Holland vs the Ivory Coast Betting Preview

If the Ivory Coast's gutsy performance against Argentina is anything to go by, the World Cup debutants still have plenty to offer in Group C despite losing their opener, and for my money they rate as a cracking bet at 10/3 to throw the group wide open by shocking Holland in Stuttgart on Friday evening. Touted as Africa's finest coming into the finals, the Elephants didn't disappoint against the big guns of Argentina, producing a power-packed performance of skill and pace that arguably deserved more than a narrow 2-1 defeat in the tournament's best game to date. Lesser teams would have wilted after going two down inside 38 minutes - Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola doing the damage - but the West African's stuck to their guns admirably and Didier Drogba's late turn and neat finish was the least their efforts deserved. Indeed, it could have been a different story had Drogba made the most of his chances, but it's hard to fault the Chelsea man given the way he led the line, while the vibrant performances of Didier Zokora, Bonaventure Kalou and the excellent Yaya Toure (younger brother of Arsenal's Toure) can only give the Elephants added confidence going into Friday's crunch fixture. For their part, Holland will hardly be lacking in confidence after seeing off Serbia & Montenegro in their opener. A first-half strike from the excellent Arjen Robben was enough to give the Dutch three points and the way they confidently stroked the ball about inside the opening 45 minutes was a real pleasure to watch. No doubt coach Marco Van Basten would have been delighted by what he saw, especially having left a number of the big egos out of his squad to improve the harmony in the Dutch camp - something that was evidently there on Sunday. Impressive though the 'Oranje' were in that first half against Serbia, it's worth noting that Van Basten's side were far less convincing after the break - much the same as England were against Paraguay the day before. Of course the soaring heat had something to do with that, but so to did Serbia's willingness to finally close the Dutch down - something they had failed to do in the opening 45 minutes and which ultimately handed the initiative to Holland and in particular the flying Arjen Robben. I'm not saying Serbia would have got anything from the game had they upped the tempo in the first period, but it certainly would have helped and stopped the Dutch from getting such a strong grip on the game so early. It's obviously a big ask for any side to press hard for 90 minutes, but for me the Ivory Coast are that kind of team and I can see their athleticism and raw power causing the cultured Dutch real problems on Friday. The likes of Robben, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Robin Van Persie are obvious threats, but don't expect an Ivory Coast defence marshalled by the powerhouse Kolo Toure to afford them the time and space Serbia did in their opener. Furthermore, Henri Michel's side will be desperate to improve their fortunes in front of goal, and with Didier Drogba leading the line in front of an excellent energetic midfield, expect to see the Africans test the Dutch rearguard for the first time in this tournament. This has all the makings for an absolute crackerjack of a match and at 10/3 with BlueSq the Ivory Coast look fine value.