32 For 2010: Netherlands

It’s been noted by many people that only seven countries have ever won the World Cup in its 80-year history. Those same people have also suggested the time is now right for a new name to be added to the roll of honour, and most of those have put forward Spain as the country most likely to become the eighth. Perhaps they do so in haste, for the Netherlands are ready to learn by their mistakes and make one big push to become champions in 2010.

There is much evidence to suggest they could. Euro 2008 saw the Dutch complete an emphatic group stage in which they beat Italy 3-0 and France 4-1. With three wins out of three, it was somewhat unfortunate that they were punished in their first bad day at the office – a 3-1 defeat after extra time to Russia – after which they were eliminated from the competition.

They did at least impress with their fast, technically excellent brand of football which garnered much admiration from home fans and neutrals alike, but sadly they couldn’t find the clinical touch when they needed it most. The same could be said of their World Cup 2006 campaign in which they finished level on points with first round group winners Argentina only to be defeated 1-0 against Portugal in the second round.

With former Borussia Dortmund coach Bert Van Marwijk at the helm, fans of the Dutch team are at least optimistic that they can live up to their label of ‘dark horses’. Under the stewardship of the 58-year-old, the Netherlands breezed through qualifying for World Cup 2010 by winning all eight of their games. Dirk Kuyt and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored three each during that campaign, but they weren’t the sole source of goals by any means. Such is the strength in depth of the Dutch squad that Mark Van Bommel and Rafael van der Vaart pitched in with two each while seven others including Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben each scored one.

From 1 to 23, it’s difficult to find a Dutch player who isn’t based at one of Europe’s top clubs. Of those that still ply their trade in the Eredivisie, Maarten Stekelenburg (replacement for Edwin Van Der Sar in goal) and former Rangers  defender Giovanni Van Bronckhorst are two worth highlighting.

Juggling so much talent in all areas of the field – even in the weaker Dutch defence – requires a decent coach, and since Van Marwijk took over from Marco Van Basten in 2008 there’s been a greater emphasis on getting things right rather than playing with flair and pace. This makes for a new era of Dutch performances that are less easy on the eye, but with an illustrious history of total football behind them, you’re never far away from entertaining football.

As things stand, Dutch fans have much to be optimistic about at this World Cup, but that optimism is tempered with the hard reality that comes with a trophy cabinet that’s been empty for the last 22 years. The question therefore remains: not ‘can’ but ‘when’ will the Netherlands win the World Cup?  If the answer’s ‘2010’, they’ll have to beat Spain or Brazil along the way and that’ll call for a truly outstanding brand of Oranje indeed.

ArenA Diary (Notes from Holland v Scotland)

It all started out so positively.

A lively start to the game saw our midfield dominate completely, with our two holding midfielders able to close down the opposition and steal the ball from under their feet. Given time on the ball to pause and look for our wingers getting into forward attacking positions, their defence-splitting passes found their target with consummate ease, like a hot knife through butter. With no answer to our incisive, relentless attacking play, it was no wonder that we were 5-0 up at half-time, cruising to a victory our stylish play deserved.

The second half promised more goals, but with another important 'must win' game next week, the manager decided to put the foot on the brake: the defence sat further back allowing the opposition to come forward more, hoping to catch our opponents on the break. But the trust that the manager placed in our two center-backs proved well founded. Apart from two scary moments at the end - a ball through the middle of the park was allowed to get through was followed shortly afterwards by a teasing cross that found its target, both expertly saved by the keeper who, despite the one-sidedness of the game, kept the concentration levels high - we deserved the win.

So that took care of my daughters hockey game. Later on that evening, I had the pleasure of sitting amongst 52,000 Dutch fans in a packed Amsterdam ArenA to watch Scotland get pumped 3-0 by Holland.

I'll not bore you with an intricate breakdown of the game because quite frankly, from my seat - section 117, row E, seat 36, roughly level with the corner flag - I was not up high enough to see the formation throughout the game. Instead, I'll share with you my thoughts as the game progressed.

