Dutch courage not enough in Lyon
The USA have the chance to defend their World Cup title when they face the Netherlands on Sunday. Is it all but a formality or will Dutch courage be enough to cause a huge upset? Have a read of our preview here:
USA got the job done
The Women’s World Cup finalists are decided and will clash on Sunday in Lyon with the reigning champions getting a prime opportunity to defend their title. The US deserved to beat England in Wednesday’s semi-final even though they were pushed hard by Phil Neville’s side.
What stood out, even after an excellent tournament for the Lionesses, was the difference in class between them and the Americans. In the USA women’s soccer is far bigger than it is across the pond and you can see the effect that has when the US face an opposition who are simply not up to scratch. The 13-0 win over Thailand just highlights what the US are capable of and they will be more than likely to defend their title.
Netherlands can take pride
For the Dutch to reach the final should been seen as a massive achievement considering the quality of the field and beating Sweden, who upset Germany in the previous round, was a superb result but if there is to be a Rocky-style upset in the final it will be worthy of a movie of its own.
Dutch already written off
Not a single pundit has come out with any hope for a Dutch win. Those in the know are writing off the Netherlands citing the huge gulf in quality between these two.
Dion Dublin captured the general mood of the experts when he said: "USA have got their hands on it already for me, these teams are miles apart. It should be a walk in the park."
This was pretty much the same sentiments from former USA ‘keeper Hope Solo who believes it would take the game of their lives for the Dutch to grab victory. "The USA are already fitter than every other team. This doesn't look good for the Dutch going into the final. They will have to have the game of their lives against the United States."
USA - Netherlands betting tip
It is exceptionally hard to see the Dutch coming away with anything against an experienced American team. In fact, the favourites could make it look easy so backing USA Women to win by three or more goals at odds of 7/2 sounds about right.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
USA won as expected but they couldn't quite find that third goal - darn!