World Cup 2010 was filled with both heartache and pride for the Netherlands as they lost in the finals in South Africa by an extra time goal from Iniesta of Spain. The Spanish team went up the field and scored off a goal kick that obviously should have been a corner after Sneijder’s shot was deflected off of both the player wall and the goalkeeper. But referee Webb, who many believe refereed the worst final in World Cup history, missed both of these deflections, as did his assistant. And the rest as they say is history.

Now the Dutch are looking ahead to Euro 2012 and according to oddsmakers, they are currently the third favourite to win the title, after the Spanish and Germans with +675 odds. Holland has started off their qualifying campaign with no World Cup hangover having won each of their first 6 games and looking like they will glide to a group win and a place in Euro 2012.

The only players that are not still on their roster from the strong 2010 World Cup team are captain Van Bronckhorst and fellow defender Ooijer. Arjen Robben, who many consider their best player along with Wesley Sneijder, has not played in any qualifying games due to missing the season with a hamstring injury due to returning from injury too fast in order to play in South Africa in 2010. Robben just played his first International game since the World Cup, but was not happy with his performance. The Dutch will need Robben to be at his very best if they hope to raise the trophy in Ukraine/Poland.

The Netherlands only International competition win came in Euro 1988 and the country is eager for another trophy after the long twenty plus year drought. The Dutch team is as good as it has been in a long time and as they showed in the 2010 World Cup Finals in a game against the favoured Spanish anything can happen. The Dutch could have just as easily won that game and that confidence should help them going into the 2012 campaign.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar leads the team with 8 goals in 4 matches in qualifying as he makes his bid to have a larger role on the team in 2012. Dirk Kuyt has also been a strong performer with 4 goals in 5 matches, and it will be interesting to see how the Dutch line up in 2012 with so many strong forwards, including Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie and even veteran Ruud van Nistelrooy. At midfield the team is also strong with Wesley Sneijder carrying the load, while Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel play their defensive rolls to a tee. Rafael van der Vaart’s creativity is also an asset, as is Eljero Elia’s ball control attacking down the wing. The main defenders for the team look like they will once again be van der Wiel, Heitinga and Mathjisen, with Erik Pieters, a young 22 year old, seeing the majority of the field in qualifying with the absence of van Bronckhorst and Ooijer. In goal, the duty will likely once again fall to Stekelenburg who had a very solid tournament in South Africa.

Time will tell if the Dutch can put it all together for a Euro 2012 win, but by the looks of their team, they have as good a chance as anyone.

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Category: Sports
Keywords: soccer, Netherlands, Euro 2012, World Cup 2010, Holland, Dutch, Odds, Soccer Betting