• Scotland fans are the best in the world. Holland fans are pretty good too. The atmosphere outside the ground before the game was cracking. Lots of booze, lots of men in kilts, lots of men (and women) in orange. No hassle, no fighting, no segregation.
• I nearly cried three times during this game. The first time was when 'Flower of Scotland', the national anthem was played. If I hadn't torn my vocal chords to shreds singing along to '500 Miles' by The Proclaimers just 5 minutes before the anthem was played, you'd have heard me above everyone else.
• The second time I nearly cried was when I heard the Dutch starting eleven.
• Ross McCormack and Nigel de Jong are two of the 'chunkiest' players I've ever seen.
• Jings. That's Arjen Robben. And there's Dirk Kuyt. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Oh, and there's Wesley Sneijder and Mark van Bommel. And that's Robin van Persie walking 50 meters from where I'm sitting. I wonder if he can hear me. Robin! Robin! Robin! Roooobiinnn. You're a fanny! Naw, he didn't hear me. Most of row E to A did though. Flying the flag lads, flying the flag.
• Reading the papers after the game, every British paper said that Caldwell's goal should have stood, while every Dutch paper said the goal was rightly disallowed. So much for unbiased reporting.
• It was a poor game for the Dutch also. The result flattered them, the 2-0 coming through poor defending, not classy Dutch play. Aside from those goals, Holland had very few chances.
• I understand now when football pundits describe Dirk Kuyt as some kind of deranged labrador. The man runs around from left to right, up and down and back again chasing, and never quite getting, an imaginary stick.

You can forgive George Burley this game. A squad decimated by injury, patched together at short notice. Injuries to Stephen McManus left Gary Caldwell without his Celtic team-mate in the heart of the defence. Cristophe Berra, formerly of Hearts and now of the Wolves was brought in to replace him, a move fraught with danger as Berra had yet to start a competitive international for Scotland.

On the right, Graham Alexander had a torrid time against Robben and failed to act when Huntelaar got free to score, while Naymsith took over from where Alexander left off when Robben switched wings in the second half. Alan McGregor should have done better with the two goals conceded from open play. There are some that argue that McGregor was impeded for the second goal (I couldn't see from where I was sitting), but one wonders how well Craig Gordon would have dealt with the crosses that McGregor wouldn't come for.

Of the midfield (McCormack, Fletcher, Brown, Ferguson, Teale), only McCormack got time and space, managing to make some progress going forward but the final ball - as always - too poor to be of any use. Teale, I'm ashamed to say, I've never heard of, Fletcher (the only 'top level' player in the squad, shown left) and Brown where both poor, and Kenny Miller should have done better with that chance he had in the opening minutes of the first half.

No-one expected Scotland to win this game. A 3-0 defeat is progress of sorts (it was 6-0 last time out), and the pressure is now on Burley and his men to get a win against Iceland on Wednesday night. Nothing short of victory will do now for Scotland and the hope is that Burley will at least put out an attacking 4-4-2 if he wants to get out of Hampden, let alone the qualifiers alive. The hope is that our defensive options are more plentiful, though you'd have hoped that the back four that lined up against Holland will have less trouble with Iceland.

The only question then is who to bring up front with Miller. McFadden is out, Kris Boyd is still sulking, leaving only Garry O'Connor (himself only just back from injury) or Chris Iwelumo (whose height we could have used on Saturday and whose shameful miss against Norway could mean the difference between getting out of this group or not ).

All is not lost, but we've got to pick up points from the remaining games. Iceland and Macedonia have still come to Hampden, as do Holland in the last game of the qualifiers. By that time we can only hope that there's enough distance between us and the team in third to make the final game against the Dutch a formality. We certainly would not want a repeat of Saturday night at Hampden, otherwise expect the tar and feathers to be out.

Oh, and the third time I nearly cried? That would be towards the end of the game, with 5 minutes to go, 3-0 down, and the stadium starting to empty. From high above me to the right, in amongst the Scotland support, a lone bagpipe could be heard playing 'Flower of Scotland'. It brought a lump to my throat, so it did.

And I make no apologies for that - football does that to you.

SPAOTP's Virtual Museum of World Football #2

Johan Cruyff's Modified Netherlands Shirt (as worn during the 1974 World Cup)

It's a story that's often been told, but we'll tell it again for the purpose of admitting another object into our Virtual Museum of World Football.

