Netherlands travel to face Andorra on Tuesday knowing a win will all but seal their place in next summers World Cup.
- By Michael Bell
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A Netherlands win coupled with Romania failing to beat Turkey will see the Dutch safely through to next summers World cup, but after Friday’s terrible performance against Estonia, nothing is being taken for granted.
Louis van Gaal’s side needed a 91st minute Robin van Persie penalty to avoid defeat in a World Cup qualifier for the first time since 2001, and first in any match since last August, as they could only muster a 2-2 draw in Tallinn.
The Dutch fans, and media will be expecting a much improved performance against the minnows of Andorra, who currently sit bottom of Group D, with no points.
A routine victory should be secured, but will have to be done without the services of Bruno Martins-Indi, or Arjen Robben, who are both banned after reaching their yellow card limit.
Aston Villa defender Ron Vlaar is expected to come into the defence to partner Stefan de Vrij, while Feyenoord’s Ruben Schaken will replace Robben on the right. The rest of the side is expected to be unchanged, but Wesley Sneijder, De Vrij, Stijn Schaars, and Jeremain Lens will all need to step up their game after poor performances on Friday.
In the reverse fixture Netherlands won comfortably 3-0 in Amsterdam, while Andorra where thrashed 5-0 in Turkey last Friday, and the minnows have not won a game since a World Cup qualifier against Macedonia back in 2004.
Expected Line-Ups
Netherlands- Vorm, Janmaat, De Vrij, Vlaar, Willems; Sneijder, Schaars, Strootman; Lens, Schaken, Van Persie
Andorra- Pol, Emili Garcia, Mark Garcia, Nicolas, Martinez; Lima, Ayala, Lorenzo, Vales, Pujol, Gomez
Serious questions will be asked of Louis van Gaal’s selection if they fail to comfortably see off Andorra, but a good win is expected, and if Turkey get at least a draw in Romania, the Dutch should be celebrating the fact that they are the first European side to qualify for the World Cup.
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Finally Ron Vlaar will get a chance to prove how solid he really is.