San Marino V Holland
Friday, September 3rd – 19:45 GMT (LIVE STREAMING via Bet365)
EURO 2012 Qualifier, Group E
South Africa’s beaten finalists, Holland, begin their journey to what they hope will be another major final in the form of the European Championships in Poland & Ukraine in under two years time. Since suffering that bitter 1-0 loss to Spain in Johannesburg, Holland have been seen just the once, when drawing 1-1 in Ukraine, and did appear to be nursing a World Cup hangover. Somehow, Bert Van Marwijk need to lift his troops mentally in time for their EURO 2012 qualifiers, although the Dutch coach has been handed a generous gift in the form of San Marino for his teams first competitive assignment since the World Cup – A team ranked a bewildering 202 in the world, with only five countries in the world lower than San Marino the FIFA’s World Rankings.
It is understandable why San Marino are as poor as they are, although you have to give the players a great deal of credit simply for turning out for every game and giving 110%, as defeat after defeat is demoralising for the best of sides. And that has been the case for Europe’s smallest populated participant in these EURO qualifiers, with San Marino having never won a meaningfully game, certainly not a EURO qualifier, and managed to lose all ten of their 2010 World Cup qualifiers by an aggregate scoring of 47-1.
To say the writing is on the wall would be an understatement, with the bookies of the exact same opinion having priced the Dutch up as 1/100 shots, with Boylesports‘ quote of 125/1 springing a giggle out of myself as if they’re desperate to avoid taking bets on Holland and having to shell out on a couple of pounds to silly punters. To be brutally honest, that price should be ten times bigger considering the colossal gulf in class between the two sides.
There aren’t many markets involving this game worth mentioning, but the goalscoring area maybe where some minor value lye’s in a contest which is expected to be very one-sided. Van Marwijk will be without offensive duo Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie for the tranquil trip to Serravalle, San Marino, where the weather will be gorgeous atop of a half-filled Stadio Olimpico stadium; a fearsome name for a venue but the locals don’t do it justice I’m afraid. Eljero Elia is Robben’s likely deputy, but the role of striker, in a three pronged attack, still has a question mark surrounding it. In the wake of Van Persie’s recent withdrawal through injury, Van Markwijk has backwards by selecting Hamburg’s 34 year-old forward, Ruud Van Nistlerooy who, should he feature on Friday, would make his first appearance for Oranje for over two years.
However, considering Van Marwijk will now look forward, as well as the fact their opponents are roll em’ over San Marino, it is unlikely that the former Manchester United and Real Madrid will start proceedings, which means Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who will also ply his trade in the German Bundesliga in opposition to Nistlerooy, should be handed his 37th international cap despite not playing a massive amount of football recently. The former AC Milan flop has a pretty nifty record at international level, having scored 16 times although many have come against weak opposition, and he will appreciate a run out on Friday in a game where he will be expected to score six or seven, let alone the two we need.
Klass-Jan Huntelaar is 13/8 (2.62) with WilliamHill to score two goals in San Marino on Friday, which looks a snip considering the Marino defence is likely to be bombarded throughout. The same firm will be handing out odds of 5/1 on the same player bagging a hat-trick. We are all over both!
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Selections:
To Score 2 or More (Brace) – 13/8 (2.62) WilliamHill
To Score a Hat-Trick (3) – 5/1 WilliamHill
