Holland have some of the best players in the world in their side but they don't quite have the strength in depth of other nations.
Holland have often failed to make the grade at the major tournament despite the obvious talent they have on the field. If things come together for Holland they will be tough to beat and they could finally do justice to their World Cup odds.
Holland have some decent opposition in their group (Denmark and Cameroon) but they are still not in the class of Holland and the Dutch managed to win every game in qualifying proving they are a team that has a winning mentality.
Teams that win their group often get a relatively easy game in the Second Round and you would very much expect Holland to reach the quarter final as a minimum, but Holland have often looked unbeatable early and then crashed out, they have only gone better than the quarter final once in 20 years.
Holland proved how good they are defensively in qualifying by keeping six clean sheets and Denmark are another low scoring and low conceding team so this has the look of a low scoring game that Holland should win with a clean sheet.
Wesley Sneijder loves to get involved in attacks from midfield and has a great scoring record for Holland. At his most recent major tournament, Euro 2008, he scored twice to make him the joint top scorer for Holland.
The fact Sneijder is a midfielder and Holland have some talented attackers makes the Inter Milan midfielder a great price to score anytime in most matches. Holland could get most goals against Japan so that is the best game to back him to score anytime.
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| Date | Team | Scores | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/09/08 | FYR Macedonia | 1 - 2 | Holland |
| 11/10/08 | Holland | 2 - 0 | Iceland |
| 15/10/08 | Norway | 0 - 1 | Holland |
| 28/03/09 | Holland | 3 -0 | Scotland |
| 01/04/09 | Holland | 4 - 0 | FYR Macedonia |
| 06/06/09 | Iceland | 1 - 2 | Holland |
| 10/06/09 | Holland | 2 - 0 | Norway |
| 09/09/09 | Scotland | 0 - 1 | Holland |
Holland enjoyed a great qualifying campaign that saw them winning every game, although most were by narrow margins. that is still quite some achievement and they are one of the livelier chances from the bigger prices.
| Goalkeepers | Sander Boschker (FC Twente), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht) |
| Defenders | Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Edson Braafheid (Celtic), John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax) |
| Midfielders | Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid) |
| Forwards | Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Eljero Elia (Hamburg), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (AC Milan), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Robin van Persie (Arsenal) |
| Player | Games (Sub) | Goals Scored | 1st Goals | Last Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirk Kuyt | 7 (1) | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Klaas Jan Huntelaar | 5 (3) | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Rafael Van Der Vaart | 5 (2) | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Mark Van Bommel | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
7 Holland players scored a single goal during qualification.
| Holland Goal Stats | Holland Result Stats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 8 | No. Of Games | 8 |
| Goals | 17 | No. Of Games Won | 8 |
| Conceded | 2 | No. Of Games Drawn | 0 |
| First Goals | 10 | No. Of Games Lost | 0 |
| Last Goals | 8 | No. Of Games Winning At Half Time | 5 |
| Over 2.5 | 4 | No. Of Games Drawing At Half Time | 3 |
| Under 2.5 | 6 | No. Of Games Losing At Half Time | 0 |
| Clean Sheet | 8 | ||
| None Scored | 0 | ||
| Year | Stage of Exit |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Eliminated in Second Round by Portugal |
| 2002 | Did not qualify |
| 1998 | Fourth Place. Eliminated in Semi Final on penalties against Brazil |
| 1994 | Eliminated in Quarter Final by Brazil |
| 1990 | Eliminated in Second Round by Germany |
Wesley Sneider often scores from midfield for Holland and he will be a huge price to be the Holland top scorer. All he needs is one or two goals and he will shorten massively, at which point you can lay off on Betfair for a profit.
Holland have shown in qualifying and previous tournaments that they can score plenty of goals so the best Spread bet on Holland is surely to buy their tournament goals. If they get past the second round the final make up could be very profitable.