In 1974, the tenth FIFA World Cup Finals were held in West Germany. Football was exploding into the worldwide phenomenon we know today thanks to the exploits of those skilful Brazilians four years earlier, and the hunger to find new footballing heroes was unquenchable.

Luckily, the Dutch were sending their best ever team of players to the World Cup and one man amongst them had the necessary skills to demand everyone's attention - Johan Cruyff.

By 1974, Cruyff had become one of the big names in world football. With Ajax, the club he joined as a 10-year-old, he'd achieved almost everything it was possible to achieve. He'd won the Dutch League, the Dutch Cup, the Dutch Footballer of the Year title, the European Footballer of the Year title, the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.

It was hardly suprising, then, that such an amazing talent was attracting the attentions of some of the world's bigger clubs. In 1973, Barcelona offered Ajax around $2 million - an incredible fee at the time - and it proved too big to turn down. Cruyff joined the Catalans and promptly continued scoring goals the way he'd always done for Ajax and his country.

Cruyff was now the subject of numerous sponsorship deals and big-money advertising contracts, one of which would go on to pose a dilemma for the Dutchman. Sportswear company Puma had paid Cruyff a lot of money so that he'd promote their football boots and other equipment, and it was his intention to repay their generosity by remaining loyal to their brand.

Unfortunately for him and Puma, the Dutch football team had reached the 1974 World Cup and had their own agreement to wear Adidas apparel. Cruyff knew that he couldn't be seen to honour his contract with Puma by wearing another manufacturer's kit, so he used a little ingenuity to get around the problem.

Adidas had made a set of orange shirts for the Dutch team that featured the company's trademark three stripes in black running down the sleeves, but Cruyff had realised that it was actually possible to unpick them from the shirt. He therefore removed one black stripe from each sleeve, and in so doing rendered Adidas' most recognisable device depleted.

It was enough to allow Cruyff to take to the field with a clear conscience and Puma to rest easy in the knowledge that their star man wasn't showing misplaced allegiances.

As such a well-known example of football ephemera, it's only right that Cruyff's customised Netherlands shirt should take its place in our Virtual Museum, so let's put it in a glass case alongside Bob Stokoe's red tracksuit bottoms and admire the true genius of a real Dutch master. Johan, we salute you.

World Cup Bid 2018: Belgium and the Netherlands

If a friend of yours said they were about to bet thousands and thousands of Pounds (or indeed any currency of your choice) on a horse that had a 12/1 chance of winning, you'd probably do all you could to talk them out of it - probably just after you called their sanity into question for being so stupid. As it is, that's pretty much what the Benelux countries (including Luxembourg) are about to do, only no-one will be able to talk them out of it and no horses will be involved.

When Sepp Blatter proclaimed that any joint bids for the 2018 World Cup would only be considered if there weren't any better ones from individual countries, you'd have excused Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg for withdrawing their bid and forgetting all about the idea. Yet those same three countries working together in tandem were the first to submit their bid to FIFA and remain determined to show that the smaller countries of the world can host a World Cup just like the bigger ones.

You have to say they have a point. In the interests of equality, there shouldn't be anything wrong with allowing small countries to work together in the name of hosting such a big event. What FIFA have a problem with is the sheer logistical mess that's generated from having two sets of stadia, two sets of administrators, two sets of transport infrastructures and two sets of everything else that's probably complicated even to begin with.

But that's where the Dutch and the Belgians hold a trump card because back in 2000 they proved they could organise a large-scale football competition in the form of that year's European Championships. Everything went off smoothly in retrospect and the end result was a tournament that was regarded very highly among those people who saw it.



This time around, the Netherlands and Belgium will be joined in their bid by Luxembourg, but only from an administrative point of view. The Benelux triumvirate will put on a united front during the bid process, but the smallest of the three countries will only host a FIFA congress and won't be gaining automatic qualification to the finals as co-hosts.

So all seems above board and ship-shape… what's not to like, then? Well if there's any chink in the armour of this, one of two joint bids for the 2018 World Cup, it's that old chestnut of having enough decent-sized stadia. It's a factor that will probably crop up time and again with all the bidding candidates, but Belgium and the Netherlands are already onto this potential banana skin too.

