introduction dutch team : News

Holland coach Dick Advocaat, who experimented with a Makaay-Kluivert upfront tandem during Holland's 1-1 draw against Portugal last Wednesday, has stated that Van Nistelrooy and Patrick Kluivert are still his first choices. Advocaat also added that he had talked to van Nistelrooy before Holland's match against Portugal saying "He knew he would only play if we needed him and he was satisfied with that." Advocaat is keen to keep his frontline players fit for the Euro 2004 qualifier against Belarus in June. "Van Nistelrooy already had some minor injuries and I think the game against Belarus is more important so I chose not to bring him in," he said. "He should be okay for Manchester United's game on Saturday." Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert scored for his country and Advocaat confirmed: "Van Nistelrooy and Patrick Kluivert are still my first choices."

Holland start tonight without Van der Vaart

30 Apr 2003

Holland face Portugal tonight and will want to try and wipe out the memories of their last two games when Holland narrowly beat Moldova and a a few days later were held to a 1-1 home draw against the Czech Republic during the Euro 2004 qualifiers. Holland coach Dick Advocaat believes that in Holland's last two games the players did their best's and did not let their country down. Holland will probably revert back to the usage of wingers with Barcelona's Marc Overmars and Ajax's Andy van der Meyede starting on the flanks. Advocaat said that he was curious to see how this will work out seeing the last few games Holland didn't play with wingers.
Last night on Dutch television Advocaat was less positive about Ajax's star midfielder Rafael van der Vaart saying that he would not be in the starting lineup: Advocaat: " Everybody is saying that Van der Vaart is a fantastic player and that he should of been in the national team long ago. Well if that is so then why doesn't he demonstrate that when he plays in the national team. He certainly won't be in the starting lineup."

Melchiot receives call-up to replace Reiziger

29 Apr 2003

Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot has received an Ornaje call-up to replace Barcelona defender Michael Reiziger who was forced to leave the squad through injuries. With the Reizeger's departure 'Oranje' were left with only three pure defenders in their squad, Frank de Boer, Fernando Ricksen and Andr� Ooijer. Melchiot, who is currently occupying Chelsea's reserve bench, played his last match for Holland in their 1-1 draw against Denmark in November 2001.

Trio withdraw from Holland friendly

29 Apr 2003

Dick Advocaat's preparations for Wednesday's friendly match against Portugal have been hit by the withdraws of Ronald de Boer, Mark van Bommel and Michael Reiziger. Strikers Dirk Kuijt (ankle) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (calf) are also struggling to be fit for the match. Due to the absentees, PSV winger Arjan Robben has now been added to the squad.

Ronald de Boer pulls out of Dutch squad

27 Apr 2003

Ronald de Boer, who scored Glasgow Rangers only goal in their 2-1 by Celtic last weekend has pulled out of Holland's squad for Wednesday's friendly against Portugal after Rangers stated that it would be more in the players interest to take a rest rather than traveling to Holland for the international game. Holland coach Dick Advocaat is not planning to call in a replacement for De Boer given that their are sufficient midfielders in the group.

Full Oranje squad announced

27 Apr 2003

Netherlands coach Dick Advocaat has named the a 22-man squad for the friendly international against Portugal in Eindhoven on April 30.
Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Fulham/ENG), Sander Westerveld (Real Sociedad/SPA)
Defenders: Frank de Boer (Barcelona/SPA), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), Michael Reiziger (Barcelone/SPA), Fernando Ricksen (Glasgow Rangers/SCO)
Midfielders: Ronald de Boer (Glasgow Rangers/SCO), Mark van BommelEindhoven), Paul Bosvelt (Feyenoord), Phillip Cocu (Barcelona/SPA), Edgar Davids (Juventus/ITA), Andy van der Meyde (Ajax Amsterdam), Marc Overmars (Barcelona/SPA), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax Amsterdam), Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax Amsterdam)
Attackers: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea/ENG), Pierre van Hooijdonk (Feyenoord), Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona/SPA), Dirk Kuijt (FC Utrecht), Roy Makaay (Deportivo La Coruna/SPA), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United/ENG), Boudewijn Zenden (Chelsea/ENG).

Kuyt and Sneijder receive Dutch call-up

26 Apr 2003

Utrecht forward Dirk Kuijt who has recently signed for Feyenoord and Ajax's young striker Wesley Sneijder have both received call-ups by Dutch coach Dick Advocaat for the international friendly against Portugal next week. Dick Advocaat " "Kuijt and Sneijder are young and promising players with Dutch clubs. They have earned their selection with the way they have been playing. This can happen to other players too who are doing well at their own club. Kuijt and Sneijder can enjoy some days with the national team now."
Somewhat of a surprise is the return of Barcelona winger Marc Overmars who was dropped for Holland's 1-1 last two Euro 2004 qualifying matches. Advocaat "After a long period of injuries Marc has shown on the field that he would like to return to the Dutch team and that's why I selected him now,"

Holland rise to 5th place in Fifa rankings

24 Apr 2003

The Dutch national team Oranje have risen 1 place in the official FIFA rankings. They were 6th but have leapfrogged over Argentinia to 5th. Brazil remain No.1 with a clear 64 points between them and Spain, France are 3rd.
The complete top ten is now:

1.	(1)	Brazil	849
2.	(2)	Spain	785
3.	(3)	France	782
4.	(5)	Germany	755
5.	(6)	Holland	752
6.	(4)	Argentina	750
7.	(9)	England	742
8.	(7)	Turkey	728
9.	(8)	Mexico	724
10.	(10)	U.S.A.	719

Van der Vaart to start against Moldova

02 Apr 2003

Ajax star Rafael van der Vaart can expect his first start against Moldova on Wednesday after acting as substitute on four previuos occasions. Although Advocaat has not yet revealed Van der Vaart's role for the Holland's game against Moldova tonight it is widely known that Van der Vaart will be acting behind strikers Patrick Kluivert and Ruud van Nistelrooy. In an interview in the Dutch daily newspaper the 'Algemee Dagblad' Advocaat said : "I've never had any doubts about the qualities of Van der Vaart and have always said he would get his chance".

Zenden loses place to Van der Vaart

31 Mar 2003

Holland coach Dick Advocaat has indicated that Boudewijn Zenden's midfield position has now been allocated to Ajax star Rafael van der Vaart, saying that he gave Chelsea bench-sitter Zenden a first team line-up against the Czech's last Saturday out of loyalty.
During Holland's disappointing 1-1 European 2004 qualifier against the Czech Republic Van der Vaart started on the bench, but when Arsenal reserve Van Bronckhorst left the pitch with an ankle injury, Zenden was forced to take over the back's position and Van der Vaart came on and took over Zenden's midfield position. With the appearance of the young Ajax midfielder Oranje's performance improved dramatically as he demonstrated to Zenden what is needed of an Oranje midfielder.
Kluivert, who stated after the match against the Czechs that he was forced to track back again and again will also welcome Van der Vaart in the starting-lineup of their next match against Moldova on Wednesday evening.
Kluivert: "I had to track back to midfield again and again against the Czechs, I was free and so was Ruud but they (the midfielders) couldn't reach us."
Advocaat: "I started with Boudewijn Zenden out of loyalty to the players who had starred in matches previous to the Czech Republic," adding " Van der Vaart was on the bench. There was no need to change before the game but at a certain moment in the game Van der Vaart was really needed. There will come a moment that we will see Van der Vaart starting in every match."

Van Bronckhorst-Stam doubtful for Moldova

30 Mar 2003

Dutch trainer Dick Advocaat will probably have to do without Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Jaap Stam in their match against Moldova on Wednesday evening after both players sustained injuries in Holland's 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic. Advocaat: "Giovanni van Bronckhorst slightly injured his ankle and Jaap Stam pulled his hamstring a bit, so I guess they are doubtful for next Wednesday,"

Advocaat defends Zenden's performance

30 Mar 2003

Dich Advocaat has defended the performance of Chelsea winger Boudewijn Zenden after his disappointing game. Chelsea's bench-sitter was given preference over Barcelona winger Marc Overmars, who scored two goals for his team last Saturday but who nonetheless was dropped for Advocaat's squad. "Boudewijn Zenden is still missing a lot of match fitness and you could see that by the mistakes he made in the game," Advocaat added. The ex-Glasgow Rangers trainer did not defend his choice of Rangers player Fernando Ricksen and ex-Rangers player Van Bronckhorst who both played below par.

Holland draw 1-1 with Czech Republic

29 Mar 2003

Although Holland dominated the first half in their match against the Czech Republic, it took until the 45th minute for Holland to finally take the lead after Ruud van Nistlerooy, who had started off cold but got hotter as the match progressed, headed in a Davids cross. Before Van Nistelrooy's half-time stunner 'Oranje' created the best of the early chances, stringing together some good moves in midfield in a continuation of the motivated performances they've put on since Advocaat and Van Hanegem's arrival. Seedorf slammed a 25 meter free-kick against the post and Van Nistelrooy (13th) and Van Bommel (14th) saw shots saved.
In the 39th minute of the first half Ajax star Rafael van der Vaart came in to replace injured Arsenal defender Van Bronckhorst. and Holland immediately began to swing and was Van der Vaart's pass to Davids that was the
The 2nd act was a scrappier affair with less to please the eye and although Holland continued to dominate it was the Czech's who found the back of the net after Koller rounded of substitue Baros's cross.

Koller and Galasek confident in Czech team

29 Mar 2003

Czech Republic striker Jan Koller and Ajax midfielder Tomas Galasek are confident that they can repeat last month's 2-0 victory in France tonight when his side face Holland in their Euro 2004 qualifier.
Koller:"I think Holland are favorites to win but if we play like we did against France we have a chance. We have a good team and I like our style of play. Holland are very strong in midfield and attack and they also have many big stars but I don't think they work as a team like we do."

Ajax midfielder Tomas Galasek added: "The Dutch players have a lot of self-confidence and they never think about losing. But we aren't going there with the intention of losing either."

Dutch under 21's lose 0-3 to Czech Rep.

29 Mar 2003

Holland were given a warning for tonight's match against the Czech Republic as their under-21 team were treated to a 0-3 shock home defeat by the Czech Republic's youth squad. Oranje were put under pressure from the very first minute of the match and it was no surprise when David Kobylikd in the 17th minute. 4 minutes into the second half Oranje's chances of a good result were dented when V�clav Sverkos, playing his first match for the Czech Republic, netted for the 0-2. For the rest of the second half the visitors were able to play with Holland's youth squad and in spite of having Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder in their midst, the Dutch were not able to produce any fireworks. In the 65th minute Mario Licka's netted for the final 0-3 score-line ending Holland's hopes of reaching the Euro 2004 for youth teams.

Czech match double centenary for Oranje

27 Mar 2003

Barcelona and Holland defender Frank de Boer who is currently Holland's most capped player ever, will become the first Dutchman to play 100 matches for Holland if he indeed is selected to play against the Czech Republic next Saturday. In an interview in the Dutch national newspaper De Telegraaf De Boer said: "It has to do with luck, but it is also to do with quality. I have always played for every single coach, which shows my appearance is neverfor discussion." He also indicated that he will play another 15 matches for Oranje, but would not be available for the world cup in 2006 saying : "I assume I will play another 15 internationals or so, before it is time for me to say goodbye to the Oranje. As an international you always work towards your next big tournament. After 2004 we have the 2006 World Cup, but that is too far away. I will be 34 in 2004, so the European championships in Portugal will be my last performance in an Orange shirt."

Saturday's match against the Czech Republic will also be Holland's 100th match in the Rotterdam Kuip.

Van der Meyde pulls out of Dutch squad

27 Mar 2003

Winger Andy van der Meyde has been forced to withdraw from the Dutch national team due to an injury. Although the Ajax forward attended the training camp at Noordwijk, Holland's medical staff have diagnosed that Van der Meyde has a injury to his right upper leg and have informed coach Dick Advocaat that he is unavailable for the match against the Czech Republic on Saturday and Moldavia on Wednesday. Barcelona winger Marc Overmars who was surprisingly dropped by Advocaat, will not be called up to replace Zenden after the Dutch trainer stated that he was not impressed with Overmars's performance last weekend when he scored two goals in Barcelona's 6-1 thrashing of Racing Santander

Moldavia - Holland in jeopardy

26 Mar 2003

Holland's European 2004 qualification match against Moldavia on Wednesday evening is in jeopardy of taking place. Due to the political situation in Moldavia both the government as well as the Moldavian F.A. believe that it would be better to move the match from Tiraspol to the Moldavian capital city , Chisinau. Revolting Transdnjestri� separatists are currently causing havoc in the area as they battle for independence against Moldavia's national guard. However, by moving the match to Chisinau, Moldavia are confronted with having to find enough funds to quickly renovate the stadium before Wednesday's match as the Stadium does not meet the UEFA standards that are required for international matches.

Overmars dumbfounded at being dropped

26 Mar 2003

Marc Overmars is dumbfounded that he has not received an invitation for Holland's qualifying matches against the Czech Republic on Saturday and Moldavia on Wednesday. Although the Barcelona winger has regained his form, scoring two goals last Saturday in his teams 6-1 thrashing of Racing Santander Dutch coach Dick Advocaat has given preferance to Chelsea bench-sitter Boudewijn Zenden. This is the first time that Overmars has not been selected for the Dutch national team since his first appearance in 1990. Overmars was unwilling to comment on the situation "I think it's better that I don't give a reation"

Holland-Czech Republic - Moldova-Holland

24 Mar 2003

Holland continue their qualification campaign for the 2004 European championships with a home clash against the Czech Republic on the 29th of March and an away match to Moldova on the 2nd of April.. With arguably one of the most talented squads in World football Holland is still reeling from the fact that they failed to qualify for last summers World Cup. Consequently the nation is crying out for their abundantly talented players to make amends and comfortably reach these championships in Portugal. With this in mind former Rangers boss Advocaat and co-trainer Willem van Hanegem are aware that points must not be dropped. Since taking over the reigns from Louis van Gaal, Advocaat and van Hanegem have molded Holland back into a force that has not last since the two trainers took charge.
The game against the Czech republic is of crucial importance as both Holland and the Czech Republic have taken maximum points from theirng two rounds of matches in qualifying Group 3. The match is to be played at Feyenoord's De Kuip stadium and captain Frank de Boer will earn his 100th cap, assuming he is selected.
After the match Holland will be flying off to Moldova whom they face on Wednesday. This game should not give Holland all too many problems.

Van der Vaart back in Oranje squad

25 Mar 2003

After After Ajax's 2-0 defeat at PSV , trainer Ronald Koeman, wanted to know where his strike-force had been for the full 90 minutes. "We were powerless up front," he grumbled. "Andy van der Meyde and Rafael van der Vaart were invisible for the entire match." In spite of being invisible both players have been recalled by Holland for Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifying match against the Czech Republic. Another surprise in Dick Advocaat's squad is the return of PSV defender Andre Ooijer. PSV Goalie Ronald Waterreus is set to continue in goal in place of Van der Sar who also missed the Argentina match and has been out of action since December with a foot injury.

Gullit appointed trainer Dutch under 21's

20 Mar 2003

Ex-Dutch international Ruud Gullit has accepted an offer to train Holland's under 21 youth team. Gullit has signed a contract keeping him with " Oranjetje" up until the youth world championships that are to be held in Holland in 2005. Gullit who previously played for Feyenoord, PSV, AC Milan and Chelsea before becoming trainer of Chelsea and Newcastle is currently working for Dutch TV as sports commentator. Speaking on Dutch TV show Studio Sport, Gullit said:
"Yes, it's correct I have been asked to become coach of the Under-20s and I have said yes. I don't know how you know this, by the way, because I was told to keep my mouth shut." adding: "I'm looking forward to working with these great players. If you see Ajax and their youngsters, we have a bright future."

No fight between Davids and Van Bommel

25 Feb 2003

Holland's national team coach Dick Advocaat, is becoming more and more infuriated at all the media speculations surrounding a trivial difference of opinion between the midfielders Marc van Bommel (PSV) and Edgar Davids (Juventus). Davids and van Bommel are supposed to have had a small difference of opinion in the dressing room after Holland's 3-0 European qualification away win over Austria last year. Since then, the press has blown up the story and if one is to believe all the paparazzi accounts that are floating around then the two are supposed to have punched, bitten, clawed and karate chopped one another until both players were black and blue.
Advocaat stated this weekend in the media that he suspected that some of the stories had emerged out of the PSV camp. PSV in turn were livid when hearing their ex-trainers suspicions. Whatever the case may be Advocaat has stated that there was no argument after the match, just a heated discussion between the two in question. Advocaat also stated that he welcomed such discussions between players.

Advocaat angry at Sir Alex Ferguson

13 Feb 2003

After last night's 1-0 home win over Argentina Dutch coach Dick Advocaat stated in the Dutch media last that he would no longer heed to Sir Alex Ferguson's requests to spare Ruud van Nistelrooy but will instead put Holland's interests first, stating that Sir Alex Ferguson had not been fare. In the light of Manchester United FA Cup clash with Arsenal this Saturday, United's boss requested Advocaat not to use van Nistelrooy for more than 45 minutes. Advocaat agreed but was later extremely irritated when United's Argentinian defender Veron was allowed to play for far longer. "I was curious before the match to see whether Veron would also only play for one half and he actually played for a lot longer. This isn't working. Veron also plays for Manchester United and is just as busy as van Nistelrooy. For the moment, I won't listen to Ferguson anymore. If he plays well next time, I will not change him."

