With the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicking off in 29 days, it’s time to explore one of the leading contenders in Group A, Virgil van Dijk’s Netherlands.
Every day until November 20th, we’ll explore a different team represented in this year’s tournament, from Group A to Group H, including predictions about where they’ll end up.
Yesterday, we looked into the Lions of Teranga, Senegal. Here’s what you need to know about the other Group A favorite, the Flying Dutchmen of the Netherlands.
Netherlands
Group A
Nickname: Oranje, Holland, Clockwork Orange, The Flying Dutchmen
Colors: Orange, white, blue
Location:
Coach: Louis van Gaal (Netherlands)
Top Players:
The Dutch are more loaded than nacho cheese fries. Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool holds down a formidable D with Bayern’s de Ligt, Inter Milan’s Dumfries, Man City’s Ake, and Man U’s Malacia. Frenkie de Jong of Barcelona leads a constellation of stars from Atalanta, Ajax, and Bayern Munich in the midfield. Former Barca teammates Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong head the Dutch scoring machine built on Clockwork Orange total football.
Team History:
Qatar will mark the Netherlands’ 12th World Cup appearance, though their best result is runners-up in 1974, 1978, and in 2010, when they lost to Spain 1-0 on a 116th-minute goal. Holland hasn’t lost since June of last year, including a recent win over Belgium in the Nations League.
Tournament Prediction: Quarterfinal loss to Argentina.
The Netherlands will have some competition in Senegal, but they are, on paper, the best team in Group A. They should be able to collect points off Qatar and Ecuador, which should be enough to win the group. That leaves them with the second-place team from Group B in the round of 16, which we predict will be the United States. The Netherlands will probably win that (sorry) but lose in the quarterfinals to eventual champions, Argentina.
Featured Image: Generated Image: DALL-E 2/NetherlandsNationalFootballTeam/DM
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