World Cup Betting Third Place – Germans, Dutch Settle For Third-Place Clash
Online betting players who follow the World Cup are well aware of the rivalry between Germany and the Netherlands, one that stems from all the way back at World War II. It’s always an occasion when these two get together, and if they do manage to meet in the third-place match, this will be their first meeting in the World Cup since 1990, when the Germans beat the Dutch 2-1 in the knockout round.
These two have met 37 times, with the Germans winning 13, while the Dutch have won 10. They’ve drawn 14 times, and the Germans have outscored the Dutch 72-63. The current squads are extremely familiar with each other: eight German players play their club football at Bayern Munich, while three Holland players will be facing their club teammates, and another three are playing elsewhere in Germany.
The attacking talent on display in this match should make for a pretty open match, as the Germans are powered by the duo of Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who should be staples of the side for the next 10 years. Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose are also capable of bulging the net, and World Cup betting players know that Klose is five goals behind Ronaldo of Brazil for the most goals in the history of the tournament. The big question coming into this tournament for Germany, and one that could bite them at some point in the World Cup in South Africa, is goalkeeping. Rene Adler went down with an injury before the World Cup, and their three keepers, Manuel Neuer, Tim Weise and Hans-Jorg Butt, have 12 international caps between them.
Holland has a deadly forward duo of Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben, who missed the first match of the tournament, but he should be available as the World Cup goes on. The midfield trio of Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van Der Vaart (who has spent the majority of his career in Germany, but now plays in Spain) and Mark Van Bommel will also play a large role for the Dutch, and Van Bommel may be the most important as he’ll sit back in front of the back four, and that’ll come in handy against the Germans. The defense, led by captain Giovanni Van Brockhurst, is a solid backline, and keeper Maarten Stekelenburg is getting more and more comfortable in the Holland goal with each passing match.
It’s difficult to decide who the favorite will be in this match at this point, but we’re going to figure the Germans would be, given their narrow edge in the head-to-head statistics against the Netherlands. But we’re taking the Dutch to come away with the win this tournament, as their players are more familiar with the Germans than the other way around. How the Germans deal with Sneidjer could be the deciding factor, and the midfield matchup between Sneijder and Schweinsteiger will likely be another factor in this bitter game will end up. The Germans took third place when they hosted it in 2006, beating Portugal 3-1, but the Dutch have made it this far only once in their last five World Cups. Take the Netherlands for third place in your sports betting picks.
