Match 14 - Netherlands v France / Editor / 12 June 2008 / Leave a comment

There are few things in life which can be described both as beautiful and orange. Michelle Heaton or Jessie Wallace certainly don't fit the bill, but at their best, the Dutch football team are exactly that.

During Marco Van Basten's reign as coach, Holland have shown nothing to suggest that they could produce such a performance, as they did against Italy. But they proved the doubters wrong, whilst also proving that the media now have absolutely no understanding as to how the offside laws work.

I must admit to thinking that Van Nistlerooy was miles offside and not noticing the prone figure of an Italian somewhere around the advertising hoardings. Despite believing the goal to be offside I have to say that I was pleased for Van Nistlerooy. Ruud probably doesn't know this but he looks exactly like my friend Duncan Peach, so when he scores I don't see the Real Madrid striker, but rather the face of my foolish mate.

Duncan is from South Africa, which was colonised by the Dutch, so it's possible that Messrs Peach and Van Nistlerooy share the same gene pool. Perhaps if it were Van Nistlerooy's family that had gone to South Africa and the Peach clan had stayed in Holland, then it would have been Duncan who scored against Italy, whilst Ruud would be employed as a computer programmer in Norwich. On such little frailties does life hang.

I must admit also to being delighted with France's limp display. Frank Skinner remarked recently that the BBC's 'Who will you support?' campaign, should have read 'Who do you hate?'. If I was on that particular vox pop, I'd have shouted 'France' loudly into camera, in an equally annoying way as those who've been asked who they'll be following, have managed.

The BBC made no effort to hide their dislike of the French when they featured a mocking piece about Domenech's use of horoscopes to pick his team. Judging by Anelka's performance I imagine his horoscope that day read something along the lines of: "Today will be the day when you're presented with an opportunity. Be careful not to let it slip through your fingers though lack of effort and general sullenness".

The French employed two such static banks of four and with so little movement up front, that I had to check in the newspaper to make sure that it wasn't England playing. Henry will definitely come into the team if fit and they certainly need someone willing to break from the centre of midfield. Perhaps Ribery will have to be drafted in from the flanks to fulfil a Zidane role, because the French lacked any sort of inspiration.

In European Championships since 1996 only 2 out of 6 teams that drew 0-0 in their first game, broke 2.5 goals in their second. If this doesn't seem like a great statistic for the French hopes of goals, I've got slightly better news for the Dutch. Of all the teams that have scored 3 goals or more in their first group game since Euro 96, exactly half have been involved in a second game that tops the 2.5 mark.

In Holland's favour will be the fact that France will have to attack them. They've shown how quickly and effectively they can counter, which should worry a creaking French defence. I'm not sure Holland have the speed through the middle that will exploit Thuram's lack of pace, but Sagnol looked particularly dodgy against Romania and I'd expect Van van der Vaart to get into wide areas on the left to exploit this.

But let's not get too carried away with the Dutch performance, hey? Their defence is not that strong and at some point I'd expect them to concede goals. Having said that, Dirk Kuyt had a very good game against Italy. This if nothing else, proves that the unexpected can occur.

Unders is favourite here at [1.54], with the overs at [2.82]. With the goals starting to flow in the second week, I see overs as a good bet, with definite trading potential.

Tags: Euro 2008 betting, Euro 2008 odds, Van Nistelrooy