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Emanuelson and Jong-A-Pin to start against
Nigeria
Wednesday 06 August 2008
Holland's Olympic boss Foppe de
Haan has few surprises as to his starting lineup for
tomorrow's Olympic opener against Nigeria.
Most remarkable is Calvin Jong-A-Pin
taking the place of the not fully fit Erik Pieters.
The outlines of the team that is
to beat the Africans were revealed during the last training
session on Wednesday.
Left-back Pieters did train, but
afterwards walked off with a bag of ice on his knee.
Jong-A-Pin is his most likely replacement.
Urby Emmanuelson seems to have
won the battle with Otman Bakkal for the position of
holding midfielder next to Hedwiges Maduro.
The Ajax-man is in great shape
and that has cost Bakkal.
Another remarkable choice was announced
earlier: Kenneth Vermeer is picked in goal over Piet
Velthuizen and up front Ryan Babel will be paired to
Roy Makaay, keeping Gerald Sibon on the bench.
Foppe
De Haan expects a tough match against Nigeria: "They
play a messy game. Their forwards fight until they drop.
Our back four will have to be concentrated for the full
90 minutes. This first match is a big game. Win it and
you're 50% sure to go through to the quarterfinals."
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