The Dutch are easily beatable. Whether Uruguay will do it is another question, but I think if the Dutch get to the final it'll be a disappointing match, regardless of who they face. The Uruguayans would at least make it something interesting.
Thats just bollocks, i hope van Marwijk will replace van Persie for Elia, Afellay will play instead of de Jong who isn't allowed to play, if he will do that than we will see some much nicer football.
There is nothing wrong with it but you are crazy if you are for Uruguay after Suarez action.
He did what he had to do to keep his team in a position to win. You'd be calling van Persie a hero if he'd done the same thing to get the Dutch to the semis. :P
To say that the Dutch are easily beatable seems quite a strange statement considering their form and the quality of their squad. Many of the teams in the tournament would be capable of beating any other nation, but on form the Dutch are clearly one of the toughest to beat. They're on a run of something like 15 consecutive victories in competitive games and have already knocked out Brazil, who were the clear favourites for the tournament before that match.
I'm not sure how much high level European football you watch [not trying to sound in any way condescending], but top quality defensive midfield players are hugely important at that level and in De Jong I think the Netherlands have the best one left in the tournament. Just look at the influence players like Yaya Toure, Claude Makalele, Genaro Gattuso, Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Emerson etc. have had on the success of their respective clubs in the past decade. On top of that, the Dutch have in Robben a more talented and on-form attacking player than Germany have in their entire squad.
I do agree that the Dutch are a boring team to watch at the moment, but I don't think that a final involving Uruguay would likely provide a better spectacle, no matter how much bandwagon-enthusiasts try to hype Forlan; who has scored one massively deflected shot, one penalty and one free kick which would ordinarily have been easily saved and most likely drawn criticism from commentators and pundits for being a weak and over-ambitious effort.
Personally, I think that a Uruguay vs. Spain or Germany final would be a very one-sided affair, whereas the Netherlands would probably provide stiff resistance for either team. On top of that, Robben is on wonderful form at the moment and is more than capable of providing moments of real excitement.
Thanks for the schooling, Josh. As you suggested, I don't get exposed to very many Euro league matches over here, so I appreciate all the insight I can get.
Anyway, my point was basically that I've had a lot more fun watching Uruguay play this tournament than the Dutch, and I think that if they made it to the final they'd have a lot more to play for. Purely subjective, though.
Also, I think it will be interesting to see how Germany manage without the luxury of an early goal. In each of their three four-goal-games they've scored very early on, and the other team has had to attack them. That didn't happen against Serbia or Ghana and as a result the Germans were unable to rely on the counter-attack. They certainly looked a lot less formidable in those two matches; scoring one goal and conceding one over the two games.
Of course, they might just score early against Spain, too, but then again they might not.
Edit: Germany's ability to step it up for the tournaments really is incredible though. Just look at how poor Podolski and Klose's records have been at Bayern. That said, I don't watch any Bundesliga, so maybe someone with more knowledge on German football can shed some light.
I'm only listening to the game so I haven't seen the goal, but the BBC 5live commentators & pundits are saying that while it was a good strike it was a goalkeeping howler... not the first of the tournament.
Well the pundits are former players, but you're right, you probably know better. And you might want to read my last post again, I didn't say it wasn't a good strike .