Italy vs Netherlands
Italy
Italy will have to cope with the loss of their Captain Fabio Cannavaro after being ruled out of the competition with an injury. But being the World Champion, they will have to live up to their name and put in a good fight and try to secure a win to gain advantage in the group of death.
Luca Toni will be the man to watch out for as he is tall and is a very good target man. He can create havoc in the Dutch penalty area easily with his height. Another man to watch out for will be Andrea Pirlo. His precise passing and his deadly free kick will be another factor for the Dutch to be fear of.
Possible Starting Lineup:
(GK) Buffon - (DF) Panucci, Barzagli, Materazzi, Zambrotta - (MF) Gattuso, De Rossi, Pirlo - (FW) Camoranesi, Toni, Di Natale
Form:
| Last 5 Italy matches: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 30.05.2008 | FRIENDLY | Italy - Belgium | 3:1 |
| 26.03.2008 | FRIENDLY | Spain - Italy | 1:0 |
| 06.02.2008 | FRIENDLY | Italy - Portugal | 3:1 |
| 21.11.2007 | EURO Q | Italy - Faroe Islands | 3:1 |
| 17.11.2007 | EURO Q | Scotland - Italy | 1:2 |
Netherlands
Netherlands haven’t been fighting for the trophy since 1998 as they were beaten in the semi-finals on a few occasions. The Dutch side is filled with young energy with the likes of Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Ibrahim Afellay, Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder and etc. But they also have experience players like Edwin van der Sar, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Ruud van Nistelrooy and etc. With the mixture of young blood and experienced players, the Dutch side will be an interesting side to watch out for.
Netherlands will be looking to boost their confidence with a win over World Champion Italy in the opening fixture of their Euro 2008. This will put them in pole position to qualify if they are able to beat one of the big 3 in the group of death.
Netherlands will be without trio Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Ryan Babel.
Possible Starting Lineup:
(GK) Van der Sar - (DF) Heitinga, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Brockhorst - (MF) Engelaar, De Jong, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Afellay - (FW) Van Nistelrooy
Form:
| Last 5 Netherlands matches: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 01.06.2008 | FRIENDLY | Netherlands-Wales | 2:0 |
| 29.05.2008 | FRIENDLY | Netherlands-Denmark | 1:1 |
| 24.05.2008 | FRIENDLY | Netherlands-Ukraine | 3:0 |
| 26.03.2008 | FRIENDLY | Austria-Netherlands | 3:4 |
| 06.02.2008 | FRIENDLY | Croatia-Netherlands | 0:3 |
Personally I would love to see Netherlands get a win over Italy as I’m a supporter for Netherlands and Spain with England out of the finals. But I have to be realistic and go for a 1-1 draw. If being lucky a 2-1 win for Netherlands.
The Pick:
Italy 1-1 Netherlands.
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