Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has praised his side for reaching their first World Cup final in 32 years – but said their achievement counts for nothing yet.

The Netherlands’ 3-2 win over Uruguay on Tuesday in their semi-final has put them in Sunday’s World Cup final where they will face either Germany or European champions Spain at Johannesburg’s Soccer City.

The Dutch are bidding to win their first World Cup title and having lost both the 1974 and 1978 finals, van Marwijk says the current side must win if they want to write themselves into Dutch footballing history.

“It is quite something we have achieved after 32 years, but we are not there yet and there is one more match to look forward to,” he said.

The former Feyenoord coach has instilled a strong team spirit into his squad by removing any hint of arrogance and has always insisted his team think only of their next game.

“What happened before my time, with all due respect, I don’t look at it,” said the 58-year-old, who replaced Marco van Basten after Euro 2008.

“I did things my way, we play good football and sometimes beautiful football, but in the past we started winning and got over-confident.

“I try to tell my players there will always be a next match.

“I try to give them more stability by teaching them how to defend properly, I love attacking football, but we must have possession of the ball.”

Never one to suffer journalists’ sometimes foolish questions gladly, van Marwijk showed signs his frosty posture may be thawing as he opened up about what it means for the success-starved Dutch to reach the World Cup final.

“Of course I am very very happy and proud that such a small country is in the World Cup final, it is hard to understand,” he said after the semi-final win.

“It is something I started working on two years ago and it’s been a long process.

“Then, as now, you get atmosphere in the team and I told them ‘don’t let this chance get away’.”

Van Marwijk praised his side for not panicking despite conceding a late consolation goal by Maximiliano Pereira to make it 3-2 with time almost up.

“We started well and had excellent organisation then gained the confidence to play a bit more freely and be a bit braver,” said van Marwijk.

“We lost grip in midfield, but at half-time we corrected that.

“Things went wrong every now and then, but we took the initiative a bit more and when we scored for 2-1, I had full confidence.

“But opponents can all of a sudden score a goal and it becomes really exciting.

“We didn’t make it 4-1 or 5-1 but we survived and we were just so relieved in the changing room.”

Germany captain Philipp Lahm has warned England of the quality of the German squad ahead of their match on Sunday. Lahm claims that the current German team is the best he has ever played in.

After beating Australia 4-0 in their opening match, Joachim Low’s men were defeated by Serbia before beating Ghana to book themselves a second-round fixture with old rivals England.

And Lahm believes that a talented and young Germany can top England on Sunday.

When asked about a previous statement he made about the quality of the German squad, Lahm responded: “This statement stands 100 per cent. There’s no reason for me to change that statement because I train with these lads every day.

“[The squad has] got a lot of quality, a lot of talent, and everybody knows it’s still a developing team, still on a learning curve – which is why I think, with hindsight, it was very important that we didn’t win all our group games clearly and without going through the odd difficult moment.

“I think it was a good thing for us to suffer at least for a while in the games.”

Lahm was asked about Franz Beckenbauer’s words in which the German legend criticized Engalnd’s playing scheme and branded them “stupid” for finishing second in their group behind USA.

“Truth be told, I never knew, because we don’t hear a lot about what’s happening back home and what Beckenbauer says and doesn’t say,” said the Bayern Munich full-back.

“Let me just say that we know that English players have good qualities. They are very good players, but we will be well prepared.

“We know perfectly well that they play the opposite to kick and rush, and in Wayne Rooney they have an excellent striker who, if he gets the ball into his feet, he is dynamite, he is quicksilver… but we’ll be very well prepared.”

Spain’s Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso should be fit for their World Cup last 16 match with Portugal despite spraining his right ankle in the 2-1 victory over Group G rivals Chile on Friday.

The 28-year-old former Liverpool star suffered the injury just before half-time but played on until he was replaced in the 73rd minute in a game which saw the European champions qualify for the second round along with their opponents.

“The first x-ray confirmed that he had sprained his right ankle when he was violently tackled,” said Spanish team doctor Oscar Luis Celada.

“But we are optimistic that he will be fit for the second round match.”

Alonso, a member of the Euro 2008 winning side, has until Tuesday to prove his fitness when the Spanish take on the 2006 World Cup semi-finalists in Cape Town.

Fabio Capello believes that there is still hope for England to progress to the second round at the World Cup if they win their last Group C match against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.

England was considered one of the favourites to win next summer’s World Cup but their hopes were dented by disappointing draws, 1-1 against the United States and 0-0 against Algeria.

“I think we have good players but now they are not at the top like we played in the qualification,” the Italian manager said.

“But this group is really good. I’m not crazy when I said my target is the final of the World Cup. Because I’m sure this is a really good group. We will win and afterwards all the teams will have to fight against us.”

“My target as you know was to go right to the final so it would not be a good result. But I think like a team, like a group, not individually. My reputation is not important,” he added.

Capello guided England to nine wins in 10 qualifying games to reach the finals.

Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva believes his side showed world what they are capable of after defeating Ivory Coast by 3-1 in their World Cup Group G clash at Soccer City on Sunday.

The South Americans was nervous against North Korea in their first match of the World Cup but their midfielder believes Brazil have shown improved performance against the Elephants.