Holland beat Argentina 1-0

13 Feb 2003

Holland continued their good spell under new trainers Dick Advocaat and Willem van Hanegem with their seventh consecutive win. This time South American giants Argentina were treated to a 1-0 via a beautiful 87th minute goal from Arsenal midfielder, Giovanni Van Bronkhorst. Holland began well and were close tong in the 4th minute of the game after Clarence Seedorf received a deep ball from Frank de Boer who then crossed to Patrick Kluivert forcing Pablo Cavellero into a fine save. Three minutes later Gustavo Lopez came close to scoring for Argentina but saw his shot saved by Ronald Waterreus who was surprisingly chosen above Real Socieadad goalie Sander Westerveld.
In the 66th minute of the game Kluivert should have nodded in a Fernando Ricksen cross but his close range header was saved by Cavallero. A few minutes later substitute Marcelo Gallardo lobbed a free kick a couple inches wide off target. With just four minutes remaining on the clock van Bronkhorst received a long pass from Seedorf. Although far to far from goal van Bronkhorst decided to have a shot and let rip a stunning left-footer that sailed past Cavellero and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. Boudewijn Zenden came close to adding an injury time goal to the score-line but saw his attempt saved by Cavallero at the near post.

Preview Holland - Argentina

12 Feb 2003

Dick Advocaat's oranje, meet South American giants Argentina tonight in a bid to hold onto their unbeaten record since he took over the squad from Louis van Gaal who resigned after failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Matches between Holland and Argentina have usually been something special and tonight's meeting will hopefully be another entertaining experience. The Dutch are without a number of first team players but are nonetheless able to field a representative team and with the home advantage are slight favorites to win this evenings confrontation. With Edwin van de Sar still out with an injury, Sander Westerveld looks set to be in goal tonight. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has asked coach Dick Advocaat to spare van Nistelrooy as much as possible so a Kluivert-Makaay up-front combination could well be enforced. Slight injuries to Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids and Glasgow Rangers midfielder Ronald de Boer are the only other worries for Dick Advocaat.

Westeveld back in 'Oranje'

06 Feb 2003

As FootballNL suggested a few weeks ago Sander Westerveld has been selected to replace the injured Fulham goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar for Holland's friendly clash against Argentina on February 12 in the Amsterdam Arena.. Former Westerveld has been on form all season for his Spanish Primera Liga club Real Sociedad and has recently saved a number of vital penalties including last month's penalty-save during their top-of-the-table 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid. Holland coach Dick Advocaat stated: 'It's sad for Edwin van der Sar that he is injured but these unlucky moments will give other players the opportunity to show their skills during the training camp and match.''>

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Ronald Waterreus (PSV), Sander Westerveld (Real Sociedad).

Defenders: Frank de Boer (Barcelona), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Arsenal), Michael Reiziger (Barcelona), Fernando Ricksen (Glasgow Rangers), Jaap Stam (Lazio Roma).

Midfielders: Mark van Bommel (PSV), Paul Bosvelt (Feyenoord), Philip Cocu (Barcelona), Edgar Davids (Juventus), Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan), Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona).

Forwards: Ronald de Boer (Glasgow Rangers), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea), Pierre Van Hooijdonk (Feyenoord), Roy Makaay (Deportivo la Coruna), Andy van der Meyde (Ajax), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Boudewijn Zenden (Chelsea).

Talan ends career

23 Dec 2002

Heerenveen player Jeffrey Talan has been forced to put an immediate end to his career due to a chronic knee injury. The former Dutch international, whose contract runs out in the summer of 2004, has been offered a job with Heerenveen's technical staff. Before joining Heerenveen in 1995, Talan played for Den Haag. Talan was called up 8 times for the Dutch national team, "Oranje".

Holland to stage World Cup Under 21's

18 Dec 2002

FIFA has chosen Holland to stage the 2005 World Cup for Under 21s. The matches will be held in stadiums that were not used during Holland's staging of EURO 2000 and will be allocated to the cities with the best facilities. 24 teams will participate in the tournament that is to take place between 24th May - 11th June. As hosts, Holland automatically qualified for the tournament.

Van Hanegem says no to Irish

18 Dec 2002

Holland's assistant trainer Willem van Hanegem has declined an offer to become coach of the Irish Republic's team. Van Hanegem, who was also recently approached by the Chinese FA to look after their national team, stated in Dutch daily newspaper "De Algemeen Dagblad" that he felt committed to help guide Holland to Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Kluivert now 2nd best Oranje topscorer

06 Dec 2002

Patrick Kluivert has passed Faas Wilkes on the list of Oranje's all-time top-scorers with his goal for Holland against Germany in the recent friendly. The Barcelona striker was 'awarded' the goal on Thursday by the Dutch FA (KNVB) that had originally been called an own-goal by Marko Rehmer. Kluivert's international tally now stands at 36, just one behind Dennis Bergkamp, who broke Wilkes long standing record in 1998 in the World Cup clash against Argentina in France. Bergkamp took 79 international apperanaces to reach his total while Wilkes needed only 38 and Kluivert has so far played 64 duels for Oranje.

Holland play friendly against Argentina

29 Nov 2002

The Dutch national team, Oranje, will play a friendly against Argentina on February 12th. The match replaces the friendly against Italy after the Dutch and Italian FAs failed to agree on terms for the match originally planned. The match is part of Oranje's preparations for their next EURO 2004 qualifier against the Czech Republic at the end of March. Holland have faced the South American giants six times before in 3 friendlies and 3 meetings in the closing stages of the World Cup, Oranje winning 3 times, drawing twice and losing once in the 1978 World Cup final in Argentina (3-1 after extra-time).

Oranje beat Germany 1-3

20 Nov 2002

Theng 20 minutes were tentative ones for Oranje who looked unsure of themselves and their tasks. They hardly ventured deep into German territory, let alone creating goal-scoring opportunities but they finally started to penetrate the home defence and went ahead in the 22nd when an Edgar Davids freekick disappeared past Oliver Kahn into goal and was awarded to Patrick Kluivert, though in the playback it didn't look as if he'd actually got a touch in. It raised the temperature, increased the tempo of the match (and its watchability) with the result that 12 minutes later an incredibly unmarked Bobic headed in the equalizer.
Within 3 minutes of the 2nd act kicking-off Germany broke through into the penalty area but Zenden stopped Bobic from putting away his 2nd goal. A couple of minutes later Van der Vaart (who'd come on for Cocu) set-up Van Nistelrooy (replacing Kluivert) with a beauty of anng but his attempt met Oliver Kahn. The play flowed backwards and forwards for the next 20 minutes with little to choose between the two teams. In the 69th Van der Vaart crossed in front of goal for Hasselbaink to cleanly fire home for the 1-2. Germany's response was to put the Dutch under plenty of pressure for the next few minutes. In the 79th Seedorf crossed for Van Nistelrooy to score the 3rd in a great piece of attacking football. Oranje hung on despite increasing German pressure to take home a more than welcome away win against their arch-rivals!

Germany - Holland ... a Preview

19 Nov 2002

Wednesday's match is not just any old international - it's the classic duel between arch-rivals Holland and Germany! The fact that the AufSchalke stadium sold out all 600,00 tickets, within hours of them going on sale, says it all! Holland have only managed to beat Germany on their 'home-ground' 4 times and of the 34 meetings Oranje have won 9, lost 13 and drawn 12 matches, in which Germany have scored 68 goals and Holland 54!
The last meeting was a friendly back in 2000 when goals by Patrick Kluivert and Boudewijn Zenden gave a superior football-playing Oranje a 2-1 win. The perennial rivalry between the two countries reached its peak in the World Cup of 1974 when 'Die Mannschaft' stole the cup from under Holland's nose in a 2-1 victory. Revenge came during the European championships in 1988 when Oranje beat Germany 2-1 in the semi-final with their last classic lineup including Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Ronald Koeman. Two years later they met again in the World Cup in Italy where the infamous 'spitting-incident' between Rudi V�ller, the current national coach, and Frank Rijkaard (Oranje's former coach) overshadowed Germany's 2-1 win!
Giovanni van Bronckhorst makes a welcome return to international duty after months of being sidelined by injury. The Arsenal midfielder, who returned to play for 'The Gunners' only two weeks ago against Sunderland, has so far picked up 26 caps for Holland, scoring twice.
V�ller has plenty of injury problems and misses Christian Ziege, Dietmar Hamann, Christoph Metzelder, Carsten Jancker and Carsten Ramelow while Christian W�rns is sitting out a suspension and striker Miroslav Klose is hopelessly out-of-form. The Germans have put in some particularly unimpressive performances in recent matches against lowly Bosnia Herzegovina (1-1) and the Farao Islands (2-1) which they will be looking to improve on at home in front of their fans against their arch-enemies.

Jong Oranje outclassed by Germans 4-1

20 Nov 2002

Jong Oranje were outclassed by a highly motivated German youth team last night, reflected in the 4-1 scoreline. Under the guidance of former international J�rgen Kohler the home team were 2-0 up within 15 minutes. VfB Stuttgart's Kevin Kuranyi harassed the Dutch defence in theng phase of the game and was rewarded for his efforts with two goals in the 12th and 16th minutes. Giuseppe Gemiti punished some weak defending with the 3rd goal in the 39th. Arjen Robben immediately pulled one back in the 40th, rounding off a typical dribble to shoot home. German captain Thomas Hitzlsperger scored the best goal of the match in injury-time of theng half, curling in the ball from 25 metres. As if things weren't already bad enough, Oranje captain Rogier Molhoek left for an early shower a minute later after picking up his 2nd yellow card. The German team took it easy in the 2nd act but Jong Oranje remained uninspired and had nothing to contribute apart from a few nice moves by Jason Oost and a less than impressive freekick by Robin van Persie.

Holland drop one place in FIFA ranking

20 Nov 2002

Holland have dropped one place in FIFA's world ranking system.

Now

Then

Country

Points

01

01

Brazil

857

02

02

France

787

03

03

Spain

779

04

04

Germany

763

05

05

                      Argentina

741

06

06

                       England

734

07

06

                        Mexico

731

08

08
Turkey
728

09

10
United States
720

10

09

                       Holland

719

11

11

                          Italy

710

12

11
Portugal
709

13

13

Denmark

705

14

14

Ireland

699

15

15

Czech Republic

694

16

15

Yugoslavia

687

17

19
Cameroon
685

18

17
Belgium
682

19

18
Paraguay
681

20

20
South-Korea
671

Oranje play Belgium twice next year

19 Nov 2002

The Dutch national team 'Oranje' will be playing two friendlies against their southern neighbours Belgium next year in the run-up to EURO 2004. The matches have been scheduled for May 29th in Holland and August 20th in Belgium. If, however, the two teams qualify for the European championships and are drawn in the same group the August friendly will be rescheduled. The Dutch FA (KNVB) are also trying to arrange a friendly in, and against, Italy for next February.

Advocaat spares Ajax and Bar�a players

19 Nov 2002

Oranje-coach Dick Advocaat has agreed with Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal and Ajax trainer Ronald Koeman that their players (Bar�a's Phillip Cocu, Patrick Kluivert and Frank de Boer plus Ajax's Rafael van der Vaart) will be fielded for a maximum of 45 minutes during tomorrow's friendly against Germany. Three days after the international Barcelona face rivals Real Madrid while Van der Vaart has only just returned from an injury picked up in Holland's EURO 2004 qualifier against Belarus.

Van der Vaart back in Oranje

15 Nov 2002

Ajax's Rafael van der Vaart is back in the squad for next week's friendly against Germany after proving to coach Dick Advocaat that he's in top form again since recovering from a knee injury. He's joined by Paul Bosvelt, Andy van der Meyde and Kevin Hofland who replace Pierre van Hooijdonk, George Boateng and Wilfred Bouma from the squad chosen for the recent EURO 2004 qualifier against Austria.
Full squad:
Goal: Edwin van der Sar (Fulham), Ronald Waterreus (PSV).
Defence: Kevin Hofland, Andr� Ooijer (PSV), Frank de Boer, Michael Reiziger (FC Barcelona), Fernando Ricksen (Glasgow Rangers), Jaap Stam (Lazio Roma).
Midfield: Mark van Bommel (PSV), Phillip Cocu (FC Barcelona), Edgar Davids (Juventus), Paul Bosvelt (Feyenoord), Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan).
Forwards: Ronald de Boer (Glasgow Rangers), Patrick Kluivert (FC Barcelona), Jerrel Hasselbaink, Boudewijn Zenden (Chelsea), Andy van der Meyde (Ajax), Roy Makaay (Deportivo La Coru�a), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United).

De Jong & Boulahrouz get Jong Oranje call

14 Nov 2002

Ajax's Nigel de Jong and RKC's Khalid Boulahrouz have both received their first call-up for Holland's Jong Oranje Olympic squad. Coach Wim Koevermans has selected the young defenders for the coming friendly against Germany's youth team next Tuesday. RKC Waalwijk are supplying the most players (4 in total) while David Mendes da Silva (Sparta), Civard Sprockel (Excelsior) and Melvin Fleur (RBC Roosendaal) have been left out compared to the squad selected for the last match Jong Oranje played in October against the Austrian youth team.
The full squad is:
Goal: Gino Coutinho (PSV), Guido Budziak (TOP Oss)
Defence: J�rgen Colin (NAC), Khalid Boulahrouz (RKC), Nigel de Jong (Ajax), Glenn Loovens (Feyenoord), Alje Schut (FC Utrecht), Michael Dingsdag (Vitesse)
Midfield: Rogier Molhoek (RKC), Said Boutahar (Excelsior), Youssouf Hersi (NEC), Robin van Persie (Feyenoord), Nicky Hofs (Vitesse)
Forwards: Arjen Robben (PSV), Eddy Putter (RKC), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (PSV), Santi Kolk (Heerenveen) and Jason Oost (RKC).

Oranje beat Austria 0-3

16 Oct 2002

Oranje had an easy 0-3 win against Austria in Vienna with a major role for 'prodigal son' Clarence Seedorf who scored theng goal. The midfielder continued the form he's been showing at AC Milan, his powerful runs causing all kinds of problems for the Austrian defence. His 15th minute goal was a fine example of the kind of confidence that has begun to reemerge in the Dutch national team, Patrick Kluivert's back-heel pass setting up Seedorf with a not-to-be-missed opportunity. "Football is easy and you should never make it difficult," exclaimed a grinning Kluivert after the match. Only five minutes later Seedorf's fine freekick hit the crossbar but Philip Cocu was in the right place at the right time to slot home the rebound. Roy Makaay took care of the 3rd in the 27th minute to put Oranje top of Group 3 with 6 points from 3 matches, just ahead of the Czech Republic on goal-difference. Oranje have not conceded a goal in their last 5 matches and if they continue their current form against Germany in their November 27th friendly can equal the record set in 1987 of 6 games without a goal-against!

Van Hooijdonk plays against Austria

16 Oct 2002

Oranje coach Dick Advocaat will be able to field Pierre van Hooijdonk in tonight's EURO 2004 qualifier against Austria. The Feyenoord striker has been troubled with an ankle injury but it's rapidly improving and he can't imagine at least an appearance as substitute tonight. Although with two important matches against Vitesse and Dynamo Kiev in the next seven days he won't be taking any unnecessary risks. Advocaat is also tired of all the exaggerated press Oranje have been getting, naming them as clear favourites to win. "There's been exaggeration of our chances in the media, although we need to win of course. If we play as focussed as we did against Belarus I'm confident we'll succeed."
Probable lineup: Edwin van der Sar, Fernando Ricksen, Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer en Boudewijn Zenden, Clarence Seedorf, Mark van Bommel, Phillip Cocu, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert and Roy Makaay.

Jong Oranje lose to Austria

16 Oct 2002

The Dutch Under 21s shared the points in their European Championship qualifier against Austria last night, Wim Koevermans' team drawing 1-1 in the Wald stadium, Pasching. Jong Oranje began well enough, RKC's Eddy Putter scoring in the 15th minute from a Youssouf Hersi pass. The 2nd half was a different story, Austria missing a penalty and losing two players through red cards before Parapatits equalized for the home team in the 72nd. Holland also saw a player go for an early shower when Civard Sprockel picked up his 2nd yellow card in the 78th. Holland lost theirng match against Belarus and are now 4th in their group.

Makaay starts against Austria

15 Oct 2002

Roy Makaay will be in the starting lineup tomorrow for Oranje as the Dutch national team face Austria in their EURO 2004 qualifier. After a niggling hamstring injury forced Ruud van Nistelrooy to drop out it made the way free for the Deportivo La Coru�a striker. The last major question for coach Dick Advocaat remains who will take up the right-half position - Ronald de Boer, Clarence Seedorf or Fernando Ricksen? It looks most likely that AC Milan midfielder Seedorf will get the job for tomorrow's match!

Van Nistelrooy drops out of Austria match

14 Oct 2002

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been forced to leave the Oranje training camp due to the hamstring injury which has continued to bother him since he turned up for international duty. He'll miss Wednesday's EURO 2004 qualifier against Austria but goo dnes is that Pierre van Hooijdonk's injury is not serious enough to force him to drop out.

Austria - Oranje sold-out

12 Oct 2002

Oranje will face Austria for their EURO 2004 qualifier on Wednesday in a sold-out Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna. All 48,000 seats will be occupied and, despite the national team's lack of success so far in the tournament, everyone's looking forward to the match. If Austria put on a good performance tonight against Belarus Oranje could have to contend with a fanatical support for the home team.

Van Nistelrooy decides Monday

12 Oct 2002

Ruud van Nistelrooy will decide on Monday whether he will play for Oranje on Tuesday against Austria in their EURO 2004 qualifier. The Manchester United striker is still hampered by a hamstring injury, "It's getting better but not good enough yet to risk playing. The way it feels now I think I'll stay at home. I want to take part but also don't want to force anything which would delay my return to fitness."

Clubs want realistic compensation

12 Oct 2002

Ajax's Arie van Eijden has been talking to Dutch daily 'Algemeen Dagblad' about Dutch clubs' desire to see a German-style financial compensation when internationals are injured and become unavailable for club-duty. The Ajax director was referring to a recent payment made by the German FA to Bayern M�nchen after Sebastian Deisler was injured during an international. Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV want the Dutch FA (KNVB) to review its system of compensation which is a standard insurance payment of around �3,000 Euros. Van Eijden said, "Although the amount we receive has been adjusted it still doesn't come anywhere what it costs us to miss a player when he's injured playing an interntaionl." He should know as Ajax are still missing Rafael van der Vaart who was injured in Oranje's recent match against Belarus. KNVB director Henk Kesler is not unsympathetic but the problem remains of where to get the money to meet the clubs' request!

