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I. O. U. A. E Group

© Joe Martin

No, it's not the Group of Vowels but since we've done Group A, B, C, and D, I owe you an E Group discussion now. So the conversations continue and I haven't heard directly from Jason yet about the stats. Let us quickly then maneuver to Group E which will include the Battle of Brugge among other games. Anytime Holland has to play Belgium, love is in the air and not on the soccer field. When you stir in second-round World Cup qualification into the mix, it's fair to expect total commitment, effort beyond the call of duty, and passion in abundance. Whether we get a decent soccer match remains to be seen, as it will be a case of the result being more important than the product on display. It could be argued that this game might peter out tamely into a scoreless affair with both teams happy with a point. But I don't think that's going to be good enough in this Group. All four teams are genuine contenders for round two and even beyond round two. As is now conventional, let's take them one at a time.

Holland invented "Total Football" in the '70s and took it to two of that decade's World Cup Finals before losing on both occasions to the host nations Germany and Argentina. I was a big fan and reveled in the team's entertainment. It brought joy to the world of football and engrossed millions through the exhilarating performances of Johan Cruyff, Neeskens, Van Hanegam and many others. A predictable lull followed until Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten led the Dutch to European Championship victory in Germany 1988. This time around, it's Bergkamp's and Overmars's (Kluivert may or may not be there) turn to set the orange tone. The team is multi-talented. It won its qualifying Group almost too easily, and looks set for contention all the way.

The team members still play with liquid grace and are easy on the eye. The qualifying included two "easy" victories over the Belgians, who must have felt a little ill on seeing the finals draw. Providing they can avoid other issues from unduly influencing them and can stay focussed on football, they should clear the first hurdles and progress to round two.

The truth about Belgium. It is ranked 31 in the world. Thirty-two teams make the finals and it is one of them. The Belgians did not impress in qualifying round matches. They beat the Republic of Ireland 3-2 on aggregate in a play-off and could have easily been eliminated at that point. It now requires a huge effort in June for them to go further. This is one of the great things about soccer in that I know they will be disciplined and hard to beat. They will get chances to win games and it's up to the opposition to get past them. My feeling is they will still be ranked 31 after the dance is over.

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