Van der Vaart uncertain
Monday 28 June 2010
Rafael van der Vaart is a doubt
for today's World Cup round of 16 match with Slovakia
after failing to complete their latest training session.
"Rafael left early because
his calf tensed up which could mean that he pulled it
slightly," coach Bert van Marwijk said.
"He was bothered after Thursday's
match (against Cameroon) but yesterday he completed
the whole training session, so I can't estimate at this
stage if he can play tomorrow."
Eljero Elia seems the most likely
replacement for Van der Vaart. Arjen Robben is match
fit, but Van Marwijk did not want to say whether or
not he would play. In the concluding training match
yesterday, it was Elia who took Van der Vaart's place
wit h the starters.
Elia has done well in all three
matching when he came on, but of course Ibrahim Afellay
is also an option on the left.
Yet Holland's most potent attacking
weapon, Robben made an immediate impact as a late substitute
in their final Group E match against Cameroon when his
shot hit the post and striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted
the rebound to secure a 2-1 win.
"Arjen felt no reaction to
his hamstring after the Cameroon match and I speak every
day with him but in the end it will be my decision whether
he starts," Van Marwijk said.
The Dutch are overwhelming favorites
to beat the Slovaks, who sent holders Italy home with
a sensational 3-2 upset win.
The Dutch coach added he had been
drumming it into his players that there should be no
repeat of the lapse of concentration they suffered after
taking the lead against Cameroon, which allowed the
Africans to equalize.
"You see many teams having
a poor spell after they have taken the lead, but we
suffer from that more than most," Van Marwijk said.
"We seem to believe that we
can sit on the lead, but we cannot afford to do that,
especially not in this phase of the competition. We
did it the first two matches and stayed in control but
against Cameroon for the first time I had the feeling
we could have lost."
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