Netherlands national football team
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| Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname | Oranje, Clockwork Orange, Orange Crush, The Orangemen |
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| Association | Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond |
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| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Marco van Basten, (2004-) |
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| Captain | Edwin van der Sar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Edwin van der Sar (118) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Patrick Kluivert (40) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | NED | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 2 (November 1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 25 (May 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 1 (1911-12, 1978, 1988-1990, 1992, 2002, 2003, 2005) |
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| Lowest Elo ranking | 56 (October 1954) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international Belgium 1 - 4 Netherlands (Antwerp, Belgium; 30 April 1905) |
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Biggest win Netherlands 9 - 0 Norway  (Rotterdam, Netherlands; 1 November 1972) |
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Biggest defeat Netherlands 2 - 12 England Amateur  (The Hague, Netherlands; 1 April 1907) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 8 (First in 1934) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Runners-up, 1974 and 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 7 (First in 1976) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Winners, 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Football | |||
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| Bronze | 1908 London | Team | |
| Bronze | 1912 Stockholm | Team | |
| Bronze | 1920 Antwerp | Team | |
The Netherlands national football team is the national football team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association.
It has won the 1988 European Football Championship (Euro 88), and has reached two consecutive World Cup finals, but lost both (1974 and 1978). At the peak of its success in the 1970s, the team was famous for its mastery of Total Football and was nicknamed "Clockwork Orange" for its precision passing.
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[edit] History
The Netherlands made their first appearance at the World Cup final tournament in 1934, and after coming back in 1938, the Dutch national team entered the wilderness of world football.
[edit] History to 1970
Not until a shift to a national league and full professionalism in the 1950s did the fortunes of the Netherlands improve at both club and international level. In the 1958 World Cup qualifiers, they finished 2 points behind Austria, having lost 3-2 in Vienna after leading 2-0. The team saw continuous improvement throughout the 1960s.
[edit] Total Football
They came out of this wilderness in the 1970s with the invention of Total Football (Dutch: Totaalvoetbal), pioneered by Ajax Amsterdam and led by playmaker Johan Cruijff and national team coach Rinus Michels. The Dutch made huge strides, qualifying for two World Cup finals in the decade.
In 1974, the Netherlands beat both Brazil and Argentina in the second group stage, reaching the final for the first time in their history. However, the team lost to West Germany in the final in Munich, despite having gone 1-0 up through Johan Neeskens' early penalty kick before any German had even touched the ball. Supported by the crowd, goals from Paul Breitner and Gerd Müller led to a victory for the Germans. In spite of losing the final, the "Clockwork Orange" and Johan Cruijff had already written a new page in football's history.
By comparison, Euro 1976 was a disappointment. The Netherlands lost in the semi-finals to Czechoslovakia, as much victims of infighting within the squad and because of coach Georg Knobel, as well as the skill of the eventual winners.
In 1978, the Netherlands again reached the final, only to be beaten by the hosts, Argentina. This side played without Cruijff, who refused to participate in the World Cup because Argentina had suffered a military coup only two years earlier and he objected to playing in a country where torture and murder were continuing to be perpetrated by the junta.[1] It still contained players such as Neeskens, Johnny Rep, Arie Haan, Ruud Krol and Rob Rensenbrink from the 1974 selection. This time the Netherlands were less impressive in the group stages, as they qualified only as runners-up, after a draw with Peru and a loss to Scotland. In the second group phase, however, the Netherlands topped a group including Italy and West Germany, setting up a final with Argentina. However, the Dutch finished as runners up for the second World Cup in a row as they ultimately lost 3-1 after two extra-time goals from Argentina. Agonisingly for the Dutch, Rensenbrink hit the Argentinian post in the last minute of normal time, with the score 1-1.
Euro 1980 was the last tournament that the generation of Total Football qualified for, but they did not advance past the group stage, despite the tournament format being expanded that year. Veterans such as Krol and Rensenbrink retired soon afterwards and the Netherlands missed the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Euro 1984, and the 1986 FIFA World Cup in succession.
