Van Hanegem: "Holland are better than Brazil"

21 June 2010

Holland's performance against Japan was annoying, but Bert van Marwijk's team have a 90% chance of reaching the final, Willem van Hanegem thinks. "They need not be afraid of Brazil."

In his comment in Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad the former player of Feyenoord, AZ and the Dutch team analyzed the current Dutch side. "I understand all the criticism. They're not connecting up front. Holland are providing to little offensively," Van Hanegem writes.

"I often saw Van Persie moving the wrong way against Japan. Just as often he was in the right spot, but then the ball didn't come. That's not good when you have been together for so many weeks. When Sneijder drops back to collect the ball, Van der Vaart fills in the space that creates and then there's no one down the left, also because Van Bronckhorst is hardly coming forward."

"It looks sloppy and unattractive. I understand that caution, but because I know how good our players can be it's annoying to see how we present ourselves against a team like Japan. I see no confidence."

But okay, we're the first to qualify for the next round," Van Hanegem writes. "Looking at the results Van Marwijk has done very well. He's created a team and he's subordinated his own ego to the team as well. That could take us a long way. I estimate our chances to reach the final at 90%. If we meet Brazil we don't have to be afraid. We always do well against the big nations."