FIFA 2010 World Cup: Dunga hails Robben as Netherlands key player
The Brazilian coach, Dunga has announced that the Netherlands forward, Arjen Robben will be the key to a Dutch victory. He expressed that Robben is an essential part of the Netherlands team and is the kind of player who can turn a match around just by himself.
The battle of the titans occurs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth and the winners will book their place in the World Cup semi finals. Dunga said that there might be some changes in the team because of last minute injuries but he would try not to let the Dutch take advantage of that.
One of their main players, Elano has an injured ankle due to which there is high probability that the star will miss the match against Netherlands. Dunga admitted that it would be a disadvantage to them when they face stars like Robben, Robin Van Persie and Wesley Sneijder. When asked who could be the saviour for Netherlands he relayed that it would no doubt be Robben and he had planned a couple of strategies to encounter him in his tracks.
Dunga exclaimed, “Without doubt, Robben is an exceptional player. He's a very technical player. If you look at some of Bayern's matches last season, you'll see that he was decisive. A decisive player always makes the difference”.
The 46 year old, Dunga who has been criticized by many Brazilian players and experts for his lax approach towards offence, countered by saying that whatever his style and game play was, it has been working for the team so far and he wasn’t going to change it. Just recently, Pele, the legendary Brazilian forward also commented on Dunga with mutual criticizing thoughts. He expressed that the coach really needs to reform into a more offensive play if really wants the Selecao team to reach World Cup glory.
Dunga, the man who took control of the Brazilian national team in 2006 went further, “Every debate is positive. If we have 1000 heads thinking, it's better than just one. Some things are useful, others are not. Everyone looks at football in a different way and likes one type of player or the other. We have to recognize the good and bad things and see the things that don't add nothing”.
Brazil won its last World Cup in 2002, the World Cup which was held in Japan and Korea. Dunga predicted that like that time they were advancing to the last stages and weren’t going to be stopped by a bunch of men in orange, still he also admitted that the match would be interesting, “The two teams try to play and have great technical quality. They do what everyone likes, which is to try to dribble and be creative in search for the goal. So I think it will be a good match”.
Dunga expressed that the condition of the field will have a much larger play in the match than expected. He said that though he didn't yet have the opportunity to assess the pitch he believed that the field and ball factor has heavily influenced the tournament in South Africa.
Dunga commented on the issue by stating, “Knowing the pitch is good when you get to put the boots and go in, with the work equipment. Just walking around the pitch is not the same. The Brazilian players like to go on the pitch and move the ball around. Walking around in tennis shoes or putting the boots are different things”.
Dunga, who represented Brazil in the World Cup of 1994 and 1998 said that he knew how to halt the Netherlands play. In ‘94 as well as ‘98 Brazil thwarted the Netherlands both times in the Group stages. Dunga was the star at both times, he relayed on the topic, “The penalty (I scored in ’98) was to reconfirm the one from '94. Because if I missed, people would have said that I was lucky in '94”.
He expressed that in ‘94 and ‘98 it was extremely thrilling to play the Dutch. He must realize that this time over they have a similar hardened team and marking a single player just won’t be enough.
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