Holland vs Costa Rica: Arsenal striker among the dangermen
Published:Holland head into the last-eight of the World Cup with what is on paper the easiest of the four quarter finals to predict given Costa Rica’s lowly status in world football.
The Dutch are 1/2 to win in 90 minutes and 1/4 to qualify for the next round but anyone predicting an all-Oranje affair evidently hasn’t seen Le Sele in action.
Qualifying top out of a group containing Italy, Uruguay and our very own England, Costa Rica have confounded expectations to reach this far and will fancy their chances of grabbing a goal against a Holland team that has conceded plenty at this World Cup.
The Central American underdogs are 6/1 to win in 90 minutes or 11/4 to qualify for the next stage but while those odds certainly tempt here are three bets that are even better!
Le Sele were good value for their 1-0 lead over Greece last time out and could have been home and hosed had the referee spotted a handball in the box prior to Oscar Duarte’s sending off.
Little was expected of Costa Rica at this World Cup but Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz evidently have something to prove, with the former keen to stake a claim for first-team football at Arsenal and the latter out to silence his own London-based critics at Fulham.
Spearheading the central Americans attack, Costa Rica have netted five in four games at this World Cup with the pair in tow, scoring in every game other than the 0-0 draw with England when they only needed a point to finish top and having racked up three goals between them, the dynamic duo could do the business here.
Something of a leftfield choice given the calibre of teams on show, the form book nevertheless backs the notion that Holland are fast becoming the comeback kings of World Cup football at these finals.
Down 1-0 against Spain, 2-1 against Australia and 1-0 against Mexico at this World Cup, the Oranje have stormed back to win on every occasion and should Costa Rica take an early lead, don’t be surprised to see another late show from Louis van Gaal’s boys.
They did exactly that in 2010 when a 1-0 deficit against Brazil in the quarter-finals was turned on its head and history could well repeat itself here.
Regardless of whether another Oranje comeback is on the cards, while Holland are the undoubted favourites to win it, there’s still reason to believe both teams will get on the scoresheet.
The Dutch have been dodgy at the back so far, having shipped goals in three of their four fixtures at these finals, including two goals against Australia. As such the odds of a Holland win with both teams scoring and the added security of it being either 2-1 or 3-1 look great.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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