By their modest standards, Moldova have started the Euro 2012 qualifying process in decent form, but despite an upbeat start to the series, the Eastern Europeans start as severe underdogs when they welcome the Netherlands to Chisinau on Friday.
Ranked 80 in the world by FIFA, Gavril Balint’s side will doubtless adopt a pragmatic approach for their forthcoming encounter, aiming to keep the game as tight as possible for as long as possible before springing on the counter.
In their opening home fixture against Finland, a 2-0 victory was claimed, though their passage to three points was eased by Sami Hyypia’s dismissal with little more than half an hour played. Even so, it still took the hosts until the final quarter of the match to stamp their authority, with Alexandru Suvorov breaking the deadlock on 69 minutes before Anatolie Doros struck soon afterwards.
Four days later against Hungary, all the goals again arrived in the second half, though of the three struck in Budapest, only one was for the Moldovans, consigning them to a defeat that was not especially a shock.
Against the Oranje, Moldova can only hope faintly for a point, but that will mean defending impeccably for 90 minutes.
Huge Game
Much of the build-up to the Netherlands’ encounter in Moldova has been dominated by an event that happened outside the confines of the national team. Nigel de Jong’s leg breaking tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa while playing for Manchester City against Newcastle United has sparked a great deal of debate, though the midfield hardman certainly won’t be featuring in either of the Oranje’s next two encounters after coach Bert van Marwijk axed him from the squad in the wake of the incident.
On the field, the Dutch can have few worries. Coming off the back of their excellent performance at the World Cu they drew a friendly in the Ukraine in early August but have since rebounded with victories over San Marino and Finland in qualifying. Dirk Kuyt is not about to play down the importance of the forthcoming qualifiers against Moldova and Sweden though.
“The match against Moldova is huge. Away games are always very difficult and it'll be a tough game. But we have the team to beat them, so we have to be ready,” he told Radio Netherlands Worldwide. “We have lots of confidence in ourselves and we know how big these matches are: if we win these two games, we'll be well on our way to qualifying for the European Championships.”
Van Marwijk’s record in qualifying competition cannot be beaten. During the World Cup series, his side won a perfect eight games from eight, while they are already two from two in the Euro 2012 campaign. Indeed, the World Cup final is the only competitive game the Dutch coach hasn’t won during his tenure, spelling danger for the Moldovans.
TEAM NEWS
Moldova
Gavril Balint hasn't had to cope with any injury issues in the build-up to this fixture.
Netherlands
Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben are both out due to injury complaints, while Nigel de Jong has been dropped from the squad by Bert van Marwijk following the midfielder’s challenge on Hatem Ben Arfa last weekend. Eljero Elia is missing too.
Defensively the coach has a number of headaches, with Ron Vlaar, Hedwiges Maduro and Vurnon Anita all missing.
Elsewhere in the group...
Hungary – San Marino
Hungary continue their attempts to qualify for a first European Championship finals since 1972 when they meet minnows San Marino at home on Friday evening.
Sandor Egervari’s side have made a distinctly mixed start to the qualification process, going down 2-0 against Sweden in their opening game before scrambling to maximum points against Moldova at home. Having lost a recent friendly to the Netherlands 6-1, the Magyars can hold out little hope of taking anything from the World Cup finalists, increasing the importance of the weekend’s encounter.
Tiny San Marino will always be serious underdogs when attempting to qualifying for any finals competition, and against the landlocked state has started its campaign in losing fashion. Thumped 5-0 by the Oranje, they were then hit for six by Sweden. Any kind of improvement will be welcomed, with defeat accepted as almost inevitable.
Prediction
The Netherlands will be too strong for their hosts and will come through relatively comfortably. Winning in such venues is rarely an easy task, and it may take the Dutch time to break their opponents’ resistance, but they will come through in the end.
Moldova 0-2 Netherlands 
