Dunga: "It will be an absolutely fantastic game"
Thursday, 1 July 2010
If he were given the
chance to swap a few players with his colleague Carlos
Dunga, Bert van Marwijk "absolutely" wouldn't
do it. "I have always said that Brazil has the
best players, but surely not the best team. So I would
surely not want to swap Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben
for Kaká and Robinho."
It was an answer to
just some of the mad questions at today's busy press
conference in the press room of the Nelson Mandela Bay
Stadium. The whole world is anticipating something exciting
tomorrow and Van Marwijk and his players are at the
center of it all.
"Relaxed, a bit
tense," Holland manager Bert van Marwijk said when
he described the atmosphere in his team ahead of tomorrow's
quarterfinal encounter with Brazil in Port Elizabeth
(16h00 CET). "When we practiced finishing everyone
was laughing, but when we played a match everyone was
very focussed. Like they should be."
Van Marwijk hadn't
noticed any stress or anxiety ahead of the encounter
with Brazil tomorrow. "We're all set. I can feel
that this group is really eager to play this match.
Just look at the reaction of the players after the victory
over Slovakia: spontaneous but not too much. They knew
right away that a top match was coming up."
Van Marwijk can dispose
of a fully fit squad tomorrow. Ryan Babel and Van der
Vaart - who trained separately yesterday - joined the
group today and trained full force.
That is not so for
Dunga who has some personnel problems to deal with.
Kaká and Gilberto
Silva are slightly injured, but can play, Ramires (suspended)
and Elano (injured) are certainly out, while Felipe
Melo (ankle) and Julio Baptista (knee) are very uncertain.
Especially the injury
of Elano is a big blow to Dunga's plans, as he is a
key player for the Brazilians. Dany Alves will most
likely replace the player of Galatasaray.
"Fantastic
game"
Both coaches are awaiting something special tomorrow.
"I am very impressed
with Oranje," Dunga said today. "When both
teams can attack it will be an absolutely fantastic
game."
Van Marwijk agreed:
"Brazil and Holland both have their own specific
characteristics. When we can put them on display it
can be a great match."
Dunga considers Arjen
Robben to be the most dangerous Dutch player: "He
doesn't just have a lot of pace, but a lot of skill
as well. He's shown all season long at Bayern Munich
just how good he is."
"But Holland
have many players who play for the biggest clubs in
Europe. Holland are more than just Robben. But Robben
is the man who can decide a game. That makes him special."
So Van Marwijk has
plenty of reasons to think his team can progress. "We
have to be ourselves. We must not do silly things. We
have analyzed Brazil well. When you look at their game
against Ivory Coast - who really adapted their style
in defense - you could see that you must stay true to
your roots. Ivory Coast weren't used to playing that
way. On the other hand Chile played very aggressively,
at break-neck-speed. But they fell into the trap."
"We must look
at our own strength. Brazil will be waiting for our
mistakes. Then they are really dangerous, especially
when we make mistakes in buildup. So have to be cautious.
Yet I hope they will give us some room to play football."
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