Netherlands vs USA: Records and hoodoos…which side will prevail in crunch clash?
The Netherlands and the USA will be looking to book their respective places in the quarter-finals when the two sides meet up in the 2022 FIFA World Cup’s first round of 16 match this Saturday. For the Netherlands, who were finalists in 2010, they will be hoping to continue a strong run that has seen them avoid defeat in their last 19 World Cup games against non European opposition. Meanwhile, the USA will hope to overcome a frustrating hoodoo that has seen them fail to win their last 11 World Cup matches against European teams, and win just three of their last 23 (D7 L13).
Louis van Gaal’s side booked their spot to the round of 16 after topping their quartet. Two wins against Senegal and Qatar were enough to see them through, despite stumbling to a surprise one-all draw against Ecuador. Striker Cody Gakpo, who plays his club football for PSV, has scored in each and every single one of the Netherlands’ games so far; the 23-year-old is hoping to become the first Dutch player to net in four consecutive matches for the Oranje.
Meanwhile, the USA survived a very tough group in which many had not even expected the Stars and Stripes to get out of. They drew Wales 1-1, before holding England to a scoreless stalemate and then earned a deserved 1-0 win over Iran on matchday three. The victory over the Middle Eastern nation came at a huge price, as Christian Pulisic, who scored the game winner, ended up suffering a nasty injury and had to be hospitalized. They have been given a major boost as he’s been declared fit to play, and all eyes will be on the player nicknamed “Captain America” as he looks to again become a key protagonist for his team in this game.
Gregg Berhalter also will be concerned about the fitness of Weston McKennie, who is struggling with a hamstring issue, while striker Josh Sargent is hoping to recover from a ankle injury to be involved in this match. There have been calls for Berhalter to give youngster Giovanni Reyna some more game-time, especially due to the injury concerns for Sargent and Pulisic, but that remains to be seen.
The USA will be facing an uphill battle against history. As noted before, they have won just three of their last 23 World Cup games against European teams, with the most recent taking place back in 2002 when they beat Portugal. In addition, the Netherlands come into this contest on a brilliant run of form under van Gaal, who could inch closer to setting a World Cup record should they win on Saturday. Not only are they on an 18 match unbeaten streak across all comps, but van Gaal, who is back for at third spell with the Dutch national side, has avoided defeat in his last 10 World Cup games. That’s just two shy of the 12 established by Felipe Scolari, who managed both Brazil and Portugal during the noughties.
However, as we have seen at this World Cup, with Saudi Arabia beating Argentina, Japan outwitting both Spain and Germany, Morocco powering past Belgium, Tunisia winning against France, and recently, South Korea and Cameroon defeating Portugal and Brazil respectively, anything is possible. So while the odds do look stacked in favor of the Netherlands, the USMNT will look to join other underdog sides as they aim to overcome their frustrating hoodoo to continue their World Cup journey going for as long as possible.
Berhalter also has own personal scores to settle with van Gaal, as the two are quite familiar to one another. Over two decades ago, Berhalter was then a young defender playing for a Sparta Rotterdam team that beat van Gaal’s Ajax side. Like Sparta, the USMNT will come into this game as the highly unfavored side, and Berhalter, having experienced that as a player, will naturally be aiming to do the same now as a manager and help his team make it into the quarter finals for the first time since 2002.