In Brussels, a need for a 60,000-seater stadium has already been identified and any one of three plans could be chosen to achieve this. It's possible that the former Heysel Stadium (now known as the King Baudouin Stadium) will be upgraded but if that's not suitable, a new stadium could be built either in Heysel Park or the Schaerbeek region of the city.

Similarly over the border, a new 80,000 capacity stadium for Feyenoord is likely to appear just a stone's throw away from their existing one, while other Dutch venues are also seeking to upgrade, replace or create stadia that can hold the sort of crowds only a World Cup would provide.

And all these sites will be accessible via a very impressive set of transport links. Whether by road, rail, sea or air, the Benelux countries are easy to reach no matter where you're arriving from around the world. No problems ensuring the stadia get filled, then.

All of which leaves us with the feeling that this bid isn't quite the misguided foregone conclusion we thought it might be. These two founding members of FIFA from back in 1904 (oh - and Luxembourg) clearly know what they're doing, they've got everything worked out and have got their priorities right too.

When you think about it, Sepp Blatter's belief that two countries shouldn't co-host a World Cup is a load of rubbish, especially if those two countries happen to be among the most ardent soccer-loving countries on the planet. Given half a chance, the Netherlands and Belgium could actually surprise a lot of people by hosting in 2018. It's just a pity the short-sightedness of FIFA's top man might prevent it from ever happening.

Do you think Belgium and the Netherlands deserve the chance to host World Cup 2018? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think, or perhaps register your vote in our online poll at the foot of the page.

A marathon, not a sprint

Here's a quiz question for you: what do the following teams have in common? Denmark in the 1986 World Cup, Brazil in the 1990 World Cup, Spain in the 2006 World Cup and the Netherlands in Euro 2008.

The answer: they've all started their tournaments at a roaring pace, only to be knocked out in the second round. To be more specific, each of the aforementioned have won all three of their First Round games, only to be knocked out in the Second Round. If Spain aren't careful, they might join the list tonight unless they find a way to beat Italy.

So just how does a team like the Dutch in Euro 2008 collapse so monumentally just as they've convinced everyone about their credentials as champions elect? In the case of the Dutch, two main factors spring to mind.

Firstly, there's the old 'fatigue' argument to be considered. Wesley Sneijder was quick to point out after the 3-1 defeat to the Russians that when extra time came around, the Dutch appeared to have little energy left for the fight to come, whereas Guus Hiddink's side looked fresh and more than capable of carrying on to the bitter end.

There may be something in this: while the Dutch players came into Euro 2008 having finished a tiring domestic campaign with their clubs, the Russians have so far completed just thirteen weeks of their own domestic league. All those of you wishing to raise this point to the F.A., please do so care of Fabio Capello, Lancaster Gate.

Then there's the argument that any team catching the eye early on in a competition will obviously set the minds racing of the other managers involved. Don't think for a moment that Guus Hiddink wasn't sitting in his luxurious Austrian hotel suite over the last two weeks wondering how he'd beat such an exciting Dutch team if the time ever came.

No, far better to start a tournament discretely and with a considerable amount of stealth if you want your team to capture the trophy. That's what the Dutch did in Euro 88 by losing their first group game against the Soviet team they'd go on to beat in the Final. The Danish side in Euro 92 were even better at making people think they were poor - they drew 0-0 with England and lost 1-0 to hosts Sweden in the First Round before they went on to win the tournament outright. Greece also looked far from convincing in the first few games of Euro 2004… mind you, they failed to look convincing all the way through to the Final, but that's another story.

Yes, there's something to be said for not showing your best hand at the start of a competition as the Dutch did this year. You might win lots of friends for the way you play football in its purest form, but they'll soon be your enemies if you don't give them every opportunity to see it.

If you're visiting SPAOTP, Mr. Aragones, don't say we didn't warn you.

Euro 2008 - Guide to Group C

Group C
The Official Group of Death for Euro 2008. There must have been dozens of Groups of Death down the years… I wonder how this one ranks against the others? (Mental note to self: look into this for a future article on SPAOTP…)

France

Qualifying
France were pitted up against Italy in Group B of the qualifiers and lived to tell the tale. Though Italy won the group overall, France beat the Italians 3-1 before a 0-0 draw ensued in the return match, plus they finished as top scorers in the group, largely down to the goals of Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka.

