Netherlands vs Mexico Preview: World Cup 2014 Last 16 Football (ESPN TV Start Time)
The Netherlands will play Mexico on Sunday in a big World Cup 2014 Last 16 game. Holland's star striker Robin van Persie is set to make his return from suspension and that will be a big boost for the European side as they attempt to take down their Latin American opposition today. The game will start at 12 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the ESPN network.
Mexico will be without Jose Vasquez, who is serving a one-match ban, and that means that Carlos Salcido will come into position as a holding midfielder.
This should be a fantastic match up, and features the team that scored the most amount of goals in the group stages – Holland – and the team that had the best defense – Mexico.
Holland scored 10 goals in their three group games, but despite that they were still criticized by Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli, who complained they used negative tactics against his team.
Meanwhile, Mexico only conceded one goal through their three group games, and that was just a late consolation goal to Croatia. They managed to lockdown the Brazilian attack, and they will try and do the same here today against the Netherlands.
These two teams have played one another four times before, and Mexico have never won a game against the Dutch. In those four encounters, Holland have won three and drawn one, with Holland scoring at least two goals each time they've played.
The two sides have met just once in a World Cup clash before, way back in 1998. In that clash the Netherlands took a two goal lead, only to collapse and allow Mexico to comeback and claim a 2-2 draw in the group stages of the tournament.
Today's game between the Netherlands and Mexico will kick off at 12 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the ESPN network.