“In the first game it is always difficult, everyone knows that because there is a lot of pressure,” Silva said.

“But against a very good side, very strong side we showed what we are capable of.

“We have one more step and I’m sure the team has more to improve on. Day-by-day we look to achieve our top (form).”

Brazil coach Dunga has faced a lot of criticism for his almost negative tactics. Gilberto said Sunday’s performance given answer to all the questions.

“There is a lot of controversy around everything he does but he is showing now what we always looked for,” the Lagoa da Prata-born star added.

“Sometimes we try to manage the game the best way we can, but sometimes the teams we play put eleven men behind the ball.

“We have won the game (well) but some people still want to criticise, which I don’t understand. What is most important is we stick to our jobs.”

Brazil are one of the favourites to lift the World Cup in South Africa, along with continental rivals Argentina and European champion Spain.

Australia midfielder Tim Cahill revealed he is ready to give his all for team when Socceroos face Serbia in Wednesday’s must-win World Cup match in Nelspruit.

The Socceroos must beat Serbia and hope Germany loses to Ghana, if they are to progress into the second round at the World Cup.

Tim Cahill is returned after his one-match suspension and the fire in the belly is burning for the Everton midfielder.

“I’m ready to go now. For me, it’s about making sure of that. This week I have kept myself really fresh and sharp and made sure that the management can see that I’m edging to still be in selection and make sure that I try and start, if not come on at some point and make a difference,” he said.

“The hardest thing is. I can’t see many teams in this World Cup and trying to have a crack at it. Going down to 10 men, we showed that we can do it. Still in the second half, it could have gone either way and it could have bit us a bit,” he said

“It could have been another drubbing where they could hit us on the break. Those opportunities and those chances show how close we are.”

“I’m not the best watcher, but the one thing I did feel was the togetherness of the team. After all that, the lads were really disappointed, because it’s an opportunity gone, but at the end of the day, it’s still another opportunity, we’ve got one more chance.”

England’s star players are struggling to cope with the pressure of a World Cup according to coach Fabio Capello who is hoping they can pull themselves together for the crunch match against Slovenia.

The team was woeful in its 0-0 draw with Algeria on Friday, which leaves them with just two points from two games and facing a must-win clash in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.

They were booed off the field in Cape Town and woke up to scathing headlines in Britain on Saturday, with The Sun newspaper summing it up: “There can be no excuses, this was as bad as it gets.”

Capello, who has not escaped the criticism, admitted it wasn’t good and said the huge pressure of expectation to deliver their first title since 1966 was taking its toll.

“Yes, I think the pressure of the World Cup exists,” he said.

“These players are training very well. But these two games were not the same team I know. I hope to see on Wednesday the real England team.

“I remember when I first started to be England manager, I saw the same thing when we played at Wembley — we forgot to play without fear and with confidence.

“It was incredible the mistakes we made. It was incredible for the level of the England players.”

The team struggled to find any rhythm and gave the ball away far too easily, with none of the players, who looked tired and devoid of creativity, standing out.

“We didn’t play a good game,” added the frustrated Italian.

“We missed a lot of balls when we should have controlled them. We missed a lot of passes. We missed everything.”

Asked if England could still win the World Cup, Capello hesitated, then said: “I think, no I hope, that after a big performance the minds of the players will break free and then we can play like the England that I know.

“This is very important.”

The team returns to its training base in Rustenburg to try and work out what to do.

Unfortunately, they may well find there are an awful lot of things to put right when they study the DVD of the game, and Manchester City’s Gareth Barry spotted a few of them pretty quickly.

“The disappointing thing is the lack of chances we created, we didn’t attack with enough purpose and not enough belief going forward,” he said.

“We know we have to score to win the next game so that’s what we’ll be working on.”

Capello chose to play Barry in central midfield even though he has been out for six weeks with an ankle injury and had not played a single minute since the end of the season.

His performance was mixed but there were a string of players who performed below par, including striker Wayne Rooney who found it impossible to impose himself on the match.

Capello said he had no idea why the Manchester United striker, who plundered 33 goals for his club last season, has failed to shine at the World Cup.

“I don’t know where his form has gone, but I don’t want to speak about one player. I prefer to speak about the performance of the team,” he said.

“Rooney didn’t play like Rooney, but this was not the only problem.”

Captain Steven Gerrard called on the team to step up and do what was needed against Slovenia.

“We know the job we’ve got to do, we’ve got to go and win the last game and that adds more pressure, but to play at this level you’ve got to handle it, you’ve got to play under pressure,” he said.

Greek international striker Dimitris Salpigidis has signed a four-year contract to return to his former club PAOK Salonica, the team announced Wednesday. PAOK did not announce financial details of the contract. (more…)

Serbia striker Nikola Zigic is targeting a second round finish at the World Cup from remaining two Group D matches.

Asamoah Gyan’s goal lifted Ghana to a 1-0 victory over Serbia. The defeat leaves the White Eagles needing a win in their next game with Germany who defeated Australia 4-0 in the other group game but Zigic insisted his side would not fear about Germany match in Port Elizabeth on Friday. (more…)

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba has been given the all clear to wear a support to protect his broken arm in the Group G fixture against Portugal here on Tuesday.
(more…)