 JOHANNESBURG: Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk named Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben on the bench as the Netherlands opened their World Cup campaign against Denmark on Monday.
The 26-year-old tore his left thigh muscle in a warm-up game nearly ten days ago, but although he has returned to training with the Oranje, van Marwijk opted to keep the winger on the bench for the Group E clash at Soccer City.
The Dutch still boast a strong forward line with striker Robin van Persie of Arsenal supported by a midfield attack of Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder, Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt and Real Madrid's Rafael van der Vaart.
Despite doubts over his fitness, Danish coach Morten Olsen gave a start to Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner, who has not played since May with a groin injury.
But both forward Jon Dahl Tomasson and midfielder Daniel Jensen failed to make the starting line-up after picking up minor injuries over the weekend.
Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg - Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst (capt.) - Mark van Bommel, Nigel de Jong - Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart - Robin van Persie.
Coach: Bert van Marwijk
Denmark: Thomas Sorensen - Simon Poulsen, Simon Kjaer, Daniel Agger, Lars Jacobsen - Christian Poulsen, Martin Jorgensen (capt.), Thomas Kahlenberg, Thomas Enevoldsen - Dennis Rommedahl, Nicklas Bendtner
Coach: Morten Olsen
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (FRA) |
9:36 PM | 
Posted by
Unknown
0 comments:
Post a Comment