Players you might have heard of
Second only to the Dutch, France ooze household names of some quality throughout their ranks, many of which will be all too familiar to the British. There's Chelsea's triumvirate of Makelele, Malouda and Anelka, former Arsenal stars Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, Man United defender Patrice Evra and Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra. If you're still not satisfied with that, the names Thuram, Ribery and Benzema should leave you in no doubt as to the strength of the squad.

Players you won't be seeing
One Zinedine Zidane, for a kick off. The mercurial captain of the side and Headbutter Supreme has now retired leaving Patrick Vieira to run the ship. Without his skill and all-seeing vision, some say France lack that bit of sparkle they once had and those self-same people are predicting a decidedly normal-looking team will be there for all to see this summer. One way or another, he'll be much missed - except possibly by Marco Materazzi, but that's understandable.

Recent friendlies
May 27: France 2 Ecudaor 0
May 31: France 0 Paraguay 0
June 3: France 1 Colombia 0

Stingy…
Whether France reproduce their halcyon days of the late 90's remains to be seen, but one thing remains certain - it won't be easy to score against them. Since the summer of 2004, they've conceded on average 0.48 goals per game.

Further proof of their resilient defence is that they've only conceded one goal in their last five matches (in their 1-0 defeat to Spain in February) and the only two teams to score more than one goal against them since the middle of March 2006 are Morocco and Ukraine, the latter being France's last Euro 2008 qualifier.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Franck Ribery. He's just had the season of his life with Bayern Munich and is arguably the brightest star of all those in the French team. As chief playmaker, you can expect him to run at opposition defences with great gusto whenever he isn't inviting others to do the same. Expect this tournament to be his making on the world stage.

Italy

Qualifying
After a shaky start that saw them lose to France in Group B, they strode on confidently with all the hallmarks of a team that called themselves world champions. Unlike France, Italy also managed to beat the Scots in both matches which, as far as we’re concerned, is good enough to qualify for any tournament these days on its own.

Current Form
On the whole, pretty good. They've not played many friendlies since the end of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, but they can include victories over Belgium and Portugal among them. The only fly in the ointment was a 1-0 defeat to Spain at the end of March, but if it's any consolation, that's their only defeat in nine games.

That coach looks familiar…
When Marcello Lippi having steered Italy to their first world championship for 24 years, the man selected to take over was former Milan midfielder Roberto Donadoni. A surprise choice for some as he was still considered to be going through his managerial apprenticeship with Livorno, but having got them up to sixth place in Serie A, he was deemed the ideal choice by the Italian FA.

For all that, we still remember him as the nippy winger that won titles galore with Milan over a 10 year period and helped Italy to third and second place respectively at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. With a career like that behind him, he must stand at least half a chance of achieving something as a manager. Watch this space...

Recent friendlies
February 6: Italy 3 Portugal 1
March 26: Spain 1 Italy 0
May 30: Italy 3 Belgium 1

Playing style
When possible, the Italians are encouraged to attack in big numbers to flood their opponents half of the field. While all that's going on, one midfielder usually stays back to mop up any counter-attacks, but this mob mentality to looking for goals has proven highly effective, largely due the quality of players that can make it happen in all parts of the pitch.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Luca Toni, Bayern Munich's free-scoring attacker who continues to net goals in Germany just as he did at Palermo and Fiorentina prior to his 2007 transfer. A man for the big occasion, he scored twice in Italy's 3-0 quarter-final victory over Ukraine and hit the crossbar with a header in the Final against France. Expect more fireworks again - and then some.

Netherlands

Qualifying
The Dutch didn't have it all their own way during qualifying. Playing in Group G, they went about the business of picking up points in a modest, business-like manner, but so did a resurgent Romania and an awkward Bulgarian team too.

The end result was that the Dutch qualified as runners-up but the fans weren't entirely happy with the manner of their doing so. The Netherlands laboured to dual 1-0 victories over Luxembourg, were unable to beat group winners Romania and ended the campaign losing 2-1 away to Belarus. Had they scored one point fewer, we'd be talking about Bulgaria now, not the Dutch.

