Netherlands V Chile World Cup 2014

Netherlands V Chile Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Beers: Group B of Beer World Cup: http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-b/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Nomade V Heineken. Who will quench the thirst, set the mood, get me in the right spirit? Click on picture for a preview of the beers.

Get the beer result after, much after!

Heineken V Nomade Scotch Ale: 1-0 Victory to Heineken at the death. The easy drinking lager comes out in this keenly fought battle. Its lovely looking appearance and aroma is what all beers should aspire to: clear golden colour, good head, good lacing with a pleasant smell of yeast percolating through the nose. The taste is smooth and refreshing, of a quite distinctive yeast flavor with a tiny hint of hops. It’s a good beer for watching the football. Nomade Scotch Ale, on the other hand, a good performer, with a good head that stayed well, with it interesting aromas tasted good, but was a tad bit too strong for the day that was in it. The smoked malt taste with a bitter aftertaste from the stout just lost out to Heineken and its unique flavoured lager. Click on links below for full beer information and reviews.

PreGame:

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli might leave out his midfielders Arturo Vidal and Charles Aranguiz. The pair have niggly injuries and also both are carrying yellow cards from the last game. Not worth risking it in this game today.

I am looking forward to hearing and seeing the amazing Chilean support, who have lifted their team throughout the tournament so far. The team itself aint too bad either. They’re brilliant going forward and are box office stuff to watch. They take their chances and goals very well, and in the Spanish game they scored a fantastic team goal, from defence to attack in a flash. Vargas, Alexis Sanchez, Vidal, Gutierrez and co, are some team, and I have no doubt that they will give Brazil or Croatia/Mexico a sleepless night thinking of how to stop Chile and their very fast counterattacking football. We will see how they do today against a strong Dutch team, but that Dutch team also has a few problems in defence, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Chile score the odd goal against the Netherlands.

Netherlands: The Australians asked serious questions about the Netherlands defence, getting behind the Dutch back four on numerous occasions, scoring twice. Of course there is also the point that Australia are a bit better than a lot of the teams in this world cup. I don’t think the Netherlands will get as tough a game for a short while now or play a team as physical as the Aussies, maybe if they meet Italy in a quarter final game perhaps, but not Chile/Mexico/Brazil/Croatia. But we will see.

The Netherlands strength is their attacking play. They have the fire power to score goals. It doesn’t matter if they let in two, they will just score three, and outscore every team. Goals wins games, and the Dutch have the top two strikers in the world cup, the van Persie (not today though as he is serving a double yellow card suspenson!) Robben double act, mean and keen.

With both teams through to the second round, the game today is to see who wants to play either Brazil or Mexico/Croatia in the next round. I would use this game to play some of the fringe members of the squad, give them a run out. It’s a bit of a dead rubber game, but will be a good watch all the same, as both teams play delightful attacking game. Is it better to play Brazil or Mexico? I think the Netherlands would beat both to be honest, so this last game has no real meaning for them.

A more detailed review on Chile here and on Netherlands here

Both teams had already qualified for the second round after starting with wins over Spain and Australia.

Just seen highlights of this as looked at the 90 minutes of the other tie.

Nice well taken goals by the Dutch who won this very physical encounter.

First half was a bit of a snooze fest with few if any clear cut chances.

Biggest shock was that Kuyt was on the pitch. Why do the Dutch still think there is a need for this donkey? It kind of shows up the gruff of the Netherlands and their total football bull. Arjen Robben was again in top form, unlucky not to score, and linking up well with the rest of the forwards and midfield. His set up Depay brilliantly, who went on to score a nice goal.

The Chilean team, who preferred to roll around the ground than play football, only managed one shot on target against the Dutch, which is pretty pathetic when you think about it.

Next up for Chile is a game against the hosts, Brazil. Should be a great spectacle and a game they can very much win. It certainly will be an intriguing tie. The Netherlands have to play Mexico up next. That also should be an exciting tie to watch. Mexico seem to be improving with every game and wont be as easy a pushover as you might imagine. Looking forward to both games, in two evenly matched ties.

Music to get you in the mood

Van Halen V Makiza