The biggest winners from the first round of matches, Netherlands, will be up against Australia in the second round of group matches in Group B at the FIFA World Cup 2014. The match will be played at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre on Wednesday, June 18.
Netherlands routed Spain 5-1 in the World Cup opener with Louis Van Gaal’s new 5-3-2 tactic working wonders for the Dutch. In a way, the formation allows the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, and Robin Van Persie to play in their strongest positions.
The protection at the back with an extra man behind also allows the wide men and the midfielders to press high up the pitch and join the attack should they need to. There are a couple of defensive midfielders in the system who look to break down the play as well as build from behind while the attacking midfielder is always looking to thread balls into the path of van Persie or Robben.
The Oranje have an absolute dream pairing up top with van Persie and Robben. While the former is one of the most technically gifted footballer of our times, the latter can simply tear teams apart with his speed as he demonstrated against Spain. Both men possess a lethal left foot and extraordinary footballing brains. Their result against Spain in their opener will now see the Dutch as the favorites to qualify from Group B as group leaders.
Australia under Ange Postecoglou performed exceptionally well against Chile in what has been quoted to be the game of the tournament so far. Although the Socceroos fell to a 3-1 defeat against the South Americans, they won the hearts of many neutrals at the world cup with their determination to make something out of the game.
They posed plenty of threat in the second half and were clearly the better team after scoring through Tim Cahill. Had the likes of Metthew Leckie and Ben Halloran arrived with their shooting boots, Australia might well have salvaged something out of the game.
The Socceroos will have gained plenty of confidence from their opener and provided that they can finish well, Tim Cahill and company may yet spring up a surprise for the continent down under.