[edit] European Champions
Rinus Michels returned to coach the team for Euro 88. After losing the first group match against the USSR (1-0), the Netherlands went on to qualify for the semi-final by defeating England 3-1 (with a hat-trick by the tournament's top scorer Marco van Basten), and Republic of Ireland (1-0). For many Dutch football supporters, the most important match in the tournament was the semi-final against West Germany, the host country, considered a revenge for the lost 1974 World Cup final (also in West Germany). Marco van Basten, who would later become national team coach, scored in the 89th minute of the game to sink the German side. The game is also remembered for its post-match shenanigans, including Ronald Koeman, who, in front of the German supporters, provocatively pretended to wipe his backside with the shirt of Olaf Thon as if it was toilet paper, an action Koeman later regretted.[1] The Netherlands won the final with a convincing victory over the USSR, a rematch on the round robin game, through a header by Ruud Gullit and a volley by Van Basten. This was the national team's first major tournament win and it restored them to the forefront of international football after almost a decade in wilderness.
Despite high expectations as the team entered the 1990 World Cup, that tournament was not a success. Van Basten failed to score, as he was frequently marked by opposing defenders, while Gullit was ineffective having not fully recovered from injury. The Dutch managed to advance despite drawing all three group games, meeting their arch-rivals West Germany in the round of 16. The match is most remembered for the spitting-incident involving Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Völler as the Netherlands lost 2-1.
The team subsequently reached the semi-finals in the Euro 92, which was noted for the emergence of Dennis Bergkamp, but they were eliminated by eventual champions Denmark, with Van Basten's kick in the penalty shootout being saved by Peter Schmeichel. This was also Van Basten's last major tournament, as he retired shortly after due to injury.
In the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Dennis Bergkamp led the team with 3 goals and the Netherlands advanced to the quarter-final, where they lost 3-2 to eventual champions Brazil.
[edit] 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000
At Euro 96, after drawing 0-0 with Scotland and beating Switzerland 2-0, they faced the hosts England in the pool A decider, with both teams on 4 points. After 62 minutes, with Scotland beating Switzerland 1-0, The Netherlands were 4-0 down and looked like finishing third behind Scotland on goal difference and going out of the tournament, but Patrick Kluivert converted a Dennis Bergkamp assist and scored in the 78th minute to see the Dutch finish second on goals scored. They then played France in the quarter-finals, drawing 0-0 and being eliminated 5-4 on penalties.
In 1998 FIFA World Cup, Netherlands, whose team included Marc Overmars, Phillip Cocu, Edgar Davids, Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer and Patrick Kluivert, met Argentina in the quarterfinal, a rematch of the 1978 final. Near the end of regular time, after an unsuccessful dive to draw a penalty, Argentinian Ariel Ortega head-butted Edwin van der Sar[2]. Ortega was send off and the Netherlands won 2-1 after a Bergkamp goal in the 89th minute. Bergkamp's goal was famous because of its quality--he touched down a 60 yard pass from Frank de Boer then reverse-flicked it inside Roberto Ayala and finally volleyed it past the Argentine goalkeeper. In the semi-final, the Netherlands took Brazil to a penalty shootout after a late Kluivert goal tied the match 1-1, but Brazil won the shootout 4-2 and advanced to the final. Netherlands lost the 3rd place match 2-1 to upstart Croatia.
Netherlands co-hosted Euro 2000 with Belgium and were one of the favourites coming into the tournament. Getting all three wins in the group stage, including a win over reigning World Cup champions France, they then crushed Yugoslavia 6-1 in the quarter-finals, with Kluivert getting a hat-trick. In the semi-finals, their opponents Italy went down to ten men in the first half and the Netherlands were awarded two Penalty kicks but failed to convert either chance. Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo made two saves in the shootout (in addition to his penalty save in regulation time) to eliminate the Netherlands. Coach Frank Rijkaard was widely criticized by the press as the Dutch had squandered several chances to kill the game and he resigned, with Louis van Gaal taking over. Dennis Bergkamp retired from the national team after Euro 2000, having failed to score during the tournament.