Oranje players get performance-bonusses

12 Oct 2002

The players of the Dutch national team, Oranje, are to be paid performance-related bonusses for their international appearances during the EURO 2004 qualification matches. The Dutch FA (KNVB) is keeping tight-lipped about the actual amount of money involved. Seems that playing for your country is enough motivation to actually do your best! What do you think?

Oranje wait patiently for EURO 2004 clash

11 Oct 2002

While all other Group 3 countries are playing their EURO 2004 qualifiers this Saturday Oranje will be playing their next match against Austria on Wednesday. It's an arrangement that suits coach Dick Advocaat well as it gives strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Pierre van Hooijdonk some more time to recover from slight injuries they've picked up. "Sunday is decision-time and if either player, or any other for that matter, is going to drop out I'll still be able to take counter-measures in time for Wednesday's match. These few extra days will hopefully give Van Hooijdonk and Van Nistelrooy enough time on the treatment table to recover in time for the match." Advocaat is working with a group of 19 players in the Oranje training camp in Noordwijk while he'll only be able to enter 18 for the match.

Olympic Oranje goes ahead on Tuesday

10 Oct 2002

The Austrian FA have turned down the Dutch FA's (KNVB) request to have next Tuesday's match between Holland's Olympic team and their Austrian counterparts postponed. The request was made due to the funeral of Prins Claus in Holland on the 15th but there are practical problems in having the match moved to the following day, even apart from the fact that all tickets have already been sold and all local schools have adjusted their schedules to fit in with the the match. As a sign of respect a minute's silence will proceed the match and all flags will be at halfmast.

KNVB ask Austrian FA for postponement

09 Oct 2002

The Dutch FA (KNVB) have asked their Austrian collegaues to postpone the match that Holland's Olympic team is scheduled to play next Tuesday due to the fact that the funeral of Prins Claus will be taking place in Delft. The EURO 2004 qualifier between Oranje and Austria will take place as planned on Wednesday, October 16th in Vienna.

Ronald de Boer back in Oranje

07 Oct 2002

Dick Advocaat has recalled Ronald de Boer for the coming EURO 2004 qualifier against Austria in a move which puts an end to the stories claiming there was a conflict between the two. Clarence Seedorf, in his first appearance under Advocaat, and George Boateng have also been called-up as the Dutch coach tries to fill the gaps left by the absence of Kevin Hofland, Paul Bosvelt and Patrick Paauwe. Andy van der Meyde is currently off-form and has asked to be excused while he tries to recapture his form at Ajax before making a return to the international stage. The squad is twenty-strong which means that an unlucky two players will have to watch from the stands. It's also not certain if the match will actually go ahead due to the death of Holland's Prins Claus whose state funeral is planned for the same day as the match itself.

Player Caps Goals

1   Frank de Boer 96 12

2   Van der Sar 69

3   Ronald de Boer 65 13

4   Cocu 63 5

5   Kluivert 62 35

6   Seedorf 59 10

7   Reiziger 56 1

8   Davids 47 6

9   Stam 46 3

10   Zenden 38 6

11   Van Hooijdonk 30 10

12   Hasselbaink 21 8

13   Van Nistelrooy 20 8

14   Makaay 19 1

15   Van Bommel 14 4

16   Ooijer 7

17   Bouma 6

18   Ricksen 6

19   Waterreus 3

20   Boateng 2

Jason Oost debuts for Jong Oranje

08 Oct 2002

Jason Oost's fine performances with RKC have earned him his first call-up for Jong Oranje. The 19 year-old striker has been called up by coach Wim Koevermans for the 2nd European qualifier in and against Austria next Tuesday. Romano Denneboom has been left out while Jordi Hoogstrate and Maarten Stekelenburg are both injured and unavailable.

Van Ede new Under 19s keepers-trainer

08 Oct 2002

Jan-Willem van Ede is the new Oranje Under 19s keepers-trainer. The former Utrecht, PSV, HFC Haarlem, NAC and Twente goalie, who played 451 professional matches in his career, will be combining the new job with his current work as keepers-trainer at Heracles Almelo. The Under 19s are travelling to Riga next Wednesday to play European qualifiers against Lithuania, Turkey and Finland.

Holland - Austria to be postponed?

07 Oct 2002

Next week's EURO 2004 qualifier between Holland and Austria may not take place as it coincides with the official state funeral of Prins Claus who died yesterday. The match is due to take place in Vienna on October 16th but the Dutch FA (KNVB) will be taking a decision today on whether or not it will actually go ahead.

Bosvelt misses Oranje v Austria?

07 Oct 2002

Paul Bosvelt may have to pull out of Oranje's EURO 2004 qualifier against Austria after picking up a muscle strain in yesterday's classic duel with Ajax. He'll be examined in hospital today to see what the extent of the damage is. At the moment it's uncertain if the match itself will go ahead as planned on October 16th due to the death yesterday evening of Prins Claus, husband to Holland's Queen Beatrix. The state funeral may well take place on the same evening as the match!

Germany - Holland Nov. 20th sold out!

02 Oct 2002

The friendly between Oranje and Germany planned for November 20th has already sold out, seven weeks before kickoff! The match will take place in the 'Arena auf Schalke', home to Bundesliga side Schalke '04 which has a capacity of 52,000.

Holland rise to 12th in FIFA rankings

18 Sep 2002

Now	Then	Country	Points
1	(1)	Brazil	858
2	(3)	Spain	774
	(4)	France	774
4	(5)	Germany	770
5	(2)	Argentina	760
6	(6)	Mexico	730
7	(11)	Turkey	721
8	(9)	United States	720
9	(7)	England	718
10	(9)	Italy	717
11	(7)	Portugal	712
12	(14)	Holland	708
13	(12)	Denmark	703
14	(13)	Ireland	701
15	(17)	Cameroon	682
16	(19)	Paraguay	680
18	(15)	Colombia	675
17	(21)	Czech Republic	676
19	(18)	Belgium	672
	(15)	Yugoslavia	672
21	(22)	South-Korea	667
22	(20)	Sweden	662
23	(24)	Uruguay	655
25	(25)	Costa Rica	651
24	(30)	Russia	652
	(27)	Romania	651
27	(23)	Japan	648
28	(34)	Slovenia	642
	(28)	Nigeria	641
29	(26)	Croatia	641

Holland beat Belarus 3 - 0

07 Sep 2002

After a series of less-than-satisfying friendlies earlier this year, and the very-real disappointment of missing the World Cup, Oranje's first real test on the road to Portugal in 2004 got underway tonight. Belarus looked to be anything but an easy adversary in the early part of the match, tough in the man-to-mans and throwing up a defensive wall as soon as Oranje attacked. Holland had a rather ragged start and it proved difficult for the Dutch national team to make much of an impression on the ground or in the air. Their bestng goal-scoring opportunity came after 20 minutes when Edgar Davids rushed into the box to pick up a Kluivert header, but his shot went just over. The Juventus midfielder seemed to be the element that Holland had been missing so badly, his restless energy providing the motor that pushed the team forward. In the 27th Kluivert picked up a Cocu pass on the edge of the box and laid it back to Van Bommel whose shot went over. Oranje finally went ahead with a cracking 16 metre Davids shot in the 35th and two minutes later Kluivert headed in a 2nd. It gave Holland some confidence as they piled on some extra pressure, Davids letting fly again with a cracking shot only two minutes later. Oranje closed the 1st half looking a good deal more impressive than in recent matches and with a comfortable lead.
The Dutch dominated theng quarter of an hour of the 2nd half while the Belarussians couldn't get out of their own half. Van Nistelrooy was unable to impress during the course of the match, showing he's still lacking the sharpness he displayed last season for Manchester United. Later in the half Kluivert headed the ball down to him in front of goal, normally speaking a 'can't-miss' situation but 'Van the Man' failed to slam it into the net. Hasselbaink and Van der Vaart were brought on after 70 minutes to replace the ineffective Van Nistelrooy and the very effective Davids. The change had an almost immediate desired effect when Van der Vaart served up Kluivert with a pass that the Barcelona striker fed through to Hasselbaink who notched up his 8th international goal in 21 matches for the 3-0. Unfortunately, Van der Vaart's appearance was a short one as a daring solo-run ended in a foul on the Ajax-talent which put him back on the bench, to be replaced by Reiziger. Romaschenko was sent-off for a foul on Hasselbaink which earned him his 2nd yellow card in the 85th. Holland's squad and Oranje-coach Dick Advocaat will be happy with the result which sees them top of group C.

Jong Oranje lose to Belarus

07 Sep 2002

Jong Oranje have lost their first qualifying match for the European Championships next year with a 0-1 defeat last night against the Belarussian Olympic team in the Nijmegen Goffert stadium. The young Dutch team got off to a good start and created a few goal-scoring-opportunities in theng 10 to 15 minutes but failed to convert them into lucrative and essential 'goals-in-the-back-of-the-net'. Ajax's young keeper Maarten Stekelenburg even had to pull off a few smart saves to keep the score-board clean as the Belarussian youngsters countered. After the break the match looked to be headed for a goalless draw as the Dutch attacks grew less and less in number. Stekelenburg misjudged a long, low free-kick and Roebnenka pounced on the rebound to score the winner for the visitors in the 89th minute. The defeat will now make it tough for the Dutch youth team to make it all the way to the 2004 Olympic Games. They have to qualify for the European Championships first, and then end as one of the top three, in order to reach the Olympics, to be held in Athens.

Holland beat Norway 0-1

21 Aug 2002

The match got off in the brilliant sunshine of the Norwegian evening with a reportedly relaxed Oranje eager to show they were capable of making up for past disappointments. They put together their first effective-looking attack in the 7th minute but Van Nistelrooy was cunningly held back in the box from connecting with Kluivert's pass. He appealed but the ref wasn't interested. He was there again not long after to unleash a fine one-touch attempt on the end of a Van Bommel through ball but hooked the high-bounce ball over. Ricksen had to leave the pitch in the 12th minute for several minutes of treatment for a head wound which heralded a spell of nervous Dutch activity as Norway began to get into the match. A sneakily and speedily taken freekick by De Boer found Van Nistelrooy coming in to pounce but he was just short of connecting. It was immediately followed by Norway's first dangerous counter of theng half. A mistake by Reiziger, losing possession and indicative of a rather sloppy period of Dutch passing, gave Riise the chance to head off on a run into the centre of the Oranje defence but he didn't get past De Boer. Some very long Norwegian throw-ins and crosses as the home team threatened to do some damage to Dutch honour. Van der Meyde's 27th minute cross found Van Nistelrooy close to goal but he couldn't quite control it enough to do anything dangerous. The play went backwards and forwards for the next 10 minutes with Norway having the best moments and Holland ended the first half finding it a problem to really trouble the Norwegian defence.

Hasselbaink and Davids came on after the break for Van Nistelrooy and Zenden as Oranje began to look more threatening at the end of theng 15 minutes. Unfortunately they still lacked that last bit of alertness and communication in front of goal. Kluivert's best shot of the match-so-far came in the 64th minute but it was saved by goalie Grod�s. Solskj�r shot just wide for Norway in the 70th before another of the increasingly effective Oranje moves down the wings was crossed by Van der Meyde and tapped in from the rebound off Grod�s's not-so-very-safe hands by Edgar Davids for the 0-1 in the 71st. The 2nd half progressed in much more entertaining fashion than theng 45 minutes with Edgar Davids in particular harassing the Norwegian defence and connecting better with his own forwards. Van Bommel was replaced for the remaining 6 minutes by Feyenoord's Paul Bosvelt as Holland continued to push forward. As the whistle went for full-time Dick Advocaat will be reasonably pleased with a performance that was getting better and better, with a few nice chances if not the goals that could/should have been. It wasn't exactly a performance to get excited about and there's still plenty of room for improvement!

Oranje coach fields three strikers

21 Aug 2002

Oranje coach Dick Advocaat is planning to field an attacking formation tonight against Norway including 3 strikers: Andy van der Meyde, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Boudewijn Zenden will all start the match up front with Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert positioned just behind the goal-getting trio. Tonight's lineup aganst the Norwegian team could well be the same that will face Belarus on September 7th in Oranje'sng EURO 2004 qualifier as both teams play similar styles of football, with the accent on a combination of strong defence and attacking counters. Barcelona's Philip Cocu is fielded in the left-half position in prefence to Juventus' Edgar Davids while Glasgow Rangers' Fernando Ricksen settles in at right-back, as Jaap Stam is injured, with Barcelona duo Michael Reiziger and Frank de Boer in central-midfield. If Stam is not sufficiently recovered in time for the match against Belarus, Reiziger will once more turn out as central defender. Andy van der Meyde (Ajax), who made a good impression in his debut against the United States, and Boudewijn Zenden (who's in top form at Chelsea) will be on the right and left wings respectively, leaving the strike-duo of Van Nistelrooy and Kluivert to knock 'em in!
The lineup is: Edwin van der Sar, Fernando Ricksen, Frank de Boer, Michael Reiziger, Wilfred Bouma, Mark van Bommel, Patrick Kluivert, Philip Cocu, Andy van der Meyde, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Boudewijn Zenden .

The Norwegian eleven is: Frode Grod�s, John Arne Riise, Ronny Johnsen, Henning Berg, Christer Basma,Trond Andersen, Eirik Bakke, Roar Strand, �yvind Leonhardsen, Sigurd Rushfeldt, Ole Gunnar Solskj�r.

Huntelaar gets Jong Oranje call

20 Aug 2002

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has been called up by Jong Oranje's coach Wim Koevermans for the squad which goes into training in Delden for the coming match against Belarus on September 6th. The match is both a qualifier for the 2004 European Championships and the coming Olympic Games. PSV's 19 year-old striker replaces NEC's Frank Demouge who's dropped out with an injury. Vitesse's Theo Janssen has already pulled out with a shin injury. Huntelaar is the only player in the squad who's not had any 1st team experience at club level.
The full squad is: Goal: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Gino Coutinho (PSV) and Guido Budziak (TOP Oss); Defence: J�rgen Colin (NAC), Said Bakkati (SC Heerenveen), Tim Bakens (De Graafschap), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Civard Sprockel (Feyenoord), Michael Dingsdag (Vitesse), Melvin Fleur (RBC Roosendaal), Alje Schut (FC Utrecht) and David Mendes da Silva (Sparta Rotterdam); Midfield: Jordi Hoogstrate (FC Groningen), Danny Mathijssen (Willem II), Rogier Molhoek (RKC Waalwijk), Said Boutahar (Excelsior), Nicky Hofs (Vitesse) and Youssouf Hersi (NEC); Forwards: Santi Kolk (SC Heerenveen), Jeffrey de Visscher (FC Twente), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (PSV), Eddy Putter (RKC Waalwijk), Romano Denneboom (SC Heerenveen), Arjen Robben (PSV), Riga Mustapha (Vitesse) and Robin van Persie (Feyenoord).

Van der Vaart pulls out of Oranje-Norway

19 Aug 2002

Rafael van der Vaart has had to pull out of the Oranje friendly against Norway this coming Wednesday due to a slight groin injury which he does not want to risk aggravating any further. The Ajax midfielder has contacted Holland's coach Dick Advocaat with the bad news but Advocaat will not be calling up a replacement for the match in Norway. It will be a bit of disappointment for the talented youngster who's been unable to play for his country since a knee injury put him out of action last February. He is, of course, hoping to be available for the far more importantng Euro 2002 qualifier on September 7th against Belarus.

Oranje squad ranking

19 Aug 2002

Ranking	Name	Caps	Goals
1	Frank de Boer	94	12
2	Edwin van der Sar	67
3	Philip Cocu	61	5
4	Patrick Kluivert	60	34
5	Michael Reiziger	54	1
6	Edgar Davids	45	4
7	Boudewijn Zenden	36	6
8	Pierre van Hooijdonk	30	10
9	Jerrell Hasselbaink	19	7
10	Roy Makaay	19	1
11	Ruud van Nistelrooy	18	8
12	Paul Bosvelt	13
13	Mark van Bommel	12	4
14	Andre Ooijer	7
15	Kevin Hofland	6
16	Wilred Bouma	5
17	Fernando Ricksen	4
18	Ronald Waterreus	3
19	Andy van der Meyde	1	1
20	Rafael van der Vaart	1

Oranje squad for Norway friendly

17 Aug 2002

Dick Advocaat has announced the full squad for this coming Wednesday's friendly in, and against, Norway. In contrast to the squad who travelled to the United States for the last friendly Sander Westerveld, Denny Landzaat, Victor Sikora and Jaap Stam are all missing, Lazio player Stam because he's suffering from an achilles problem.

Full squad is: Goal: Edwin van der Sar (Fulham) and Ronald Waterreus (PSV);
Defence: Frank de Boer (FC Barcelona), Wilfred Bouma (PSV), Kevin Hofland (PSV), Andr� Ooijer (PSV), Michael Reiziger (FC Barcelona) and Fernando Ricksen (Glasgow Rangers);
Midfield: Mark van Bommel (PSV), Paul Bosvelt (Feyenoord), Phillip Cocu (FC Barcelona), Edgar Davids (Juventus), Patrick Kluivert (FC Barcelona) and Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax); Forwards: Jerrel Hasselbaink (Chelsea), Pierre van Hooijdonk (Feyenoord), Roy Makaay (Deportivo La Coruna), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Boudewijn Zenden (Chelsea) and Andy van der Meyde (Ajax).

Van Persie and Janssen get Olympic callup

16 Aug 2002

Robin van Persie and Theo Janssen have been called up by coach Wim Koevermans for Holland's Olympic Eleven. The Feyenoord forward and Vitesse midfielder have both been out of action for some time with injuries. The squad will be training between August 19th and 21st in preparation for the Olympic qualifying matches.