Tactical switch
Marco van Basten had to swallow something hard and jagged not so long ago. Having settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation that initially brought the Dutch team many a decent result, things soon started to go wrong. Going in at half time 3-1 down against the Austrians was a key moment when Van Basten knew his tactical astuteness didn't have the depth it needed, but he sought advice from some of his own players and the boat was soon steadied again.

The likes of van Der Sar, van Nistelrooy and Seedorf were all quick to point out that perhaps the team might be better off playing a traditional 4-3-3 system instead, and they were right. They've not lost since and the players seem a lot happier knowing they're playing to a more appropriate system.

Recent friendlies
May 24: Netherlands 3 Ukraine 0
May 29: Netherlands 1 Denmark 1
June 1: Netherlands 2 Wales 0

Players you might have heard of
Er, how long have you got? There's almost as many players affiliated with British clubs just now as there are Dutch ones in the current squad. In goal, there's Van Der Sar of Man United and in defence we have Aston Villa's Wilfred Bouma, Wigan's Mario Melchiot and Blackburn's Andre Ooijer. Up front, take your pick from Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool) and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic) and that's without the likes of van Bronckhorst and van Nistelrooy who used to play in the Premier League.

Players you won't be seeing
Mark van Bommel. He's had an on-off involvement with the national team over the last few years thanks to van Basten's critical view of the midfielder. The coach has even gone out of his way to criticise van Bommel's poor performances at times, all of which led him to announce he no longer wanted to be picked while van Basten was in charge of the side.

Oh, and there's also Edgar Davids. The Ajax star broke his leg in a pre-season friendly which kept him out of the game for three months. A lack of match fitness reduced his likelihood of being chosen by the coach for the national team with other younger, fitter players available, all of which means we may have seen the last of the begoggled one on the international stage.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Rafael van Der Vaart. Despite suffering numerous niggling injuries, he's come through this season at Hamburg with 21 goals from 44 appearances (including those for the Netherlands) so this could finally be his chance to shine in the spotlight - as long as he stays fit.

Romania

Qualifying
In the end, Romania qualified at a canter in Group G along with the Netherlands and Bulgaria (as we've just heard). They were a lot more convincing than the Dutch, losing just one of their twelve games - to Bulgaria, strangely - and they scored an admirable 26 goals along the way too. The Dutch could only manage 15 and the Bulgarians only did slightly better with 18.

Top scorer for the Romanians was the former Chelsea attacker Adrian Mutu with six goals. Stuttgart's Ciprian Marica was one behind on five.

Current form
Apart from a 1-0 slip-up away to Israel back in February, they've looked quite accomplished. A 3-0 win over Russia and a 4-0 win over Montenegro have given them the perfect boost going into their first Euro 2008 game against France on Monday.

Players you might have heard of
Apart from Adrian Mutu, there's just the one for all British football fans to spot. It's Marius Niculae of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Don't laugh - he's scored 13 goals in his 30 appearances for Romania and scores on average once every three games for the Scottish club too.

Recent friendlies
February 6: Israel 1 Romania 0
March 26: Romania 3 Russia 0
May 31: Romania 4 Montenegro 0

Not just making up the numbers
As mentioned earlier, Romania are quite happy to score goals for fun and love to play attacking football, but they can also defend as well. Fans of the Netherlands will tell you their team found it frustrating getting through the Romanian back line, failing to score in the two games they played against them.

Though Romania have been absent from the last three major tournaments, it's very likely they'll make up for that at Euro 2008 despite their label of 'outsiders'. Expect the other teams in their group to treat them with great respect on match days accordingly.

SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Adrian Mutu. After leaving Chelsea under a cloud due to that cocaine issue we don't talk about anymore, his career has been given a much needed shot in the arm at Fiorentina. Forming a formidable partnership with Luca Toni, he's reminded everyone just how versatile he is by not just scoring goals regularly but providing assists for others too.

Oh and a quick factoid for all of you out there: Romania have only lost once in games when Adrian Mutu has scored. They'll be hoping he's got his shooting boots on during Euro 2008, we're sure.