[edit] Recent
Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, with crucial losses to Portugal and the Republic of Ireland, the latter of which eliminated them from the Finals tournament. Van Gaal resigned at the conclusion of the Netherlands' unsuccessful campaign.
Netherlands reached the semifinals of Euro 2004 but lost to Portugal. Coach Dick Advocaat was criticized for his tactics and player changes and stepped down after the tournament. Also, many of the team's World Cup veterans like Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Marc Overmars, Jaap Stam, and Patrick Kluivert had either retired or were not selected for the upcoming World Cup by new coach Marco van Basten.
The Netherlands qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and finished second in Group C after beating Serbia & Montenegro (1-0) and the Ivory Coast (2-1) and drawing Argentina (0-0). Both Argentina and the Netherlands finished the group stage with 7 points, but the Argentinians had a superior goal difference and finished first as a result. The Dutch were eliminated in the second round after losing 0-1 to Portugal, in a match that produced a World Cup record of four red cards (two for either side) and was nicknamed "the Battle of Nuremberg" by the press[3]. Despite criticism surrounding his selection policy and the lack of attacking football from his team, Marco van Basten was offered a two-year extension to his contract by the Dutch FA, which would allow him to serve as national coach during Euro2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The move was widely regarded as a vote of confidence in Van Basten and his assistants by the KNVB officials.[4]
The Netherlands began their Euro 2008 campaign with a win over Luxembourg on 2 September 2006.
[edit] Origin of shirt colour
The Netherlands national football team does not wear the colours of the Dutch flag of today, but instead plays in bright orange. Orange is the historic national colour of the Netherlands, originating from the coat of arms of the Dutch founding father William of Orange-Nassau. The top red band of the current flag was originally orange. The current Dutch away shirt incorporates the flag colours as a diagonal stripe.
[edit] Rivalry with Germany
The Dutch national football team has a long standing rivalry with Germany. Although it might date back to the Second World War, usually people date it to the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where the Netherlands lost the final to West Germany, despite being regarded as the better team. Other notable clashes between the two nations were in the semifinal of Euro 88, where Marco van Basten slid the winning goal in the last minute past the German keeper, and the game in the Round of 16 in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, with Germany beating the Dutch after a famous spitting incident involving Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Völler.
[edit] Competitive record
[edit] World Cup
Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. |
[edit] European Championship
[edit] Summer Olympics
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[edit] Current squad
The following players were called up for Euro 2008 qualifiers against Romania on March 24 and Slovenia on March 28. [5]
Caps and goals as of March 28, 2007, included against Slovenia.
[edit] Recent call-up
The following players have all recently been called up to the Netherlands squad. Bracket shows last call-up time.
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[edit] Previous squads
- 2006 FIFA World Cup squads - Netherlands
- 2004 European Football Championship squads - Netherlands
- 2000 European Football Championship squads - Netherlands
- 1998 FIFA World Cup squads - Netherlands
[edit] Past managers
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[edit] Players
[edit] Famous past players
Listed according to when they debuted for Netherlands (year in parentheses):
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[edit] Most capped playersAs of March 28, 2007, the ten players with the most caps for the Netherlands are:
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[edit] Top goalscorersAs of February 7, 2007, the ten players with the most goals for the Netherlands are:
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[edit] Footnotes
- ^ "Cheeseheads vs Krauts": 30 Years of Enmity, Ajax-USA.com, June 14, 2004
[edit] See also
- Netherlands national under-21 football team
- Netherlands women's national football team
- Royal Netherlands Football Association
- Aruba national football team
- Netherlands Antilles national football team
- Sint Maarten national football team
[edit] External links
- Official site (in Dutch)
- Analysis of 2006 World Cup Performence
- RSSSF archive of results 1908-
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
- RSSSF archive of coaches
- Netherlands National Football Team History
- Story of The Netherlands at the 1974 World Cup
- Story of The Netherlands at the 1978 World Cup
- Holland: "The unbearable Lightness of being Oranje..."
- Coca-Cola Cans set of Netherlands World Cup France 1998 National Football Team
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International football
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2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
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