Netherlands – Ecuador : Preview & Prediction
Although the Netherlands’ opening day debut against Senegal could be described as “tepid,” Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal saw his team come alive in the final minutes with two vital goals to win the game. Van Gaal admitted his side were “poor quality and sloppy” in possession, although three important saves from debutant goalkeeper Andries Noppert ensured there were no consequences for that.
A current Heerenveen player, Noppert was unemployed just two years ago and even intended to join the police, but instead of catching criminals, he opted to catch shots for his country. Given that the Netherlands have never been eliminated in the group stage in 10 previous World Cup appearances, another decent display from the goalkeeper may help produce the expected positive result for the “Oranje”, ranked #8 in the FIFA Ranking, when they face a team ranked 36 places below them, Ecuador.
Gustavo Alfaro’s side etched their name in World Cup history in their most recent match by becoming the first team to defeat the competition’s host nation in the tournament’s opening match. Ecuador may have been inspired by Alfaro’s Winston Churchill-inspired pre-match speech that said “if you don’t change your mind, you’re not changing anything, so we had to change some things!”. And change they did, as Ecuador won 2-0 as part of their quest to advance out of the World Cup group stage for the second time in their history.
However, the fact that they are winless against 13 of the 24 European opponents Ecuador has faced over the years, a span that includes two matches against the Netherlands (E1, P1), may mean that Alfaro needs to motivate his team with everything ahead of this match. Ecuador could point to the team’s current record of seven consecutive clean sheets (its best mark in the 21st Century) ahead of this match to show that it has a chance at a good result, although none of the teams “La Tri” faced during that streak were in the top ten of the FIFA Rankings, so this match will be a litmus test for it to prove its credentials.
Players to watch: PSV and Netherlands star Cody Gakpo broke the tie against Senegal to score in his World Cup debut, meaning three of his last five goals (club and international) came on the first of the match, and he also scored each of them during the second half. He will look to be overshadowed by Ecuador and Fenerbahçe striker Enner Valencia, who scored twice in the match against Qatar to bring his career World Cup tally to five goals in just four games.
Key stat: Ecuador has recorded more corner kicks than its opponents in eight of its last nine games.
World Cup Trivia: By winning the World Cup for West Germany as a player in 1974 (against the Netherlands) and as a coach in 1990 (against Argentina), Franz Beckenbauer became the first person to win the World Cup as both captain and coach of his national team.
Netherlands – Ecuador : Betting Tips
OVER 2.5 GOALS Odds: 2.25