Full squad: Goal: Maarten Stekelenbrug (Ajax), Gino Countinho (PSV) and Guido Budziak (Top Oss).
Defence: J�rgen Colin (NAC), Said Bakkati (SC Heerenveen), Tim Bakens (De Graafschap), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Civard Sprockel (Feyenoord), Michael Dingsdag (Vitesse), Melvin Fleur (RBC Roosendaal), Alje Schut (FC Utrecht) and David Mendes da Silva (Sparta Rotterdam).
Midfield: Jordi Hoogstrate (FC Groningen), Danny Mathijssen (Willem II), Theo Janssen (Vitesse), Rogier Molhoek (RKC Waalwijk), Said Boutahar (Excelsior), Nicky Hofs (Vitesse) and Youssouf Hersi (NEC).
Forwards: Santi Kolk (SC Heerenveen), Jeffrey de Visscher (FC Twente), Frank Demouge (NEC), Eddy Putter (RKC Waalwijk), Romano Denneboom (SC Heerenveen), Arjen Robben (PSV), Riga Mustapha (Vitesse) and Robin van Persie (Feyenoord).

Van der Vaart selected for Holland-Norway

15 Aug 2002

Rafael van der Vaart has been selected for Oranje's coming friendly against Norway on August 21st. Although coach Dick Advocaat has not officially announced the names of the squad to travel to Norway for the match, Ajax's website carries the news that the talented midfielder has been selected. His teammate Andy van der Meyde will also be joining him in the Oranje squad. Van der Vaart made his Oranje debut on October 6th last year in the World Cup qualifier against Andorra but his knee injury kept him out of action since. Van der Meyde made his first appearance on May 19th of this year in the friendly against the United States in Washington.

1988 Oranje eleven play charity match

15 Aug 2002

A trip down memory lane gets under way on September 4th in the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven when perhaps the most famous of recent Oranje lineups comes together for a charity match. The Dutch team that won the 1988 European Championships by beating Russsia

Holland rise one place in FIFA ranking

15 Aug 2002

Now	Then	Country	Points
1	(1)	Brazil	859
2	(2)	Argentina	781
3	(4)	Spain	775
4	(2)	France	772
5	(5)	Germany	764
6	(6)	Mexico	733
7	(7)	Portugal	728
	(8)	England	728
9	(10)	Italy	714
	(11)	United States	714
11	(12)	Turkey	707
12	(13)	Denmark	703
13	(14)	Ireland	699
14	(15)	Holland	693
15	(9)	Colombia	688
	(16)	Yugoslavia	688
17	(17)	Cameroon	682
18	(19)	Belgium	677
19	(18)	Paraguay	674
20	(20)	Sweden	673
21	(21)	Czech Republic	664
22	(22)	South-Korea	663
23	(24)	Japan	658
24	(23)	Uruguay	657
25	(26)	Costa Rica	655
26	(27)	Croatia	651
27	(25)	Romania	645
28	(29)	Nigeria	640
29	(31)	Senegal	638
30	(28)	Russia	637

Wim Koevermans new Jong Oranje coach

28 May 2002

Wim Koevermans has been appointed as Jong Oranje's new coach and the man who is charged with leading the team to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The 41 year-old trainer, who's been working for the Dutch FA (KNVB) since last year, succeeds Mark Wotte who's left to become the new trainer at Willem II. Koevermans will also look after the Dutch Under18s. The former FC Vlaardingen, Fortuna Sittard and Groningen player began his training career in 1990 as assistant at Groningen. In March 1994 he took over at the Oosterpark side from the sacked Theo Vonk. The season after that he moved to RBC Roosendaal and, via NEC, he ended up at MVV whom he left in 2000 for his KNVB job.

Westerhof to get KNVB job?

22 May 2002

Hans Westerhof is currently negotiating with the Dutch FA (KNVB) concerning a possible job with Dutch football's governing body. The 53 year-old is the most likely candidate to succeed Andries Jonker who was coordinating the so-called "Masterplan" but has left to become Louis van Gaal's assistant in Barcelona. The goal of the plan is to streamline the system of youth coaching in Holland. Besides the vacancy left by Jonker the KNVB are also looking for a replacement for Jong Oranje coach Mark Wotte who's leaving, ironically, to succeed Hans Westerhof at Willem II. KNVB-director Henk Kesler is quoted as saying that the Dutch FA are already holding talks with several candidates for the posts and hope to announce the two new men within the next 14 days.

Jong Oranje draw with Norway 1-1

14 May 2002

Jong Oranje drew 1-1 in their friendly against Norway's youth team in Sandefjord yesterday. Jong Norway took the lead 10 minutes into the 2nd half but RKC's Santi Kolk equalized 7 minutes before the final whistle. The two teams play each other again on Thursday in Horten. It's Mark Wotte's last match as coach of the Dutch youth team as he is leaving to start work as Willem II's new coach.

Oranje unimpressive in 0-2 against US

19 May 2002

Oranje got off to a good start and tested the American keeper 3 times within theng 10 minutes. The home team came back and threatened with high tempo English style attacking football, looking more often like scoring than the Dutch during theng half but Roy Makaay finally put Oranje ahead in the 45th minute. Andy van der Meyde made a good impression with intelligent hardwork. The 2nd half was more of the same in terms of the ebb and flow of action and rather less than satisfying as far as Oranje's reputation was concerned. Ok, it was a bit of a B team with Van Nistelrooy and Kluivert both out of action but, even so, this eleven lacked that last bit of extra something. A voice had been complaining for some time already with the words, "Where's Pierre van Hooijdonk?!" The Feyenoorder finally got his chance and he replaced Makaay, Sikora coming on for Zenden. Despite the fact that the US team continued to exhibit that bit more drive and edge than Holland it was Van Der Meyde who crowned his debut with a goal in the 77th, snatching the ball from an unsuspecting defender to rifle it into the roof of the net for the rather undeserving 0-2. A "professional" performance by the Dutch but not one to inspire and, if it wasn't for some excellent saves by Waterreus, the United States could have gone several goals up.

Sikora fit for Oranje friendly

19 May 2002

Vitesse's Victor Sikora has been declared fit to play in today's friendly between Holland and the United States in Boston. The forward has recovered sufficiently from his ankle injury to take a place on the bench. Dick Advocaat will field 3 strikers: Van der Meyde, in his debut, on the right wing with Zenden, back from a long absence through injury, on the left and Pierre van Hooijdonk as centre-forward.

Two new faces in Jong Oranje squad

19 May 2002

Jong Oranje coach Mark Wotte has callled up two new faces for the coming friendlies against Norway's youth team. The duo have been given a chance due to the fact that Ajax keeper Maarten Stekelenburg and Feyenoord forward Robin van Persie have dropped out. PSV's young keeper Guido Budziak replaces Stekelenburg and Twente's Ibab Muhamadu stands in for Van Persie. Groningen's Arjan Robben, Ajax's Nigel de Jong and Vitesse's Michael Jansen have already called for various reasons. The matches themselves take place on Monday in Sandefjord and in Horten on Thursday.
The squad in full is: Goal: Coutinho (PSV), Budziak (PSV). Defence: De Lange (Stormvogels/Telstar), Knol (Vitesse), Sprockel (Feyenoord), Dingsdag (Vitesse), Colin (RC Genk).
Midfield: Leuwakabessy (NEC), Boutahar (Feyenoord), Molhoek (RKC), Hersi (NAC), Seedorf (Ajax), Hoogstrate (FC Groningen).

Van der Meyde In Oranje debut tomorrow

18 May 2002

Ajax's Andy van der Meyde will make his debut for Oranje in the friendly against the United States tomorrow and is the first, and only, new face called up by Dick Advocaat and Willem van Hanegem for the national team. Advocaat has told Dutch daily newspaper the "Algemeen Dagblad" that the players who turned out against Spain and England in recent friendlies are simply the best that Holland can call on. There is nothing wrong with their motivation and they are determined to prove that Oranje are still a force to be reckoned with! The US team is a perfect opponent for the Dutch as the American side are a tough side to beat and have not lost in their last 10 matches!
The Dutch eleven will be: Waterreus, Reiziger, Stam, De Boer, Numan, Ricksen, Cocu, Davids, Van der Meyde, Van Hooijdonk and Zenden.

Bosvelt gets Oranje callup

16 May 2002

Paul Bosvelt has received a call from Oranje coach Dick Advocaat to join the squad for the coming friendly against the United States in Boston on Sunday. He's replacing Patrick Kluivert who's dropped out with a knee injury and his inclusion ends the rift between the two men that came into existence when the Feyenoorder, along with teammate Pierre van Hooijdonk, called off for March's friendly against Spain.

Kluivert calls off for Oranje v US friendly

16 May 2002

Patrick Kluivert has also called off for Oranje's trip to Boston for this coming Sunday's friendly against the United States. The Barcelona striker has picked up a knee injury which requires enforced rest for the coming 3 weeks.

Oranje beat Ajax 3-0

16 May 2002

Oranje beat an Ajax team 3-0 behind closed doors (no fans were allowed in) at Amsterdam's Olympic stadium last night as the Dutch national team prepared for their friendly against the United States on Sunday. Philip Cocu scored twice and Roy Makaay the 3rd goal for Oranje. Andy van der Meyde, in his debut for Holland, was clearly suffering from nerves and showed little of the talent he's put on show for Ajax this last season. Rafael van der Vaart played his first game in a couple of months, after two knee operations kept him on the sidelines, but had problems dealing with Edgar Davids' presence on the opposite side. He did however come closest to scoring for Ajax but his freekick hit the crossbar!

Van Nistelrooy calls off for US friendly

13 May 2002

Ruud van Nistelrooy has told Oranje coach Dick Advocaat that he will not be available to play in the coming friendly against the United States. The Manchester United striker has picked up a groin problem and had to miss the Premiership match against Charlon Athletic last Saturday. Advocaat has so far not called up a replacement striker for the squad who travel on Thursday to face the US in Boston on Sunday.

Venues Oranje Euro 2004 qualifiers

25 Apr 2002

Oranje play their first qualifying match for EK 2004 on September 7th in Eindhoven when they face Belarus, kickoff 20:30 uur. Their 2nd match is against Austria on October 16th in the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna. The 3rd match is against the Czech Republic and takes place in the Rotterdam Kuip on March 29th, 2003, kickoff 20:30. Where the following home matches against Austria (September 6th, 2003) and Moldova (October 11th, 2003) will be played is yet to be announced.

Oranje - Germany friendlies announced

16 Apr 2002

Holland and Germany may be 'sworn enemies' when they face each other on pitch but nonetheless regularly play friendlies and two new meetings have been announced. Oranje travel to Germany for the first match on November 20th this year while a return is booked for February 10th 2004!

Five new faces in Jong Oranje

13 Apr 2002

Coach Mark Wotte has called up 5 new faces for Jong Oranje's coming friendly against Italy on April 17th. Robin van Persie, Civard Sprockel (both Feyenoord), Nigel de Jong (Ajax), Dominggus Lim-Duan (Zwolle) and Jhon van Beukering (Vitesse) have all been invited to make their first appearances for their country. The match is part of the team's preparations for the European Championships in 2004 where they face the Czech Republic, Austria, Belarus and Moldavia. Success in the tournament can earn them a place at the Olmypic Games in Athens.
Full squad is: Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax) and Gino Coutinho (PSV); Defenders: Jurgen Colin (RC Genk), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Jeffrey Leiwakabessy (NEC), Nigel de Jong (Ajax) and Civard Sprockel (Feyenoord); midfielders: Ferry Bodde (ADO Den Haag), Rogier Molhoek (RKC Waalwijk), Youssouf Hersi (NAC), Stefano Seedorf (Ajax) and Said Boutahar (Feyenoord); Forwards: Riga Mustapha (Vitesse), Dominggus Lim-Duan (Zwolle), Jhon van Beukering (Vitesse), Arjen Robben (Groningen), Robin van Persie (Feyenoord) and Eddy Putter (RKC Waalwijk).

Fixtures Oranje Euro 2004

29 Mar 2002

FIFA have finally announced the fixtures schedule in Holland's group for Euro 2004 :
7/8 September: Holland � White Russia
15/16 October: Austria � Holland
29/30 March: Holland � Czech Republic
1/2 April: Moldovia � Holland
7/8 June: White Russia � Holland
6/7 September: Holland � Austria
9/10 September: Czech Republic� Holland
11/12 October: Holland � Moldovia

Holland beat Spain

27 Mar 2002

Dick Advocaat got off to a good start as new coach of the national team - Holland comfortably beat Spain 1 - 0 in the Rotterdam "Kuip". Although Spain are one of favourites to win this summer's World Cup, they were unable to impress, failing to penetrate Holland's well organized defence. Roy Makaay and Marc Overmars put on impressive performances and PSV's much sought after midfielder Mark van Bommel display his talents for all the scouts to see. Barcelona's Frank de Boer headed in the one and only goal of the match in the 32 minute of the game.

Advovaat livid with Van Hooijdonk & Bosvelt

27 Mar 2002

It looks as if we've perhaps seen the last appearances of 'Flying Dutchman' Pierre Van Hooijdonk and teammate Paul Bosvelt in the Dutch national team. Dick Advocaat is angry with both players after they decided to put their club's interests before turning out for Oranje tonight in the friendly against Spain. Holland's new coach stated at a press conference in Noordwijk, that he will not be inclined to give them a repeat call in the near future. Although he understands the importance of the league at this point in the season, and the loyalty shown towards clubs by players, Advocaat points to the example shown by four other Dutch internationals from Barcelona who played against Valladolid at the weekend and had to travel back to Holland in order to play for 'Queen and Country'.

Absentee list friendly Spain

26 Mar 2002

Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Wilfred Bouma, Kevin Hofland (PSV) Edgar Davids (Juventus) and (Paul Bosvelt) are unable to play in Holland's friendly against Spain on Wednesday. Whilst van Nistelrooy and Bouma are both injured, Paul Bosvelt has rejected Advocaat's call up, giving precedence to Feyenoord's title hopes (they play RKC on Sunday and meet Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup 4 days later). Oranje's new boss has added Willem II's Denny Landzaat to the squad.

Holland beat Spain

27 Mar 2002

UEFA to make qualification schedule

22 Mar 2002

The UEFA will meet next week to determine the schedule in Holland's qualifying group for Euro 2004. Due to the unwillingness of the Czech Republic to play against either Holland or Austria during theirng games of the qualifying rounds UEFA will now fix the schedule themselves, something that participating countries would normally do themselves.

Stam back in Oranje squad

22 Mar 2002

Jaap Stam has been recalled for the friendly between Holland and Spain in the Kuip next Wednesday, March 27th. The Lazio Roma defender has just returned from his 4 month ban for "nandrolone abuse". Ronald Waterreus, Paul Bosvelt, Kevin Hofland, Wilfred Bouma and Arthur Numan have been called up for this match to replace Sander Westerveld, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Mario Melchiot, Patrick Paauwe and George Boateng. The changes to the squad are mostly the result of injuries.
Squad: goal: Edwin van der Sar (Fulham/65 caps), Ronald Waterreus (PSV/1 cap).

Defence: Frank de Boer (Barcelona/92 caps), Michael Reiziger (Barcelona/52 caps), Wilfred Bouma (PSV/4 caps), Kevin Hofland (PSV/6 caps), Arthur Numan (Glasgow Rangers/43 caps), Fernando Ricksen (Glasgow Rangers/2 caps), Jaap Stam (Lazio Roma/43 caps)

midfield: Mark van Bommel (PSV/11 caps), Paul Bosvelt (Feyenoord/12 caps), Phillip Cocu (Barcelona/59 caps), Edgar Davids (Juventus/45 caps).

Forwards: Jerrel Hasselbaink (Chelsea/18 caps), Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona/59 caps), Marc Overmars (Barcelona/71 caps), Roy Makaay (Deportivo La Coru�a/16 caps), Ruud van Nistelrooij (Manchester United/18 caps), Victor Sikora (Vitesse/4 caps).

Jong Oranje squad announced

22 Mar 2002

Coach Mark Wotte has announced the Jong Oranje squad for the Under 21s friendly against Spain and there are some new faces: De Graafschap's Tim Bakens, ADO Den Haag's Ferry Bodde and Ajax's Stefano Seedorf.

Goal: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Gino Coutinho (PSV);
Verdediging: J�rgen Colin (RC Genk), Leon Hese (PSV), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Jeffrey Leiwakabessy (NEC), Tim Bakens (De Graafschap);
Midfield: David Mendes da Silva (Sparta), Rogier Molhoek (RKC Waalwijk), Youssouf Hersi (NAC), Stefano Seedorf (Ajax), Ferry Bodde (ADO Den Haag), Said Boutahar (Feyenoord);
Forwards: Rahamat "Riga" Mustapha (Vitesse), Romano Denneboom (SC Heerenveen), Santi Kolk (RKC Waalwijk), Jeffrey de Visscher (Emmen), Eddy Putter (RKC Waalwijk).

Dutch under 19s lose to Ireland

21 Mar 2002

The Dutch Under 19s have lost the first of their playoffs last night in the match against Ireland (1 - 2) in Rotterdam. Coach Mark Wotte missed Feyenoorders Glenn Loovens and Robin van Persie (turning out for Feyenoord against PSV tonight) plus the injured Ajax talent John Heitinga for the match. Nonetheless the rest of the team's influential players were below par in terms of their performance and unable to cope with the physically strong Irish team. After the disappointing exit of Oranje from the World Cup and Jong Oranje's exit from the European Cup it looks like Holland's Under 19s are about to 'suffer' the same 'fate'.

Rangers still happy with Advocaat.

22 Mar 2000

Glasgow Rangers chairman David Murray stated last night that his is very happy with Dick Advocaat's devotion as director of football after his involvement in the signing of Barcelona player Mikel Arteta. The Dutch national trainer who will be combining both jobs in a part-time capacity till the middle of 2003, was able to convince both the player and his parents that this was the right move for the 18 year old midfielder.

