Saturday, June 4, 2011

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04.06. (Sat) 21:10 Brazil - Netherlands

DID YOU KNOW?

Brazil are the most successful team ever as they have won five World Cups so far.

The South Americans were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup as Netherlands proved to be too strong.

Lucio is the most experienced player of the current Brazil squad with 97 caps.

Sao Paulo midfielder Lucas Moura is the youngest midfielder in this Selecao team at the tender age of 18.

Brazil are the defending champions at the upcoming 2011 Copa America in Argentina.

Netherlands have made it into three World Cup finals, but have yet to win the tournament.

The Dutch have not lost a single match since their 1-0 loss against Spain in the final of the 2010 World Cup.

Feyenoord youngster Georginio Wijnaldum is one of four Dutch players who could make his international debut on Saturday.

No player in this Oranje squad has scored as many international goals as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The Schalke striker has netted 26 so far.

Young midfielder Kevin Strootman was playing in the Dutch first division only six months ago.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Brazil (4-2-3-1)
Julio Cesar; Daniel Alves, Lucio, Thiago Silva, Andre Santos; Lucas, Ramires; Elano, Robinho, Neymar; Leandro Damiao

Brazil coach Mano Menezes will have to make do without the services of highly-rated attacker Alexandre Pato due to injury, while playmaker Ganso is not match fit either for Saturday's clash.

Experienced players such as Kaka and Ronaldinho have both been left out of the squad, meaning that Manezes will probably look to Neymar to provide the Selecao with some much needed creativity.

Netherlands (4-2-3-1)
Krul; Van der Wiel, Bruma, Mathijsen, Pieters; De Jong, Strootman; Robben, Afellay; Kuyt; Van Persie

Netherlands tactician Bert van Marwijk will be without several regulars on Oranje's South America trip as Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Mark van Bommel, Demy de Zeeuw, Theo Janssen, Michel Vorm and Maarten Stekelenburg have all stayed behind in Holland.

This leaves Van Marwijk with a problem for the goalkeeper position as Tim Krul, Jasper Cillessen and Michel Vorm all have yet to make their senior debut for Oranje. Young Jeffrey Bruma could start alongside Joris Mathijsen in defence as John Heitinga has been plagued by injury in recent months.

Furthermore, Kevin Strootman could make it into the starting XI for the first time in his career.


Prediction
The Brazilians will be eager to make amends for last year's World Cup victory and are in full preparation for the upcoming Copa America. Netherlands on the other hand don't have much to play for as the trip to South America is not much more than a holiday for the majority of their players. This makes Brazil the sky-high favourites for Saturday's game and the Selecao are likely to come out victorious this time.

Brazil 3-1 Netherlands