and survive.That is why they have reached the semi-finals.We must certainly not underestimate them,otherwise things will go wrong for us."
Uruguay will also be without Jorge Fucile,one of the outstanding defenders of the tournament,but Van Marwijk is preaching a message of caution based on bitter memories of past opportunities that brilliant Dutch teams let slip.
Arsenal striker Van Persie,who has led the line for Holland without much reward in terms of goals,has been declared fit for the Cape Town match after injuring his left elbow against Brazil.
Uruguay will be without Suarez,Lucile,Lodeiro and Lugano,while the Netherlands will be without De Jong and Van der Wiel.Now that Van Persie has been declared healthy to play,the uruguayans are having to do without some of their more talented players in this critical match.
The Dutch are the clear favourites to make it to Sunday's Final,especially with Robin van Persie declared fit and the South Americans' striker Luis Suarez suspended following the handball that led to Ghana's exit from the FIFA World Cup?.
Like all the other successors to Rinus Michels,Van Marwijk has had to endure comparisons with the man who invented 'total football' for the Dutch,but he believes he has now added to the flair that they have always been famous for.
He said:"When I took over this job,my first goal was to teach the team to defend better.
"Because we haven't scored that many goals so far in this World Cup,people see it differently as they only associate attractive football with lots of goals.But we still play attractive football.
"Uruguay are a team of fighters.They battle and survive.That is why they have reached the semi-finals.We must certainly not underestimate them,otherwise things will go wrong for us."
Uruguay will also be without Jorge Fucile,one of the outstanding defenders of the tournament,but Van Marwijk is preaching a message of caution based on bitter memories of past opportunities that brilliant Dutch teams let slip.
Arsenal striker Van Persie,who has led the line for Holland without much reward in terms of goals,has been declared fit for the Cape Town match after injuring his left elbow against Brazil.
Uruguay will be without Suarez,Lucile,Lodeiro and Lugano,while the Netherlands will be without De Jong and Van der Wiel.Now that Van Persie has been declared healthy to play,the uruguayans are having to do without some of their more talented players in this critical match.
anthony - 5. Jul, 09:45