Holland 9th in FIFA ranking

21 Mar 2002

Ranking	Country	Ranking	Country
1. (1)	France	11. (11)	Yugoslavia
2. (2)	Argentina	12. (10)	England
3. (3)	Brazil	13. (13)	United States
4. (6)	Italy	14. (15)	Czech Republic
5. (5)	Colombia	15. (14)	Paraguay
6. (4)	Portugal	16. (17)	Sweden
7. (7)	Spain	17. (16)	Romania
8. (8)	Mexico	18. (19)	Ireland
9. (8)	Holland	19. (18)	Cameroon
10. (12)	Germany	19. (19)	Denmark

Boudewijn Zenden back in training

20 Mar 2002

Dutch international Boudewijn Zenden is back in training for Chelsea after recovering from anwound on his and a muscle injury he picked up in the 5 - 1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at the end of January. The winger, who's been plagued by injury, has appeared in 16 matches for the South-London club this season.

Wotte quits as Jong Oranje coach

11 Mar 2002

Mark Wotte has handed in his notice as Jong Oranje coach and takes his assistant Andr� Wetzel with him. The former ADO Den Haag, Utrecht and Den Bosch coach has been tipped as the man most-likely-to-succeed Hans Westerhof at Willem II and Wetzel will undoubtedly join him in Tilburg if the deal goes through.

Willem II want Mark Wotte

08 Mar 2002

Mark Wotte could well be quitting the KNVB this summer, when his contract runs out, to join Willem II as their new trainer. Wotte currently looks after Jong Oranje but has been asking for a more substantial job within the Dutch FA's (KNVB) organisation. There is insufficient money to offer him such a post and he's already had talks with AZ about a job with the Alkmaarders. At the moment he's not commenting on the "Tricolores" interest!

Oranje play friendly against Norway

08 Mar 2002

Oranje are to play Norway on August 21st in Oslo's Ullevaal stadium as part of both teams' preparations for EURO 2004. Holland have played Norway 17 times in the past, winning 6, drawing 6 and losing 5. The last time was on November 15th 1995 during the EURO '96 tournament when Oranje won 3 - 0 thanks to goals by Clarence Seedorf, Youri Mulder and Marc Overmars.

UEFA lifetime award for Rinus Michels

15 Feb 2002

Former Oranje coach Rinus Michels, the 'inventor' of the term "total football", has been honoured by UEFA for his services to the game with a "Lifetime Achievement" award during a ceremony held in Barcelona. Michels helped Ajax to win the European Cup 1 in 1971, took Oranje to the finals of the World Cup in 1974, and helped them become European Champions in 1988.

Kluivert overtakes Cruijff and Lenstra

14 Feb 2002

Patrick Kluivert's goal against England last night was his 34th for Oranje which means the Barcelona striker has now passed Johan Cruijff and Abe Lenstra in the ranking of Holland's all-time top scorers. The only remaining goal-scoring obstacles between him and the no.1 position are Faas Wilkes on 35 goals and the current no.1, Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp, who put away a total of 37 goals in his international career. At 25 years of age Kluivert still has more than a few internationals ahead of him and can reasonably expect to take over that coveted all-time top scorer title during Oranje's qualifying matches for EURO 2004.

Jong Oranje draw 0 - 0 with Italy

14 Feb 2002

Jong Oranje ended yesterday's friendly, part of the team's preparations for the Olympic Games in Athens, against Italy's youth side in a goalless draw. They started well enough and created some good chances in the 1st half but failed to keep up the pressure after the break.

Holland draw 1 - 1 against England

13 Feb 2002

Holland lineup: Van der Sar, Ricksen, Reiziger, F. de Boer, Van Bronckhorst, R. de Boer, Van Bommel, Cocu, Overmars, Kluivert and Van Nistelrooy.

England lineup: Martyn, Neville, Campbell, Ferdinand, Bridge, Beckham, Gerrard, Scholes, Heskey, Ricketts and Vassell.

The match was nothing special but that was to be expected. Oranje rising like a phoenix out of the ashes with a dazzling display of football would have been too much to hope for. After a cautious early phase, Overmars had a chance to provide Van Nistelrooy with a goal-scoring opportunity but his cross missed the striker's foot. Patrick Kluivert (who played a great match, his best in ages) did put them ahead in the 26th minute, assisted by Van Nistelrooy. That gave them a bit of confidence but, after the break, England really started to get in the groove, driven by the Beckham engine and his impressive midfield colleagues, Scholes and Gerrard, leading to an almost inevitable equalizer in the 61st by Darius Vassell, an acrobatic display and a fine shot. It ended any ambitions there may have been of Oranje putting a few more goals on the board and good work by the ever-reliable Van der Sar prevented what otherwise could have been a very,very damaging 'friendly' defeat. There were too many mistakes, too many long balls (which are always a sign of a lack of inspiration, communication and game plan) in this performance combined with an abiding absence of team spirit/identity which will remain a serious problem for some time to come.

Holland play with 2 wing-strikers

13 Feb 2002

Dick Advocaat is planning to field two wing-strikers against England tonight - Ronald de Boer on the right and Marc Overmars on the left with an attacking role for one of the midfielders. The Oranje coach believes that with Victor Sikora and Andy van der Meyde in the background there sufficient wingers to be able to continue the attacking style of football favoured by Holland in the past. There will not be enough room in midfield for both Philip Cocu and Edgar Davids (both are left-footed), which means they get to play 45 minutes each. Frank de Boer remains team captain!
Possible starting lineup: Van der Sar, Ricksen, Reiziger, Frank de Boer en Van Bronckhorst, Van Bommel, Kluivert en Cocu, Ronald de Boer, Van Nistelrooy en Overmars

Advocaat expects Oranje to restore pride

12 Feb 2002

Dick Advocaat expects his team to do their utmost to restore Oranje's damaged honour/pride in their friendly against England tomorrow in the ArenA. Referring to Holland's failure to qualify for the World Cup the coach claimed that bad luck had a lot to do with it and that, for example, if Kluivert had put away a goal in theng 5 minutes against Ireland in Dublin that Oranje would have gone on to overrun them. He went on to place a good proportion of the blame on the players themselves, which is undoubtedly true, after all - a coach can only do as well as his players are prepared to play well for him. The lack of chemistry between the Oranje squad and Van Gaal was increasingly obvious and the tired looking performances said more about life behind the scenes than any number of analyses. Perhaps the squad will be truly 'inspired' against the English and suprise us all!

Westerveld replaces injured Moens

09 Feb 2002

Real Sociedad's Sander Westerveld has been called up by Dick Advocaat and Wim van Hanegem to replace AZ's Oscar Moens who's dropped out of the Oranje squad for the coming friendly against England. The former Liverpool, Vitesse and Twente keeper made his debut for Holland in the match against Brazil on June 6th 1999 and has played a total of 6 times for Oranje.

No surprises in Oranje squad

08 Feb 2002

There are no surprises in 'men-in-charge' Dick Advocaat and Wim van Hanegem's first squad for next week Wednesday's friendly against England. Patrick Pauuwe, Fernando Ricksen and Mark van Bommel are back while the relatively 'new faces' George Boateng, Oscar Moens and Victor Sikora are given another chance to show what they can do.Advocaat couldn't call on the injured Boudewijn Zenden, Arthur Numan and Kevin Hofland plus the suspended Jaap Stam. Ajax's Van der Vaart and Vitesse's Ruud Knol will have to make do with a place in the Jong Oranje squad.

Goal: Edwin van der Sar (Fulham), Oscar Moens (AZ)

Defence: Frank de Boer (Barcelona), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Arsenal), Mario Melchiot (Chelsea), Michael Reiziger (Barcelona), Fernando Ricksen (Glasgow Rangers)

Midfield: George Boateng (Aston Villa), Mark van Bommel (PSV), Philip Cocu (Barcelona), Edgar Davids (Juventus), Patrick Paauwe (Feyenoord)

Forwards: Ronald de Boer (Glasgow Rangers), Jerrel Hasselbaink (Chelsea) Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona), Roy Makaay (Deportivo La Coru�a), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Marc Overmars (Barcelona) en Victor Sikora (Vitesse).

SBS6 get to show Oranje home matches

07 Feb 2002

SBS6 have signed a contract with the Dutch FA (KNVB) which allows them to broadcast live coverage of Oranje's home matches during the next 4 seasons. They will also be showing the Johan Cruijff Trophy, or SuperCup, matches as well as those of the Olympic team and all other national teams including friendlies.

KNVB to offer Van Basten a job?

29 Jan 2002

The Dutch FA (KNVB) are supposedly planning to offer Marco van Basten a role with Oranje, once he's completed his trainer's course that is! He's been linked with an Oranje job before but has beeny critical of the KNVB's handling of the search for a new Oranje coach! So what exactly the former Ajax and AC Milan striker's role will/may be remains unclear, especially as he's not been approached yet, although it's most likely to be a 'try-out' in some kind of advisory capacity!

Advocaat/Van Hanegem take over Oranje

25 Jan 2002

Confirming our earlier report, Dick Advocaat and Willem van Hanegem have been presented to the assembled press today and will be signing a contract for 3 years with the Dutch FA (KNVB) to look after Oranje. Advocaat will begin his new job in a part-time capacity from July this year till the middle of 2003, when his contract with Glasgow Rangers runs out, and from then on he'll be devoting himself full-time to making sure Holland qualify for Euro 2004! Until then he'll be released by Glasgow Rangers whenever Holland are playing one of the 3 or 4 friendlies lined up for the coming months. It was one of his preconditions that Van Hanegem ( his partner/ right-hand man) and Bert Linger would be his assistants!

Holland in Group 3 for Euro 2004

25 Jan 2002

Holland have been drawn in Group 3 for Euro 2004 together with Moldova, Belarus, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Draw for European Under 19s/Under17s

25 Jan 2002

Holland's Under 19s and Under 17s have come out of the draw for the European Championships rather favourably. The Under19s are in Group 4 together with Finland, Latvia and Turkey while the Under 17s are grouped together with Albania, San Marino and Lithuania. The winners and no.2s in each group qualify for the 2nd Round of the tournament.

Advocaat/Van Hanegem take over Oranje

24 Jan 2002

In the latest twist of the "who's going to take over as Oranje coach" story, Dutch public broadcaster NOS has announced that Dick Advocaat and Willem van Hanegem have signed a contract for 3 years with the Dutch FA (KNVB) to look after Oranje. Although Ruud Krol has been asked to take over temporarily and Ajax have agreed to let him go till the summer it would obviously be better if a 'permanent' solution was found a.s.a.p.! Krol still looks likely to be on the bench for the coming friendly against England but there will be many who will be glad to see the above duo finally 'in the saddle' and Holland back on course!

Ruud Krol temporary Oranje coach?

24 Jan 2002

The Dutch FA (KNVB) have asked Ajax to release the club's assistant trainer Ruud Krol so that he can look after Oranje until the summer. The 52 year-old has, in the past, looked after KV Mechelen, Servette Gen�ve, the Egyptian national team, Zamalek and Al Wahda before becoming Louis van Gaal's assistant with the Dutch national team. He left that post in December to become Ronald Koeman's assistant at the ArenA.

Holland unseeded for Euro 2004

21 Jan 2002

Holland are not one of the 'lucky few' top ten seeded countries announced for 2004! France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Czech Republic, Ireland, Rumania, Italy, Belgium and Turkey will each head up one of the ten groups of five teams taking part, and so avoid having to play against each other. The winners go through to the closing rounds while the no.2s will have to take part in the playoffs. Oranje can take some consolation from the fact that the land where it all began, England, is also equally unseeded.

Holland to play friendly against US

19 Jan 2002

Oranje travel to play a friendly against the United States on May 19th - the match will most likely take place in Chicago or New York.

Holland play Mexico on May 18th?

18 Jan 2002

Holland could travel to the United States to play a friendly against Mexico who want to play the Dutch on May 18th. It will be an interesting test of Oranje's ability to bounce back from the disappointment of not qualifying for the World Cup and put in a good performance against a strong Mexican side. The match will most likely be played on the west coast of the US in order to guarantee television coverage and maximise the attendance.

Turkey cancel friendly against Oranje

16 Jan 2002

Turkey have cancelled the friendly against Oranje planned for April 17th in Istanbul. They've decided that they want to play a South American side (their World Cup group includes Brazil and Costa Rica) and will now play Chile. This leaves Oranje now facing Tunisia (also off to the World Cup) on April 17th.

Wotte could be temporary Oranje coach

16 Jan 2002

The KNVB have asked Mark Wotte to function as an interim coach for Oranje after Dick Advocaat declined the job. The fact that the Dutch FA's last and only clear choice for the job has turned it down places them in an awkward position, especially now that Johan Cruijff has indirectly let it be known he'd be prepared to come in and reorganise the whole Oranje setup. It looks as though it's going to be some time yet before the Dutch national team knows who its next coach is to be, let alone before it's back on track.

Cruijff wants to reorganise Oranje

15 Jan 2002

Johan Cruijff has, according to Voetbal International's Chief Editor Johan Dircksen, expressed an interest in reorganising Oranje with himself in a 'Beckenbauer'-like coordinating role, steering a technical staff which could 'theoretically' include Willem van Hannegem, Frank Rijkarrd and Marco van Basten. Holland's 'Best Ever Player' says that simply installing a new coach will be insufficient to solve Oranje's problems and prevent a repetition of the Dutch team's embarrassing failure to qualify for the World Cup - a complete rebuilding of the structure surrounding the national team will be essential to ensure future success.

Advocaat doesn't want Oranje job

14 Jan 2002

Dick Advocaat has let the Dutch FA (KNVB) know that he is not interested in becoming Louis van Gaal's successor as Oranje coach. Last week he was their front runner to take over but that was perhaps simple wishfull thinking by the KNVB. The former Oranje coach had made it clear before Christmas that he was going to stay in his new job as technical director with Glasgow Rangers and last week he repeated his intention to remain in Glasgow. It leaves Guus Hiddink (coaching South Korea) and Frank Rijkaard (coaching Sparta) as 'next in line' while the 'darling of the press' is Willem van Hannegem and Ruud Gullit is the outsider (in more ways than one). Your guess is as good as mine who it will eventually be! The longer the wait the more embarrassing it becomes - maybe the KNVB will have to look abroad as the English FA did!

Van Gaal wants the Manchester job

13 Jan 2002

According to reports in the English press Louis van Gaal has made it officially known to Manchester United that he wants the vacated coach's job when Sir Alex Ferguson steps down at the end of the season. The former Oranje, Ajax and Barcelona coach is also being suggested as a possible successor to John Gregory at Aston Villa.

Advocaat favourite for Oranje job

10 Jan 2002

Dick Advocaat is finally emerging as clear favourite to become the new Oranje coach after he confirmed that he's negotiating with the Dutch FA (KNVB) for a possible return to the job he carried out between 1992 and December 1994. At the time the former HFC Haarlem, SVV and Dordrecht'90 coach led Holland to the quarter finals of the World Cup in the United States before taking over at PSV. He left for Glasgow Rangers in the middle of 1998 but surprised everyone last December by vacating his job as trainer to become technical director. Till now he's denied being interested in the Oranje job but seems to have changed his mind! It's no secret that he's the KNVB's 1st choice for the job and they are in a hurry to install him in time for the friendly against England on February 13th and the draw for the European Championships at the end of this month!

Van Gaal could have gone to Korea?!

02 Jan 2002

During a Dutch television programme shown on January 1st ('Oog in Oog', 'Eye to Eye') former Oranje boss Louis van Gaal claims to have been offered a job as national coach with a country who did manage to qualify for the World Cup in Korea this summer. The former Ajax and Barcelona coach refused the offer, due to the inevitable uproar it would have caused in Holland, but claims to have also been approached by a Dutch, a Greek, an English and a Spanish club with offers of a coaching job. He's not ready to start work again before July though and will be having an extended holiday before beginning any new adventure.

Huub Stevens not interested in Oranje job

12 Dec 2001

Schalke 04's trainer Huub Stevens had said he's not interested in the vacancy of Oranje coach. The 48 year-old still enjoys the daily routine of training sessions with the players and says the KNVB (Dutch FA) can spare itself the trouble of asking - he doesn't want the job!

Gullit says "I'm available for Oranje job!"

10 Dec 2001

Ruud Gullit, former Chelsea and Newcastle United coach, has said that he would be available to take over as Louis van Gaal's successor with Oranje. The ex-Ajax and AC Milan midfielder claims it's the only job he'd leave his new career in television for! Meanwhile, the KNVB (Dutch FA) are neither confirming nor denying Gullit's claim that he 's already spoken to them about the vacancy.

Advocaat uninterested in Oranje job

01 Dec 2001

Glasgow Rangers' coach Dick Advocaat has announced on the club's website that he's not interested in succeeding Louis van Gaal as Oranje coach. There have been stories circulating linking him with a return to coaching the national team, he led the Dutch national team to the 1994 World Cup where they got as far as the quarter finals, but he's now made clear he has no intention of a 2nd term.

Dutch U17s in European Championships

01 Dec 2001

The Dutch Under 17s have qualified for the European Championships by following up their 3 - 0 win against Lichtenstein with a 5 - 0 win against White-Russia. Resham Sardar (Feyenoord), Hedwiges Maduro (Ajax) and Joris van Rooyen (Utrecht) all scored one-a-piece while Collins John (Twente) scored twice. The Championships take place between April 27h and May 10th in Denmark.

It's official Van Gaal quits as Oranje coach

30 Nov 2001

Louis van Gaal has resigned after weeks of speculation surrounding his status as Oranje coach. In a tense atmosphere during the official press conference held this morning the former Ajax and Barcelona coach was clearly highly emotional. He was determined to give his side of the story concerning both the reasons for Oranje's failure to qualify for the World Cup and the stories which have circulated in the press regarding himself, his future and his lack of success with the national team. He will stay on till February as technical adviser but will be gone by the time the friendly against England takes place on February 13th. Van Gaal blamed Oranje's failure to qualify for next summer's World Cup for the most part on the lack of motivation of too many players called up for international duty. He accepted that he too had failed but it was clear that he was also extremely frustrated by the attitude of players who didn't feel it was an honour to turn out for their country. The lack of heart shown by the Dutch team was something which was clearly visible during the last year and explains why 'lesser' countries were able to frustrate and/or beat them. This particular chapter of Dutch footballing history is drawing to a close and the hunt is now on for a successor. Willem van Hanegem, Ronald Koeman, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten are all names which have been linked with the job! Time will tell!

