Germany and Holland (Netherlands) will go at it at Euro 2012 on Wed. June 13th when they meet at Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Germany sits on top of Group B with Denmark after beating Portugal 1-0 on their first contest on Saturday. Holland is tied with Portugal in the basement due to their 1-0 loss to the Danes.

We said already before the tournament that Holland might be the failure this year and it will certainly be so if they can’t pull out a win here. 2.40 for a German win or 3.30 for a draw is tempting at Bet365.com

Mesut Ozil stood out for Germany on Saturday as his vision and touch were exceptional. His passing was second to none and he gave the Portuguese defenders problems all game long. The Germans played an efficient game, but it wasn’t one of their most creative displays. However, they got the three points and that’s what counts.

They outplayed Portugal in the first half, but didn’t take the lead until the 72nd minute on a Mario Gomez header. Lukas Podolski didn’t have a very good game and will need to do better against the Dutch. Gomez scored the all-important goal, but wasn’t in the game much either. In fact, he was going to be substituted with Mario Klose just when he scored and manager Joachim Low then left him on the pitch.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had to make some good saves after Germany pulled ahead and he had a lot of help from his defenders as they were excellent at blocking shots. Germany escaped a couple of close calls as Portugal hit the bar twice, with Pepe’s shot at the end of the first half striking the underside of it and then coming crashing down right on the goal line.

Holland played well in their loss to Denmark, but was stunned in the 24th minute when the Danes came up field against the run of play and went ahead 1-0. The Dutch had more than enough chances to level the game, but blew them all. Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie was the worst culprit and might have had a hat trick if he could have finished.

Klaas Jan-Huntelaar, the leading scorer in Euro 2012 qualifying and the Golden Boot winner in the German Bundesliga was left on the bench until the 71st minute and this will surely bring some criticism to manager Bert van Marwijk. When he did come on, Huntelaar had an excellent chance to tie the game, but found his shooting boots weren’t on either and fluffed his possible moment of glory.

Holland may have been the better team and created more chances, but they were simply outscored and that’s all that counts in football. Jetro Willems, the young Dutch defender, became the youngest player ever in a European Championship when he took the field at just 71 days over the age of 18 years.

Betting Predictions

If Holland don’t improve their finishing against Germany they could very well find themselves out of this tournament quite soon. It would be a big failure as they were one of the Euro 2012 betting favorites ahead of the tournament. They had 28 attempts at goal against Denmark, but managed to find the net just five times. Germany may be fine with a draw, but they’ll be going for all three points to guarantee themselves a spot in the next round. Look for Germany to play a disciplined game again and do enough to take the three points.

Bet365′s latest odds have a Holland victory at 23/10 with a Germany win at 13/10 and a draw at 21/10.

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written by Stefan \\ tags: Euro 2012, Germany, Holland