When it comes to Fantasy Premier League (FPL), he seldom lets us down. This afternoon, however, Robin Van Persie cut a frustrating figure up front for Holland as Bert Van Marwijk’s side suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Denmark.
The runaway leader in our Captain Poll for Day 2 of Matchday 1 in the McDonald’s game, Van Persie had as many as eight attempts on goal but managed a mere two on target as he failed to bring his domestic form onto the international stage. Behind him, the attacking midfield three of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Ibrahim Afellay all disappointed – Fantasy managers who handed any of their Dutch contingent the armband at least have the consolation of being able to draw a line under this afternoon’s events by switching their captaincy option for tomorrow’s Group C games.
The same mainly applies to Germany – Mario Gomez was the only player to reward his Fantasy owners, after netting the only goal of the game against Portugal. With Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Muller all failing to fire against this evening, those who took a captain punt on any of the three will be more than happy to have another roll of the dice.
We’ve already published the Captain Poll for tomorrow, with Spain, Italy, Croatia and Republic of Ireland all now coming under consideration. Doubt still lingers over who will lead the line for the defending champions; Fernando Torres and Alvaro Negredo both notched in the recent friendlies, while Fernando Llorente was rested for the trio of wins – any one of the threesome could lead the line against the Azzurri tomorrow. David Silva and Andres Iniesta both seem likely to start in the wide positions for Vicente Del Bosque’s side, while Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano will be hoping to get Italy off to a flying start.
Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle will be looking to grab the goals against Croatia, while Slaven Bilic’s side shall rely on the likes of Nikica Jelavic, Mario Mandzukic and Darijo Srna to break down a resilient rearguard that has chalked up 11 clean sheets in their last 14 matches in tomorrow’s late kick-off.