KNVB make Van Gaal announcement today

30 Nov 2001

The Dutch FA (KNVB) have arranged a press conference for this morning at which they will clarify, after weeks of uncertainty and speculation, the situation regarding Louis van Gaal's status as Oranje coach. It's widely expected they will confirm that the former Ajax and Barcelona coach has resigned and everyone is more than a little curious to hear if the name of his successor is already known.

Van Gaal has already resigned?!?

27 Nov 2001

Dutch television's Studio Sport claims to have been told that Oranje coach Louis van Gaal already handed in his resignation after the friendly against Denmark. It could well be that the Dutch FA (KNVB) are trying to find a replacement for the former Ajax and Barcelona coach before making an official announcement. KNVB director Henk Kesler refused to comment last night but has said he'll be making a statement shortly.

Van Basten to become trainer?

27 Nov 2001

Marco van Basten has been offered the chance to follow a coaching course by the Dutch FA (KNVB) which could see him return to a active role in football. The former AC Milan and Dutch international (with 58 caps to his name) had already expressed an interest in returning to football in some form of role. The Dutch FA are trying to come up with a construction which will allow Van Basten to acquire the highest coaching qualifications as quickly as possible. It's rumoured that the former striker has already been approached by the Dutch national team's manager Hans Jorritsma to discuss a future role for him.

Van Gaal resigns as Oranje coach

24 Nov 2001

Dutch daily newspaper "Algemeen Dagblad" has published a story this morning announcing Louis van Gaal's decision to resign from his job as Oranje coach. Although neither the Dutch FA (KNVB) or Van Gaal himself have confirmed the news it's expected that an official statement will follow on Monday. There have been rumours for some time in Holland that the former Ajax and Barcelona coach has been dragging his feet while waiting to get a definite offer from one of several clubs said to be interested in giving him a new job. We'll all know for certain by the beginning of next week what the whole story is but his departure is not exactly a surprise after Holland's failure to qualify for the World Cup.

Draw for European Championships 2004

24 Nov 2001

UEFA have announced the draw for the 2004 European Championships to be held in Portugal - 50 countries will be placed in 10 groups of five. The winners gain automatic admission to the finals and the runners-up in each group will take part in playoffs in order to qualify. The top ten countries in UEFA's ranking are given the status of group leader, which means they do not face another top-ten side in their group. This is a 'luxury' denied Holland by their 14th place in the ranking. The complete top twenty is: 1. France 2. Sweden 3. Spain 4. Czech Republic 5. Germany 6. Ireland 7. Romania 8. Italy

Holland drop a place in FIFA rankings

21 Nov 2001

Holland have dropped a place in the FIFA rankings - the complete top ten is now:
1. France 2. Argentina 3. Brazil 4. Portugal 5. Colombia 6. Italy 7. Spain 8. Holland 9. Mexico 10. Engeland.

Dutch Under 16s lose to Spain 3 - 0

17 Nov 2001

Holland's Under 16s have lost their match against Spain in the Walker Crisp tournament in England 3 - 0, after earlier 2 - 1 defeats by England and Germany. Germany won their last match against England 2 - 0 to win the tournament.

Dutch Under 19s beat France 2 - 1

15 Nov 2001

The Dutch Under 19s have beaten France 2 - 1 to earn themselves two playoff matches against Ireland - the winner goes through to the European Championships next year in Norway. Vitesse's Nicky Hoffs and Michael Jansen were the goal scorers.

Jong Oranje lose to England's Under 23s

14 Nov 2001

Jong Oranje have failed in their attempt to reach the European Championships for Under 23s to be held next year. They played a better match than in their 2 - 2 draw last Friday in Utrecht's Nieuw Galgenwaard stadium but one mistake proved enough for West Ham's Michael Carrick to score the match winner. The Dutch started well, and seemed more determine than at home, but created few 1st half scoring chances - Patrick Ax's was the best but goalie Chris Kirkland turned it away for a corner. The Liverpool reserve keeper pulled another off fine save from a Van der Vaart attempt in the 48th while, later, the Ajax midfielder couldn't control a Van der Schaaf pass well enough in the 70th to fire off another shot. Two minutes later deed Foluwashola Ameobi served Carrick up with his chance and he struck it home to deny Jong Oranje a place in next year's tournament.

Heitinga starts against England

13 Nov 2001

Ajax's John Heitinga made such a good impression in his debut for Jong Oranje last Friday against England that coach Mark Wotte has given him a place in the starting lineup for the return in Derby County's Pride Park Stadium today. The full lineup is: Jelle ten Rouwelaar (Emmen), Johnny Heitinga (Ajax), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Jos van Nieuwstadt (Willem II), Pascal Bosschaart (Utrecht), Youssouf Hersi (NAC), Remco van der Schaaf (Vitesse), Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax); Ali Boussaboun (Groningen), Dirk Kuyt ( Utrecht), Patrick Ax (NEC).

Dutch Under 19s beat San Marino 7 - 0

13 Nov 2001

The Dutch Under 19s have beaten San Marino 7 - 0 in the qualifying tournament, currently being held in France, for the European Championships. Vitesse players Jhonny van Beukering and Nicky Hofs both scored twice while Groningen's Arjen Robben and Arnold Kruiswijk plus Ajax's Wesley Sneijder scored the remaining 3 goals. The Dutch play France tomorrow to decide who will be group winner - a draw will be enough to secure them a place in the championships next year in Norway.

Dutch Under 21s beat Germany

13 Nov 2001

The Dutch Under 21s, who form a bridge between the Under 19s and the Jong Oranje team, beat Germany 2 - 1 last night in a friendly match in Helmond. They also beat Switzerland 3 - 1 in another friendly in Eindhoven last week. Twente's Thijs Houwing and Telstar's Paul de Lange scored while goalie Gino Couninho saved a penalty. In England Holland's Under 16s lost 2 - 1 to England in the 'friendly' Walker Crisp Tournament. They had already lost 2 - 1 to Germany on October 25th and will now meet Spain this coming Thursday.

Edwin de Graaf debuts for Jong Oranje

13 Nov 2001

Edwin de Graaf has been called up by coach Mark Wotte for tonight's Jong Oranje return aginst England's Under 21s. The RBC Roosendaal striker has seen his career take off this season at an incredible rate. Last season the 21 year-old was still an amateur playing for FC Lisse but now he finds himself RBC's top scorer on 6 goals from 11 games.

Van Gaal decision within two weeks

11 Nov 2001

Holland's national coach Louis van Gaal has announced that he will finally give the 'yes' or 'no' regarding whether he stays on as Oranje coach within the next 14 days. The whole world knows that the former Barcelona coach has already made his decision but it seems yet again that Van Gaal wants to set his own date for the announcement! He's even 'generously' offered to stay on for another 6 months while the Dutch FA (KNVB) look for his successor (if that doesn't make it clear then what does!). We'd all been expecting him to put us out of our 'misery' after last night's game against Denmark (he'd said he would) but he's obviously decided (as he's often said before) that HE alone will decide when it's time to go!

De Boer wants Advocaat as Oranje coach

10 Nov 2001

Holland's captain Frank de Boer has been talking to Oranje coach Louis van Gaal in an attempt to persuade him to stay on with the national team, but it seems he's been having little success. He reckons that there's a conservatively estimated, his words, 70% chance that Van Gaal will go after the friendly against Denmark. He's now calling for Glasgow Rangers' coach Dick Advocaat, himself a former Oranje boss, to take over if, and when, Van Gaal throws in the towel.

Jong Oranje and 'Young' England in 2 - 2

09 Nov 2001

Dirk Kuijt missed narrowly with a nicely struck ball that went wide in the 18th minute of a tight match with both teams allowing the other little space to create truly dangerous attacking moves in theng quarter-of-an-hour. A nice little backheel pass by Kuijt gave Van der Vaart anng to shoot but it went wide in the 23rd but two minutes later he did a great little 180 degree turn in the box to slot home ther for Jong Oranje. They also had more than a little luck when an England shot was cleared off the line by Van Nieuwstadt who sliced at it and almost put it in off the underside of the bar. Kuijt earned himself a well deserved goal in the 35th from a tasty, swerving Van der Vaart freekick that Kirkland snatched at, the ball rebounding off the post for the Utrecht player to put away for the 2 - 0. England got one back from a 'clever' free-kick where 2 players disappeared from the wall, causing a bit of a diversion and the ball was neatly headed away by a rather unmarked Sean Davis. Jong Oranje made a poor start to the 2nd half while the English started to look better than t hey did before the break. Some very poor (read terrible) defending let the English captain David Dunn push through to slot home the 2-2 in the 59th. Neither team pushed forward to threaten either goalie much in the rest of the 2nd half and it became clear that the Dutch 1st half rays-of-light were flashes of Van der Vaart's talent rather than the product of the team as a whole.

Oranje experiments with 4-4-2 system

09 Nov 2001

Oranje will be experimenting with a 4-4-2 system in what could well turn out to be their last match tomorrow, against Denmark, under current national coach Louis van Gaal. Captain Frank de Boer has been quoted as saying that there's a 70% chance that Van Gaal will resign after tomorrow's match. He's been talking to the coach and trying, rather unsuccessfully it seems, to get him to stay on. The new approach will not be a radical departure from the previous 4-4-3 system as De Boer will most likely function as an extra shadow-striker behind two strikers up front. The squad is divided as to the effectiveness of the new system - for example, Ruud van Nistelrooy grew up with a 4-4-2 whereas Patrick Kluivert remains sceptical.

John Heitinga debuts for Jong Oranje

06 Nov 2001

Ajax's John Heitinga will make his debut for Jong Oranje in the two matches they play against England's Under 19s in the Nieuw Gaalgenwaard stadium in Holland on Friday and Derby County's Pride Park Stadium in England next Tuesday.

Oranje squad for Denmark friendly

05 Nov 2001

Louis van Gaal has announced the squad for this coming Saturday's friendly against Denmark. Aston Villa's George Boateng gets the Oranje call-up for the first time in his career and AZ's goalie Oscar Moens has been called-up to replace the recently dropped Sander Westerveld as reserve keeper. Fernando Ricksen, Marc van Bommel, Victor Sikora and Bobby Petta are all missing through injury while Barcelona's Phillip Cocu and Marc Overmars are also missing (Van Gaal wants to try out some other players in Cocu's position and Overmars is just back from injury and is not fit enough). The full squad is as follows: Edwin van der Sar (Fulham), Oscar Moens (AZ), Mario Melchiot, Boudewijn Zenden, Jerrel Hasselbaink, (Chelsea), Michael Reiziger, Frank de Boer, Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona), Jaap Stam (Lazio Roma), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Arsenal), Denny Landzaat (Willem II), George Boateng (Aston Villa), Ronald de Boer (Glasgow Rangers), Clarence Seedorf (Internazionale), Edgar Davids (Juventus), Roy Makaay (Deportivo La Coru�a), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Pierre van Hooydonk (Feyenoord).

Jong Oranje (Under 19s) squad announced

05 Nov 2001

Jong Oranje coach Mark Wotte has announced the squad for the coming matches against England in the Nieuw Galgenwaard on Friday and the return on Tuesday in Derby County's Pride Park Stadium. The winner goes through to the European Championships for Under 19s next year. The full squad is as follows - Goal: Jelle ten Rouwelaar (Emmen), Dorus de Vries (Stormvogels/Telstar). Defence: John Heitinga (Ajax), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Peter Wisgerhof (NEC), Jos van Nieuwstadt (Willem II), Pascal Bosschaart (FC Utrecht), Joris Mathijsen (Willem II). Midfield: David Mendes da Silva (Sparta), Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax), Remco van der Schaaf (Vitesse), Youssouf Hersi (NAC), Mike Zonneveld (NEC). Forwards: Dirk Kuijt (FC Utrecht), Romano Denneboom (SC Heerenveen), Ali Boussaboun (FC Groningen), Andy van der Meyde (Ajax), Patrick Ax (NEC).

Dutch Under 21 squad announced

05 Nov 2001

KNVB-coach Andries Jonker has announced the squad for the coming friendlies against Switzerland (November 7th) and Germany (November 12th). Goal: Gino Coutinho (PSV), Maarten Stekenburg (Ajax).Defence: Said Bakkati (SC Heerenveen), Jurgen Colin (PSV), Serginho Greene (Haarlem), Michael Dingsdag (Vitesse), Jeffrey Leiwakabessy (NEC), Melvin Fleur (Anderlecht). Midfield: Paul de Lange (Stormvogels/Telstar), Said Boutahar (Feyenoord), Santi Kolk (RKC Waalwijk), Koen van de Laak (FC Den Bosch), Karim Bridgi (Eendracht Aalst). Forwards: Jeffrey de Visscher (Emmen), Frank Demouge (NEC), Thijs Houwing (FC Twente), Riga Mustapha (Vitesse), Orlanda Smeekes (Stormvogels/Telstar).

Hofland misses Jong Oranje - England

05 Nov 2001

Kevin Hofland wanted badly to help Jong Oranje qualify for next year's European Championships for Under 19s but has had to pull out of this coming Friday's match due to a groin injury he picked up in PSV's C-L match against Galatasaray last week. It's a blow for coach Mark Wotte who's already seen Vitesse's Theo Janssen pull out but thankfully Ajax's Rafael van der Vaart will be making an appearance.

Van Gaal drops Westerveld

30 Oct 2001

Oranje coach Louis van Gaal has dropped Sander Westerveld from the squad after an earlier warning that Holland's reserve keeper needed to get a new club a.s.a.p. (and the essential match-play experience) if he wanted to hold onto his place. Westerveld has not played a match since Jurek Dudek took over at Liverpool as no.1 choice and Coventry City's Chris Kirkland got the job as 2nd choice for goalkeeping duties.

Hofland to play for Jong Oranje

24 Oct 2001

PSV's Kevin Hofland has agreed to play for Jong Oranje in the playoff matches against England's Under 21s on November 9th and 13th which will decide which team gets a place in the European Championships. Hofland played in 3 of the qualifying matches for Jong Oranje before being selected by Van Gaal for Oranje and is still eligible to play for the Under 21s. PSV still have to give their permission and a discussion wih Oranje coach Louis van Gaal is also planned before the final go-ahead is given.

Dutch Under 19s miss Robben and Heitinga

22 Oct 2001

Arjen Robben and Johnny Heitinga have asked coach Mark Wotte to be excused Holland's coming Under 19s friendly against Italy on October 24th. The former is still in his final year of school and has to prepare for exams while the latter wil be turning out for Ajax in their Ere Divisie duel against Heerenveen. Ajax's Sergio Hellings and Feyenoord's Robin van Persie are their replacements. Best known face in the lineup on Thursday will be Vitesse's Jhonny van Beukering.

Wotte wants Hofland for Jong Oranje

18 Oct 2001

The Dutch Under 21s coach Mark Wotte is going to talk to Kevin Hofland and Oranje coach Louis van Gaal about the possibility of the PSV defender turning out against England. Jong Oranje face England's Under 21s on November 9th and 13th in the playoffs for a place in the European Championships. Hofland played in 3 of the qualifying matches before being selected by Van Gaal for Oranje and is still eligible to play for the Under 21s.

Holland rise one place in FIFA table

18 Oct 2001

Holland have gone up one place in the FIFA rankings - they're now in 6th place. Nos 1 - 3 remain unchanged France, Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Portugal have equal points in joint 4th, Spain is 6th, while Colombia, England and the Czech Republic are respectively 8th, 9th and 10th.

Van Gaal yes/no word after Denmark match

15 Oct 2001

Holland's national coach Louis van Gaal has announced that he will make his future plans known to the world after the coming friendly against Denmark on November 10th. He's expressed once again his appreciation for the support shown him by the general football-loving public in Holland but that he remains severely disappointed by Oranje's exit from the World Cup. It's widely expected that he'll resign and make the way clear for a new coach to take over in time to start preparations next year for the European Championships in 2004.

Cruijff blames Van Gaal for Holland's exit

12 Oct 2001

Johan Cruijff has placed the blame for Holland's exit from the World Cup on Oranje coach Louis van Gaal and the poor organisation surrounding him during the series of qualifying matches which should have seen Oranje earn a ticket to the ball. The 'Dutch Master' singles out the fact that no attempt was made to make use of the friendly against England, only two weeks before the crucial game against the Irish, in August to try-out a 'worst case scenario' tactic. The tactic would have been to simply apply as much pressure as possible during the last 20 minutes of the match - something which the Dutch team proved unable to do in Dublin.

Jong Oranje face England in playoff

12 Oct 2001

Jong Oranje face a formidable last hurdle in their attempt to qualify for the European Championship for Under 21s up when they play England's Under 21s in the playoff in Holland on November 9th, with a return match in England only four days later. The English youth side have been unbeaten since the arrival of new coach David Platt and won their friendly against Holland 4 - 0 in August.

Van Gaal under pressure to decide future

08 Oct 2001

The KNVB have made clear it's 'make your mind up time' for Oranje coach Louis van Gaal and he has been asked to come up with a decision regarding his future a.s.a.p. The Dutch FA's chairman Henk Kesler believes that all parties should be made aware of Van Gaal's future plans. The draw for Euro 2004 takes place in January next year and the KNVB wants to know by then, at the latest, who will be leading the national team as preparations, including the scheduling of the qualifying matches, get under way for the next major international tournament.

