World Cup Reports:
Netherlands coach Marwijk made a slight tweak to his usual pre-match preparations ahead of 11th July World Cup final against Spain by taking his squad on an afternoon stroll around the zoo.
Van Marwijk said, ''This is the most important match in my football life and that counts for all players as none of us ever won the World title, blessed with a healthy squad for the biggest match of his life at Soccer City''. He had tried to keep preparations as normal as possible despite the magnitude of the occasion.
Though I approach it like a normal match with the preparation we always have. We walked in the morning but this time we walked through the zoo as it was nearby. Then we rested and went training.
This will be the Dutch’s third appearance in a World Cup final following back-to-back defeats in 1974 and 78 and although they will go into the match as underdogs they will be confident having extended their win streak to 14 games with victory over Uruguay in the semi-finals.
The 3-2 win over the South Americans was their sixth win in South Africa and despite their smooth run through the tournament the reserved coach said there was no reason to fear that all their confidence might turn into arrogance.
Van Marwijk said, ''Especially not for a match against Spain, It is good that we had some days to get used to circumstances again, it is necessary you could see that how the ball reacted final match.'' For example, against Japan, Slovakia and Uruguay we proved that we stayed focused. After starting their World Cup campaign at Soccer City on June 14 with a 2-0 win over Denmark and Cape Town while their most impressive win over Brazil in the quarter-finals was registered in Port Elizabeth.
Captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, playing his final match before retirement, agreed the change in altitude takes some time to get used to.You have to adjust again, especially with long passes through the air as the ball move completely different, but it during the match it just will be a matter of course.