The Netherlands vs Ghana World Cup warm-up match will be played this Saturday, May 31 (11:30 AM Pacific), at the Rotterdam stadium.
These two teams aren’t in a good form at the moment. They had a lot of injury problems, followed by the string of really bad results. Netherlands didn’t manage to beat anybody after the finishing on top of their World cup qualification group. Additionally, they really didn’t play against some top class national teams. They’ve lost to France 2:0, and their matches with Ecuador, Japan and Colombia ended as a draw.
Ghana didn’t have any success either. After they were beaten by Libya in the final of African Cup of Nations on penalties this February, they played only one friendly match, this March, against Montenegro, which didn’t manage to qualify for the World Cup. They’ve played a really disappointing game, and lost it 1:0.
So, both teams are heading to this game in a bad mood, desperate for the win. Netherlands scored only one goal in their last three games, and Ghana is in a similar situation. The only difference is that Ghana is a defense oriented team, and Netherlands isn’t.
A lot of football fans are wondering what’s happening with the Netherlands national team. Objectively speaking, they have a team which is forged mostly around the players from home clubs, with little experience playing in European competitions. Of course, they are strengthened with veteran superstars Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie, but it is a big question whether that will be enough for a good finish in the World Cup.
Ghana, on the other hand, are facing a similar problem. Their big names, playing in European clubs, are mostly having a bad season, with little playing time given in their clubs, so it will be a huge surprise if these teams repeat their success from the last tournament, when Netherlands played in the finals, and Ghana played a quarterfinal.
Netherlands vs Ghana Prediction
Considering this game, Netherlands will surely be more aggressive and will attack since they play at home. Ghana will look to establish balance on the midfield with their physical style of football and out-power the technically gifted Dutchies. That battle will probably decide the outcome of the whole match – if Netherlands succeed in playing their flowing passing game, they have a good chance for the win. If Ghana disrupts their game and forces their mistakes, there is a good chance they will score from counterattacks, and after that it will be very hard for Netherlands to equalize.
It is very likely that whoever scores first wins this game, and considering all this, we predict that Netherlands will win 1:0.
Netherlands vs Ghana Television
The Netherlands vs Ghana match will be televised on ESPN 3 at 11:30 AM on Saturday.