Holland beat Andorra 4 - 0

06 Oct 2001

Earlier in the week Edgar Davids had been quoted as comparing Oranje with a paper tiger - on paper an impressive collection of world-beating individual talent that, when seen in action, delivers too little of the clout that Holland should be capable of. They were missing the big names who play in Spain (Kluivert, Cocu, Overmars, Reiziger, De Boer and Makaay), plus the injured Hasselbaink and Petta etc., but even so Oranje should still be well able to sweep aside a team like Andorra. There was, however, too little of the necessary speed and aggression during much of the match to achieve a landslide score. They were awarded a penalty in the 3rd minute when Van Hooijdonk was brought down in the box and the Feyenoord striker made sure he didn't miss this penalty ... 1 - 0. The next 15 minutes saw enough chances to put away a few goals but the finishing wasn't sharp enough to connect properly with the ball. In midfield things weren't going much better - it was a bit of a shambles and the crowd was getting restless as the goals refused to arrive. Seedorf gave them something to cheer about with the 2nd in the dying seconds of the 1st half to keep them in their seats for the 2nd half. After the break Oranje got their 3rd in the 53rd minute - a Van Nistelrooy header. The match will go down in the history books, if for nothing else, as the match where Rafael van der Vaart made his debut (68th minute). In the 73rd they had a Van Hooijdonk header disallowed for offside which was the sign to exchange Mario Melchiot for Arthur Numan. Van Nistelrooy came close in the 77th as a storm erupted above the Gelredome, the heaven'sd and sheets of rain poured down upon the players and pitch. A late injury time header by "Onze" Ruud took the final score to 4 - 0 to end a rather lacklustre performance.

Van Gaal unmoved by Man United job story

06 Oct 2001

Louis van Gaal has given a cool reaction to stories in the English press which put him at the top of the list of candidates to succeed Alex Ferguson as manager of "The Reds". He says clubs have always been knocking at his door wherever he's worked but that he's still concentrating on coaching Oranje for the time being (until he decides otherwise!).

Van der Vaart gets Oranje call-up

06 Oct 2001

Ajax's Rafael van der Vaart has been called up by coach Louis van Gaal for the match against Andorra tonight. The news will please the many people who were wondering why he hadn't been selected earlier this week for the squad.

Jong Oranje beat Slovenia 1 - 0

06 Oct 2001

Jong Oranje won their friendly against Slovenia in Sparta's "Het Kasteel" stadium thanks to a goal by Youssouff Hersi in the 68th minute. Edwin de Graaf (RBC Roosendaal), Romano Denneboom (SC Heerenveen) and Ali Boussaboun (FC Groningene) made their debuts.

Vennegoor of Hesselink joins Oranje squad

05 Oct 2001

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink has been called up for tomorrow's match against Andorra by coach Louis van Gaal as a replacement for the injured Jerrel Hassebaink.

Oranje miss Petta and Hasselbaink

04 Oct 2001

Holland will play Andorra on Saturday without Bobby Petta and Jerrell Hasselbaink - both have pulled out of the squad's preparations for the match with injuries. It's yet another disappointment for Petta who's been called up 3 times but various injuries have always prevented him from appearing for his country - it's likely that players from the Jong Oranje squads will replace them.

Holland could be ready to sue FIFA

04 Oct 2001

The Dutch FA (KNVB) is rumoured to be preparing to sue FIFA over the bans imposed on Edgar Davids and Frank de Boer for alleged Nandrolone abuse. The players have seen the length of their bans reduced which makes it extremely uncertain that FIFA had sufficient grounds to maintain the ban on the Juventus midfielder. The Dutch FA is furious at Davids' exclusion from playing the qualifying match against Ireland which Holland lost, sealing their World Cup fate. Meanwhile, Davids' legal team is preparing to launch legal action to overturn the ban and clear his name while also sueing football's governing body as well as specific individuals that sit on FIFA committees. If the KNVB were also to go ahead with sueing for damages (rumoured to be in the region of �47.32 million Euros) it would cause so much trouble in football-land that FIFA might be prepared to offer Holland a 'wild card' so that they can take part in the World Cup in 2002 rather than face the KNVB in court!

Oranje to play friendly against Denmark?

02 Oct 2001

The Dutch national team Oranje is set to play a friendly against Denmark on either November 10th or 14th. Whether the match will actually take place depends on the Danes' World Cup qualifier against Iceland this weekend. If Denmark come away with at least one point then they are certain to qualify for 2002's World Cup and if they don't they will have to take part in playoffs on November 10th and 14th.

Van Gaal considers future

02 Oct 2001

Louis van Gaal is still considering his future as Oranje coach after the disappointment of the failure to qualify for 2002's World Cup and the criticism he's received from all quarters since the defeat by Ireland. He's still unrepentant regarding the controversial substitutions made in that match and feels that his tactics were not to blame for past failures either. The national team's exit has been as much of a blow to him as to anyone else - after all there was the clearly stated pretension/ambition beforehand to win the world title this time round - and he's unsure whether he wants to wait until 2004 before getting a chance to win another title, namely the European Championship!

Jong Oranje squad for Slovenia friendly

01 Oct 2001

The Jong Oranje Under 19 squad for Friday's friendly against Slovenia has been announced. New faces are Gino Coutinho and Romano Denneboom. Coutinho replaces the injured Serge van den Ban in goal while the 19 year-old striker Denneboom has been impressing at Heerenveen and is regarded as one of Holland's most promising players. The full squad is: Goalkeepers: Jelle ten Rouwelaar (Emmen), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax). Defence: Michael Lamey (RKC Waalwijk), Joris Mathijssen (Willem II), Karim Touzani (FC Utrecht), Peter Wisgerhof (NEC), Ruud Knol (Vitesse). Midfield: Pascal Bosschaart (FC Utrecht), Jos van Nieuwstadt (Willem II), Mike Zonneveld (NEC), Theo Janssen (Vitesse), Rafa�l van der Vaart (Ajax), Edwin de Graaf (RBC Roosendaal). Forwards: Youssouf Hersi (NAC), Kevin Bobson (NAC), Romano Denneboom (SC Heerenveen), Darl Douglas (Haarlem), Dirk Kuyt (FC Utrecht), Patrick Ax (NEC).

Holland rise 2 places in FIFA rankings

19 Sept 2001

Holland have risen two places in FIFA's world rankings and are now in 8th position while their arch rivals Germany have sunk from 5th to 12th. The top ten are: (1) France (2) Brazil (3)Argentina (4) Italy (5) Portugal (6) Spain (7) Colombia (8) Holland (9) England (10) Mexico.

Holland beat Estonia 5 - 0

05 Sept 2001

Holland showed they are at least still able to beat the likes of Estonia (even with the hangover of Saturday's defeat in Ireland in their heads and hearts) with five goals in the 1st half - Zendend the score in the 16th minute, Van Bommel got his first in the 26th and a second in the 39th, Cocu scored in the 31st and Van Nistelrooy in the 44th. The first half showed that, given the space that a team like Estonia will always give them, Holland are still able to put on a reasonable display of what they are capable of. Once Van (The Man) Nistelrooy and Overmars were substituted for the 2nd half things began to fall apart again - again there was the strange sight of the Premier League's top scorer Hasselbaink on the right - what's the point, is this really an example of an intelligent tactical substitution??? I don't care how good he was as a winger when he was a youngster or in practice! The result was a far less entertaining 45 minutes than before the break as Oranje failed to impress/lost interest/looked tired - there was little left to fight for and little to applaud. Meanwhile ,Portugal had won 3 - 1 on Cyprus and so the Dutch are really, truly out of the World Cup!

Jong Oranje in easy win against Estonia

05 Sept 2001

Jong Oranje have had an easy 6 - 0 win against Estonia. Darl Douglasd the score in the 15th minute, Theo Janssen added a 2nd in the 23rd and Dirk Kuyt got a 3rd in the 28th to give the Dutch a healthy half-time lead while Dirk Kuyt, Thijs Houwing and Youssouf Hersi added 3 more in the 2nd half. Portugal's defeat by Cyprus leaves Holland with a very small chance of becoming the group winners if the Portugese somehow manage to lose their match against Estonia. It's more likely that Jong Oranje will end as one of the seven best no.2s who will play against the nine group winners in playoffs for the 8 'tickets' to the European Cup to be held next year.

Oranje lose to Ireland 1 - 0

01 Sept 2001

The day of judgement has arrived - would Holland finally reveal the qualities we all know they have as individuals and combine them to put on a performance to be truly proud of? What a start - within two minutes Roy Keane had left the mark of his boot on Marc Overmars' ankles which got Kluivert's blood boiling and he replied to the Irish captain's throwing-down-of-the-gauntlet by committing a foul of his own to make clear that he wasn't going to be intimidated. The match got off to a heated and high speed start - Kluivert surged forward in the 3rd minute, his attempt going just wide, as Holland reacted to the provocation by going on the attack! But by the end of the first quarter of an hour a familiar pattern was emerging once again as Holland failed to follow up their initial aggression by putting away the chances they created - Van Bommel, Zenden and Kluivert all hadngs but failed to capitalise on them. In the 25th minute Arthur Numan was accidentally hit in the face and had to be carried off, reducing Holland to 10 men while the injured defender was treated. Not only was the 'dirty' play an unpleasant sight, but our ears were treated to bouts of booing when Jaap Stam had the ball (because of his book and the fact that he's been sacked by Man United?) while Numan also had his fair share to endure (he's a Glasgow Rangers player while the Irish are Celtic fans - Rangers are Protestant, Celtic are Catholic, clear!?). By the last 10 minutes of the 1st half most of the momentum Oranje had built up in theng 15 minutes had gone and Holland were left clutching at the chances that came their way rather than putting the moves together and imposing themselves on the game. The Irish, for their part, succeeded in turning the game into the chaotic, churning , emotional confrontation that they relish in!

The 2nd half continued in the same fashion, a freekick in the first 60 seconds with a lot of spirited if scrappy football, plenty of speed but precious little of the kind of football to warm the heart. Ian Hart curled a fine freekick from 35 metres out for the Irish which Van der Sar dealt with in his usual reliable way as the tempo climbed to new heights and the Dutch got their first real warning ! Hasselbaink came on for Zenden as Van Gaal tried to give his team a little extra firepower. In the 58th minute Kelly got a 2nd yellow card for a foul on Overmars and got his marching orders - Ireland were down to 10 men! P-Air came on for Numan as Van Gaal sought to profit from the advantage in numbers. In the 62nd minute Van Nistelrooy was denied what, to the Dutch following at least, looked like a clear penalty when he was impeded by the Irish goalie. The shock finallyarrived in the 68th minute as the Irish got the goal that had threatened to come for so long when the unmarked Jason McAteer slotted home a simple looking ball. Holland were being shown that spirit and the will-to-win more than compensate for a lack of the 'skills' that the Dutch definitely possess but have had such 'enormous' problems displaying at international level. Van Bronckhorst replaced Overmars as things began to look desperate for Oranje, they tried and they tried to get a ball in the net but it just wasn't happening! Holland's whole game plan was now in ruins - the high ball being practically the only way they could think of to get the ball to Van Hooijdonk and Kluivert in the area, but both strikers were completely ineffective today. It was a strange sight to see Hasselbaink pumping those high balls in from the right wing - what was he doing there - he wasn't going to score from out there and he didn't! As the last 10 minutes ticked away the Dutch threw everything into attack but it made no difference. Holland's dream of the World Cup is over - a victim of their own nonchalance and arrogance in earlier matches while being simply impotent today. Individual reputation at club level was never going to be enough to deliver the victories they've let slip out of their grasp all too often this last year and there's going to be plenty of time for the inevitable analysis.

Oranje could face Asian team in World Cup

31 Aug 2001

Oranje could find themselves facing an Asian team if they end as 2nd placed country in their World Cup group. FIFA have made an early announcement of the playoffs which will take place at the end of the group matches to decide which of the 2nd placed countries will go through to the World Cup next year. The 2nd placed team in Holland's Group 2 will face the winner of a playoff between the no.2s in the Asian groups - Group A in consists of Bahrein, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Thailand, Group B consists of China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Oman and Qatar. The playoff consists of an away match followed by a home match on November 10th and 15th.

Davids banned for 5 months

29 Aug 2001

The Italian Football Association have finally reached their decision and banned Edgar Davids from playing for 5 months. The verdict comes after the Italian Olympic committee (CONI) recommended a 3-month ban which would have allowed the Juventus midfielder to play against Ireland on Saturday in the all-important World Cup qualifier. His legal team still regard the ban-reduction (from 8 to 5 months) as a victory because of the fact that tougher 'punishments' are the rule, rather than the exception, in Italy. Davids will undoubtedly appeal but will in any case be able to play again from October 17th.

Davids could play against Ireland

29 Aug 2001

The Italian Olympic committee 'CONI' has advised the Italian Football Association to cut Edgar Davids original provisional ban of 8 months for 'nandrolone' abuse to 3 months, which would allow him to play on Saturday against Ireland! They appear to have accepted the Dutch international's argument that a homeopathic preparation he was using could have elicited the positive reaction in the nadrolone test carried out earlier this year. It's expected that the Italian FA will follow CONI's advice and formal confirmation is awaited with bated breath by the Oranje squad who've just arrived at their training camp in Hoenderloo.

Oranje squad announced - incl.Edgar Davids

27 Aug 2001

Louis van Gaal has announced the Oranje squad for the all-important World Cup qualifier against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday September 1st. Frank de Boer, as expected, is missing through injury, as are Bobby Petta, Michael Reiziger and Ronald de Boer. Arthur Numan and Paul Bosvelt have been called up again after missing out due to long periods of injury last season - Bosvelt played last in the match against Portugal in March and Numan has to think back to Euro 2000 for his last match when Holland took on Yugoslavia! Edgar Davids still has to wait till tomorrow, when the verdict on his 'nandrolone' case is expected, to find out if the provisional 8-month ban will be lifted allowing him to actually play on Saturday! Van Gaal believes that, even if the verdict is negative, Davids' sheer presence will be an inspiring factor for the rest of the squad.

The full squad is as follows:- Goal:- Edwin van der Sar (Fulham), Sander Westerveld (Liverpool). Defenders:- Mario Melchiot (Chelsea), Jaap Stam (Man United just signed for Lazio), Kevin Hofland (PSV), Arthur Numan (Glasgow Rangers). Midfielders:- Mark van Bommel (PSV), Paul Bosvelt (Feyenoord), Philip Cocu (Barcelona), Edgar Davids (Juventus), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Arsenal), Denny Landzaat (Willem II). Forwards:- Marc Overmars (Barcelona), Boudewijn Zenden (Chelsea), Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Roy Makaay (Deportivo), Pierre van Hooijdonk (Feyenoord), Jerrel Hasselbaink (Chelsea).

Frank de Boer won't play against Ireland

24 Aug 2001

Frank de Boer has had to accept that he won't be fit in time for the World Cup qualifier against Ireland in Dublin on September 1st. He's picked up an achilles heel injury and, although he's been training again, a simple sprint still causes too much pain. This, together with the fact that he's missed so many matches since his ban resulting from the 'nandrolone affair', makes it highly unlikely he'll be picked to play against Ireland. It's a huge disappointment for the Dutch captain who'd been looking forward to playing a 'real' match again after only being 'allowed' to take part in a couple of friendlies!

Reiziger out for a month

18 Aug 2001

Dutch international Michael Reiziger had to leave the pitch injured after only 12 minutes of play during the match against Parma in the final of the Joan Gamper Tournament. He's torn a muscle and will be out of action for a month which means he'll also miss Holland's World Cup qualifier against Ireland on September 1st.

Holland look good in 0 - 2 win over England

16 Aug 2001

Holland started in better shape than the English who seemed to be more concerned with the start of the Premier League season and coolly confident in the knowledge that they were 5 games without defeat under Sven Eriksson. Oranje were allowed to take more or less control of the play during the 1st half hour and had the better chances while England seemed happy to attack on the break. Actually it's funny to realise that Stam, Van Nistelrooy, Hasselbaink, Van Bronckhorst, Melchiot, and Van der Sar (who all played tonight) appear weekly in the English Premier League. Van Nistelrooy saw an early shot turned away by goalie Martyn and Kluivert hit the rebound just wide. A while later a reckless challenge by Ashley Cole on "Our Ruud" should have seen a penalty for Holland - the Swedish referee thought otherwise! In the last 15 minutes of the half the home side came alive - Andy Cole's shot was weak but Gary Neville blasted a long range shot at Van der Sar which he dealt with in his usual impeccable mannner. Then the Dutch struck first with an incredible 40 metre shot from Van Bommel in the 38th minute for his 2nd Oranje goal - wow! Then it was Ruud's turn and he pounced a minute later to give Holland a well deserved 2 - 0 lead to take into the dressing room, almost getting another a few minutes after which would have been a beautiful goal, a curling chip which disappeared over the head of the goalie but just bouncing off the underside of the bar - sh.....ame!.

Hasselbaink had a chance to put away a 3rd Oranje goal in the 1st minute of the 2nd half from a sneaky through ball by Davids (who was the subject of constant booing when on the ball due to the commotion made by the English press about his taking part in this friendly while banned by FIFA from taking part in official matches) but his charge was blocked by goalie James. Both sides made use of plenty of substitutions for the 2nd half - Melchiot (for Stam), Waterreus (his debut), Davids, Hasselbaink (for Van Nistelrooy) and Makaay (for Zenden) came on for Holland. England replaced even more players and their substitute keeper James had to be replaced almost immediately, after a collision with Keown (who also had to depart, injured) and on came Arsenal's new signing (in preference to Feyenoord's Jurek Dudek) Richard Wright. It was almost two different teams than had faced each other in the 1st half and it took time for things to settle on both sides but the Dutch still looked that bit sharper, that bit more effective. The tempo remained lower than in the 1st 45 minutes (maybe due to the temperature - it was quite warm and someone in the crowd stripped off all of his/her clothes, which got him the attention of a rather large swarm of 'bobbies' - although it was probably more as a courtesy to the fans who had paid after all for the "full monty", 90 minutes or else!). The appearance of a determined young (20 years old) Smith (Leeds United) added some some pepper to the proceedings and England certainly started looking sharper for the last 15 minutes. Niels Oude-Kamphuis came on for Cocu so that Davids took over as captain. It was now getting to that point in the match where we could expect to see P-Air and there he was in the 89th minute. But, apart from a chance for Owen as England pressed forward in injury time the score remained 0 - 2.

