PORTUGAL VS NETHERLANDS PREVIEW & PREDICTION
Portugal against Holland is the top match next Monday. The two nations are now meeting in Geneva. Both teams completed in this international match already a test match against a strong opponent. Portugal went against Egypt, the Dutch had to do with England. For the Portuguese, the first international match in 2018 had a better outcome than for the Netherlands. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in extra time for a 2-1 win, and the Dutch were beaten 1-0 by England.
In the history so far there were a total of twelve direct duels between these two nations. The balance speaks clearly for Portugal. Seven victories are on the safe side of Portugal, while the Netherlands has so far won only one duel. Recently there was this match in 2013, which ended with a 1: 1. In the last five clashes, there were never more than three goals.
Portugal:
Happy ending for Portugal after an intense exchange with Egypt. The European champion was able to prevent a false start to the calendar year 2018 thanks to Christiano Ronaldo. The Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah gave the Africans the lead in the 56th minute with a great long-range effort. Just before the final whistle it all smelled of a victory for the Egyptians, but then came, as so often, the Portuguese superstar to the fore and turned with two header goals in minute 93 and 96 the result. Finally, Portugal was the deserved winner – they dominated with 60% possession of the ball largely the game and were also significantly more shots on goal.
With a win, the team can now go a little more relaxed in the next friendly match against Holland. Despite the relatively disappointing games of the Dutch national team in recent months, this is quite qualitatively over those of Egypt. Although the Netherlands does not have a top star like Mohamed Salah in their ranks, but in terms of width, the Dutch are better positioned than the Africans. Therefore, waiting for the European champions next Monday a difficult task.
Netherlands:
The first international match in 2018 and the new coach Ronald Koeman went to hell. Against England, the Dutch national team had beaten 0-1. In the 58th minute Jesse Lingard of Manchester United scored the only goal of the evening and gave Koeman a negative start. The game was fairly balanced over long stretches. England had some more possession and dribbles, but Holland did well and won much of the challenge. The passionate performance of Ronald Koeman’s team gives the Dutch footballing nation hope to see much better matches of their team in the coming months than in recent years.
Big stars are not to be found in the team. Koeman emphasized in the run-up to the match against England to focus on a functioning collective where lone winners will have no place. So, surprisingly, the Bayern star Arjen Robben was not included. In the game against England especially the quality of the defensive department caught the eye. An extremely talented three-way with Stefan de Vrij of Lazio, Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool and Matthijas de Ligt of Ajax Amsterdam formed the basis of a strong defensive. Before that, Georginio Wijnaldum of Liverpool and Kevin Strootman of AS Roma and well consolidated the center. The future opponents of Netherlands are faced with a tough task if they want to break the defensive lines around captain Virgil van Dijk.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.84
