Dutch former Blue Fabian Wilnis isn’t expecting Holland to reach their fourth World Cup final in Brazil this summer, the one-time right-back believing that the quarter-finals would be a decent showing this time around. The Dutch begin their group games with a repeat of the 2010 final against Spain at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador this evening (KO 8pm, BBC1/HD1).
Four years ago in South Africa, Andres Iniesta’s extra-time goal handed the Spanish the trophy, Holland, losing finalists for the third time, having been reduced to 10-men shortly beforehand when Johnny Heitinga was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Wilnis says he’s not too anxious about tonight’s match: "I’m not nervous, it’s only the first game.
"Obviously I’m looking forward to it and I hope they’ll do a lot better than they did four years ago in the final when they, let me put it this way, they weren’t themselves.
"I wasn’t really impressed by how they played, they played really, really nasty, kicking, it wasn’t really the style I was used to.”
In addition to Spain, the Dutch are also up against Chile and Australia, who meet in today’s third game at 11pm, in Group B.
He added: "I think if they make the quarter-finals they’ll have done really well. Four years ago they had a momentum going and sometimes you need a bit of luck, especially in a tournament. Hopefully, they’ll have luck on their side again.
"Two years ago in the European Championships they went out in the group stages, so anything can happen.
"My favourites to win are Brazil and Argentina. Spain always have a good team and they’ve done really well over the last six years, so they’ve got a chance but my favourites are Argentina and Brazil.”
The 43-year-old says he will also be giving his backing to England, who begin their campaign when they face Italy on Saturday: "I will be supporting England as well. Holland is obviously going to be my first choice but England is definitely my second.
"I really hope that England do really well and I’ll be watching the games with a few English mates in bars and pubs, rooting for England.”
Fab's post-5-1 reaction:
SOOOO PROUD TO BE DUTCH!!! Wish this was the final 4 years ago but absolutely fantastic 2nd half! Holland, welcome to Brazil haha ;o))).– Fabian Wilnis (@fabwilnis) June 13, 2014
@twtduk let's not get carried away. I'm VERY happy but it was only a brilliant 2nd half. We've set our marks out though. 1/4 finals still ha– Fabian Wilnis (@fabwilnis) June 13, 2014
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