Petta out for 4 - 6 weeks

16 Aug 2001

Bobby Petta will be out of action for 4 - 6 weeks after picking up a hamstring injury in the last training session before Oranje's friendly against England yesterday. The Celtic midfielder will miss the return of the Champions League qualifier against Ajax in Glasgow as well as missing out on yet another chance to make his debut for Holland in their World Cup qualifier against Ireland on September 1st.

Oranje last coaching job for Van Gaal

16 Aug 2001

Louis van Gaal has announced that he won't be available for a new coaching challenge after his contract with the Dutch FA (KNVB) runs out in 2006. Although he said in December that he would still like to work in England and/or Italy plus the fact that there's a clause in his current contract which allows for two-yearly evaluations it looks as if he's going to close the coaching chapter of his career with the Dutch National squad. If he lasts till 2006 he'll have been active as coach for the best part of 20 years - he started with AZ in 1987/88, moving on to achieve huge successes with Ajax (winning amongst other trophies the Champions League and the World Cup for clubs) and Barcelona ( where he won another 4 trophies), leaving of his own accord before taking on the Oranje job.

Bobby Petta misses out on debut again

15 Aug 2001

Bobby Petta is missing out once more on the chance to make his debut for Oranje. The Celtic left-half has pulled out at the last moment with a hamstring injury picked up in training yesterday. He'll be doubly disappointed when he was certain to play this time round due to Marc Overmars' injury after missing out before himself due to injuries. The left-footer started as 18 year-old with Feyenoord but didn't develop as expected but, after spells with Dordrecht '90, RKC Waalwijk and Ipswich Town, has finally blossomed in Glasgow!

Jong Oranje lose to England

15 Aug 2001

Jong Oranje lost 4 - 0 in their match against England's youth team - they made a poor impression and were no match for the English. Aston Villa's Darius Vassell scored after 10 minutes play and, after the break, West Ham's Jermaine Defoe added two more and Derby County�s Malcolm Christie got the 4th. To make things worse goal keeper Dorus de Vries left the pitch with an ankle injury.

Waterreus gets debut against England

14 Aug 2001

Louis van Gaal has promised Ronald Waterreus his debut in the friendly against England tomorrow. Philip Cocu is named as Captain as Frank de Boer is still un fit enough to risk fielding in a friendly when a fully fit captain could be badly needed shortly for the World Cup qualifier against Ireland - Kevin Hofland will take his place. Overmars is also a doubtful and, even if he plays, will be substituted by Bobby Petta to allow him to make his debut. On the English side there's been a lot of influenece exerted by top clubs Manchester United and Liverpool to get the FA to take it easy with their players. The English FA have apparently agreed to field certain players for not more than 45 minutes, Heskey, Gerard and Butt have all meanwhile dropped out through injury, while both countries have agreed to substitutions being made in groups. The result of the off-pitch concerns could be a bloodless and/or rather meaningless meeting between two of the sport's top teams. For Waterreus and England's most-likely debutee, Owen Hargreaves, we hope that they will prove us wrong tomorrow.

The Dutch eleven is: Van der Sar, Reiziger, Stam, Hofland, Van Bronckhorst, Van Bommel, Kluivert, Cocu, Zenden, Van Nistelrooy and Overmars.

Frank de Boer misses England friendly?

12 Aug 2001

Frank de Boer looks certain to miss the coming friendly against England after he left the pitch during Barcelona's friendly against Derby County last Friday with an achilles injury. It's causing him considerable pain and threatens to become a chronic problem if it remains untreated.

More injury problems for Jong Oranje

12 Aug 2001

Groningen's Ali Boussaboun and Utrecht's Ruud Berger are the latest players who will miss the chance to play in Jong Oranje's friendly against England's youth team next Tuesday. Youssouf Hersi (NAC)and Ivar van Dinteren (RKC) have been called up as replacements. Michael Lamey and Iwan Redan (RKC), Patrick Ax (NEC) and Jelle ten Rouwelaar (Emmen) have already called-off.

Van Nieuwstadt gets Jong Oranje call-up

11 Aug 2001

Jos van Nieuwstadt has got the call-up for Jong Oranje as replacement for the injured Michael Lamey. The 21 year-old Willem II defender made his Ere Divisie debut on November 15th 1998 in the 2 - 1 win for the "Tricolores'" against NAC.

Joop Hiele new Oranje keepers trainer

10 Aug 2001

Joop Hiele takes over from Frans Hoek as the Oranje keepers' trainer. Hoek has extended his contract at Barcelona for two years and has declined an offer to work full-time for the Dutch National squad. Former Feyenoord and Oranje goalie has been training Jong Oranje's keepers up until now but will be glad of the promotion.

Oranje squad for England friendly announced

10 Aug 2001

Louis van Gaal has announced the squad for next week's friendly against England on Wednesday August 15th. Frank de Boer and Edgar Davids have been included as they both have official FIFA permission to play in friendlies. Ronald Waterreus has got the callup after his impressive season for PSV (he was least-passed goalie in the Ere Divisie). Celtic's Bobby Petta and Schalke 04's Niels Oude Kamphuis also get another chance (they were called up last year but had to drop out through injury).

The squad is: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (PSV), Kevin Hofland (PSV), Mark van Bommel (PSV), Ronald Watterreus (PSV), Edwin van der Sar (Fulham), Boudewijn Zenden (Chelsea), Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona), Philip Cocu (Barcelona), Frank de Boer (Barcelona), Denny Landzaat (Willem II), Marc Overmars (Barcelona), Jaap Stam (Manchester United), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Arsenal), Pierre van Hooijdonk (Feyenoord), Roy Makaay (Deportivo la Coruna), Michael Reiziger (Barcelona), Mario Melchiot (Chelsea), Jerrel Hasselbaink (Chelsea), Edgar Davids (Juventus), Bob Petta (Celtic), Niels Oude Kamphuis (Schalke '04), Sander Westerveld (Liverpool).

Jong Oranje debut for Da Silva

10 Aug 2001

Sparta's 19 year-old talent David Mendes Da Silva has been called up for the match against England's youth team. Iwan Redan, Jelle ten Rouwelaar and Patrick Ax are all unavailable through injury. Serge van der Ban (Haarlem), Dorus de Vries (Telstar), Michael Lamey (RKC Waalwijk), Resit Schuurman (NEC), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Karim Touzani (FC Utrecht), Peter Wisgerhof (NEC), Mike Zonneveld (NEC), Pascal Bosschaart (FC Utrecht),Theo Janssen (Vitesse), Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax), Jan Kromkamp (AZ), David Mendes da Silva (Sparta), Joost Broerse (FC Groningen), Andy van der Meyde (Ajax), Ali Boussabon (FC Groningen), Cedric van der Gun (Ajax), Dirk Kuyt (FC Utrecht), Ruud Berger (FC Utrecht), Arjen Robben (FC Groningen).

Frank de Boer plays against England

08 Aug 2001

FIFA have given the KNVB (Dutch FA) permission to field Frank de Boer in the friendly against England on August 15th. The Dutch Captain received a reduced two-month ban for failing a dope test earlier this year which should have kept him out of action until the the beginning of September but he's being allowed to play this match because it is a friendly.

De Boer's sentence cut to two months!!

28 July 2001

In a remarkable move UEFA's appeals committee has reduced Frank de Boer's original ban of12 months, for testing positive for Nandrolone, to two months. It was rumoured beforehand that there was possibly going to be a severe reduction in the 'sentence'. The pannel indeed proved sympathetic towards the arguments put forward by the Dutch international's legal "A-Team". Their verdict comes as a great relief to the Barcelona defender and is a piece of much needed good news for the Dutch national team, "Oranje", who face Ireland in an all-important World Cup qualifier on September 1st. The ban runs from July 1st to August 31st which means that the Dutch Captain will be able to play - business as usual! His agent Rob Cohen has threatened to go to court now to reveal the unprofessional unreliability of the laboratories used to test for drugs and sue for compensation. In the meantime Edgar Davids' legal team are still waiting to hear the response of the Italian FA to their case - a case of no news is good news?!

Holland drop a place in FIFA rankings

20 July 2001

FIFA have announced a new top ten of footballing nations and Holland have dropped a place to 10th position! It's quite a surprise to see the Czech Republic in 9th, while Germany have jumped from 8th to 5th. The top 10 (in points) are:

(1) France 810 (2) Brazil 795 (3) Argentina 764 (4) Italy 735
(5) Germany 726 (6) Spain 715 (7) Portugal 712 (8) Paraguay 711 (9) Czech Republic 709 (10) Holland 695.

Jong Oranje lose Quarter-Final to Egypt

02 July 2001

Jong Oranje have failed to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup for Under 20s in Argentina - they lost 2 - 1 to a stronger Egyptian side. It was a repeat of earlier games - the Dutch playing older and physically tougher opponents, lady-luck often lending a helping hand to get them through. Egypt were simply too good (they'd earlier beaten the favourites Argentina 7 - 1!!!) and dominated the match. The Dutch were fortunate to go ahead in the 1st half through a Rafael van der Vaart header in the 33rd minute but Hasan Amin leveled the score after the break and Mohammed El Yamani got the match winner in the 67th minute.

Jong Oranje in Quarter Finals World Cup

29 June 2001

The Dutch Under 20s have reached the quarter finals of the World Cup in Argentina by beating Angola 2 - 0. The African side were previously unbeaten in the tournament but were off target on too many occasions. Gino Coutinho turned out to be the hero of the day for Jong Oranje with a series of brilliant saves. Rahamat Mustapha (52nd) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (87th) scored for the Dutch after the break and they now go on to meet Egypt (who beat the United States) in the quarter finals.

Jong Oranje beat Ethiopia

25 June 2001

The Dutch Under 20s have won their 3rd match of the World Cup for Under 20s in Argentina and beaten Ethiopia 3 - 2. First half goals from Santi Kolk and Youssouf Hersi looked to have given Jong Oranje a safe lead but, after the break, the Africans got a goal back with a penalty by Zewdu. Klaas Huntelaar scored a 3rd in the 70th minute and Andatgawch got a 2nd for the young Ethiopians 2 minutes before the final whistle. The Dutch now need to beat Angola on Thursday for a place in the quarter finals where they could meet the winner of the match between the United States and Egypt.

Jong Oranje fail to beat Ecuador

22 June 2001

After losing theirng match against Costa Rica, Jong Oranje have failed to win their 2nd match of the tournament and could only manange a 1 - 1 draw against Ecuador in the World Cup for Under 20s held in Argentina. PSV's J�rgen Colin scored in the 20th minute but an increasingly menacing Ecuador drew level only 6 minutes later. 'Young Holland' (3rd place in Group E) still have a chance to make it through to the 2nd round as one of the four best no.3s out of the 6 groups.

Dutch Under 20s lose to Costa Rica

19 June 2001

The Dutch under 20 side have lost their first match of the World Cup for Under 21s in Argentina. They were soundly beaten by Costa Rica 3 - 1. Montero headed in the first after 37 minutes and, although Rafael van der Vaart came close in the 1st half, the Costa Ricans went two up after the break. Goalie Stekelenburg came too far out and Sparks hit a tremendous 40 metre strike over the goalie's head for the 2 - 0, adding a 3rd later on. Youssef Hersi got a consolation goal for Jong Oranje.

Jong Oranje squad announced

06 June 2001

Louis van Gaal has announced the squad for the coming World Cup for Under 20s in Argentina which begins for Jong Oranje (in Group E with Ethiopia, Ecuador and Costa Rica) on June 18th with a match against Costa Rica. Goalkeepers - Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax) and Gino Coutinho (PSV).Defenders - J�rgen Colin (PSV), C. Sprockel (Feyenoord), Johnny Heitinga (Ajax), Glenn Loovens (Feyenoord), Ruud Knol (Vitesse), Alje Schut (FC Utrecht),
David Mendes da Silva (Sparta) and Jeffrey Leiwakabessy (NEC). Midfielders - Rene van Dieren (Feyenoord), Youssouf Hersi (Ajax), Said Boutahar (Feyenoord) and Theo Janssen (Vitesse). Forwards - Santi Kolk (SC Heerenveen), Arjen Robben (FC Groningen), Thijs Houwing (FC Twente), Jeffrey de Visscher (FC Twente), Rahamat Mustapha (Vitesse) and
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (PSV).

FIFA refuse to budge on Davids and De Boer

06 June 2001

FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren has said that it's a waste of time for the Dutch FA (KNVB) to test the validity of the punishment handed out to Edgar Davids in a hearing by TAS (the International Olympic Committee's most senior sporting tribunal). The decision to ban the Juventus player was not reached by FIFA's disciplinary committee and, therefore, does not allow for an appeal. Frank de Boer is also doing his best to maintain his innocence - he's even had his hair tested for traces of nandrolone, which gave a negative result but, unfortunately, this latest test (after the urine and blood tests already carried out in Groningen) is also not 100% foolproof! A decision on his 'punishment' is expected on June 14th!

KNVB in legal battle for Davids

05 June 2001

The Dutch FA (KNVB) are preparing to go to court to try and overturn FIFA's ban on Edgar Davids. It seems that according to FIFA's own rules Davids can't be banned from making international appearances because the Italian FA have only handed out a temporary suspension. If FIFA don't back down a definitive verdict could be sought by the KNVB in the civil courts.

Holland snatch victory in Estland 2 - 4

02 June 2001

The Dutch really need to win in a big way this evening after Ireland drew against Portugal this afternoon. Louis van Gaal said before the match that he would rather have seen either Portugal or Ireland win today and that Holland will now also need a win against Ireland in Dublin and will still have to take part in the playoffs to get to Korea. Kevin Hofland dropped out with gastric flu leaving Van Gaal with last minute adjustments - Van der Sar in goal, Zenden, Mario Melchiot, Patrick Pauuwe and Michael Reiziger, Cocu and De Boer, Kluivert and Hesselbaink up front with Roy Makaay on the right wing and Overmars on the left. Building work has been going on at the tiny, still half-finished Lillekula stadium in Tallinn right up to the last minute, installing the last seats and crowd barriers to meet the minimum standards FIFA have set. Holland got off in a rather sloppy fashion, with too many bad balls/passes, against a team with a wildly enthusiastic crowd behind them. The atmosphere was really great in this cosy venue - lively is not the word. Holland started to push Estonia back and it began to look (as we might reasonably expect) as if it was just a question of time before Oranje finally got into gear and put one away. Unfortunately, after numerous opportunities to score, and 25 minutes of play there still wasn't a goal on the board and Estonia were also starting to look more and more confident. Makaay shot just wide from an Overmars pass but Estonia had the best chance of the first half in the 43rd minute saved by Van der Sar who pushed a header away from where it was headed - the top right hand corner. As halftime drew near the home team came close to delivering a pre-dressing room shock from two corners against a powerless, so-called 'better' Oranje who just couldn't get on target and in gear, looking rather sleepy. So it was somewhat of a relief that it was still 0 - 0 when the whistle sounded for the break.

In the 2nd half Holland looked more like they meant business - I'm sure Louis van Gaal had something to say in the break about the seriousness of the situation. We want to see goals, lots of them and a flowing Oranje at work! Van Nistelrooy replaced Hesselbaink and Landzaat came on for Pauuwe in the 59th minute. It didn't matter as the earthquake-shock came when Estonia broke and scored with a great move and a great goal from Andres Opper in the 66th minute. Thank god for Frank de Boer who got the instant equalizer (show of mental strength under the 'doping' circumstances) with a terrific 30 metre distance shot in the 70th. Pierre van Hooijdonk came on for Makaay and Holland finally started to wake up - de Boer is really the heart of this team, galvanising them into action when none else can. But this incredible Estonian team, coached by former Cruijff student Arno Pijpers, did it again in the 78th minute when substitute Indrek Zelinski scored a 2nd and almost had a 3rd minutes later as a shell-shocked Oranje reeled. Van Nistelrooy drew Holland level again in the 83rd but, even though the Dutch looked far more motivated than at any other time in the match, they were lucky to escape again in the 87th minute. Kluivert snatched a 3rd with a clear-headed header in the 90th and, in the aftershock, an Estonian defensive blunder gave Van Nistelrooy the chance to make it 4 - 2 during injury time. Lucky so and so's - they left it dangerously close to having no way back before doing the job they're paid for. Oranje have a reputation for going to the edge, and they did so again tonight against a brave Estonian team who can look back in pride on the first match in this great little stadium.

Vitesse's Theo Janssen gets Oranje callup

02 June 2001

Theo Janssen, Vitesse's 19 year-old midfielder who played for the Dutch under 21s against Estland yesterday evening , has been called up by Louis van Gaal for tonight's World Cup qualifier against Estland. He's going to fill in the midfield slot left empty by the absence of the 'banned' Edgar Davids and the injured Mark van Bommel. Theo Janssen missed a penalty.

Dutch Under 21s beat Estland 0 - 5

02 June 2001

The Dutch Under 21s have had an easy win in and against Estland 1 - 5. Man of the Match was RKC's Iwan Redan who scored a hattrick after coming on as substitute, Dirk Kuyt (FC Utrecht) and Peter Wisgerhof (NEC) got the other two goals. Ireland lost at home to Portugal 0 - 1 which puts Holland into 1st place on 13 points from 6 games, Portugal have 10 points from 4 games.

Mark van Bommel misses Estland match

01 June 2001

PSV's midfielder Mark van Bommel will not be travelling to Estland for tomorrow's crucial World Cup qualifier. He broke a toe in his left foot during the Amstel Cup final against Twente and, although it was originally hoped that he would still be able to play, the injury is going to mean he'll have to watch the match on tv.

Dutch Under 19s lose semi-final to Portugal

01 June 2001

The Dutch Under 19s have lost their semi-final in the 'Festival International Espoir' tournament in Toulon to a stronger Portugal... 0 - 1.

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