History
Dutch squad for their first international match
The Netherlands played their first international match in Antwerp against Belgium on 30 April 1905. The players were selected by a five-member commission from the Dutch football association. After 90 minutes, the score was 1–1, but because the match was for a trophy (the "Coupe van den Abeele"), the game went into extra time, in which Eddy de Neve scored three times, making the score 1–4.[1] The Netherlands made their first appearance at the World Cup final tournament in 1934, and after coming back in 1938, the Dutch national team entered the wilderness of world football.
They came out of this wilderness in the 1970s with the invention of Total Football (Dutch:Totaalvoetbal), pioneered by Ajax and led by playmaker Johan Cruyff and national team coachRinus Michels. The Dutch made huge strides, qualifying for two World Cup finals in the decade. In 1974, the Netherlands beat both Brazil and Argentina in the second group stage, reaching the final for the first time in their history. However, the team lost to West Germany in the final inMunich, despite having gone 1–0 up through Johan Neeskens' early penalty kick before any German had even touched the ball. The Dutch were trying to embarrass the Germans at home while they were only up 1–0. This would prove their undoing. Supported by the crowd, a converted penalty by Paul Breitner and the winner from Gerd Müller led to a victory for the Germans. In spite of losing the final, the Clockwork Oranje and Johan Cruyff had already written a new page in football's history. By comparison, Euro '76 was a disappointment. The Netherlands lost in the semi-finals to Czechoslovakia, as much because of fighting within the squad and the coach George Knobel, as well as the skill of the eventual winners. In 1978, the Netherlands again reached the final of aWorld Cup, only to be again beaten by the hosts, Argentina. This side played without Johan Cruyff,Willem van Hanegem, and Jan van Beveren, who refused to participate in the World Cup. It still contained players such as Johan Neeskens, Johnny Rep, Arie Haan, Ruud Krol and Rob Rensenbrink from the 1974 selection. This time the Netherlands were less impressive in the group stages, as they qualified only as runners-up, after a draw with Peru and a loss to Scotland. In the second group phase, however, the Netherlands topped a group including Italy and West Germany, setting up a final with Argentina. However, the Dutch finished as runners up for the second World Cup in a row as they ultimately lost 3–1 after two extra time goals from Argentina. Agonisingly for the Dutch, Rensenbrink hit the Argentinian post in the last minute of normal time, with the score 1–1. Euro '80 was the last tournament that the generation of Total Football qualified for, but they did not advance past the group stage, despite the tournament format being expanded that year. Veterans such as Krol and Rensenbrink retired soon afterwards and the Netherlands missed the 1982 World Cup, Euro '84, and the 1986 World Cup in succession.
European Champions
Rinus Michels returned to coach the team for the Euro '88 tournament. After losing the first group match against the Soviet Union (1–0), the Netherlands went on to qualify for the semi-final by defeating England 3–1 (with a hat-trick by the tournament's top scorer Marco van Basten), and Republic of Ireland (1–0). For many Dutch football supporters, the most important match in the tournament was the semi-final against West Germany, the host country, considered a revenge for the lost 1974 World Cup final (also in West Germany). Marco van Basten, who would later become national team coach, scored in the 89th minute of the game to sink the German side. The game is also remembered for its post-match shenanigans, including Ronald Koeman, who, in front of the German supporters, provocatively pretended to wipe his backside with the shirt of Olaf Thon as if it were toilet paper, an action Koeman later regretted.[2] The Netherlands won the final with a convincing victory over the USSR, a rematch on the round robin game, through a header by Ruud Gullit and a volley by van Basten. This was the national team's first major tournament win and it restored them to the forefront of international football after almost a decade in the wilderness for almost three years to come. Despite high expectations as the team entered the 1990 World Cup, that tournament was not a success. Van Basten failed to score, as he was frequently marked by opposing defenders, while Gullit was ineffective having not fully recovered from injury. The Dutch managed to advance despite drawing all three group games, meeting their arch-rivals West Germany in the round of 16. The match is most remembered for the spitting-incident involving Frank Rijkaard and Rudi Völler as the Netherlands lost 2–1. The team subsequently reached the semi-finals in the Euro '92, which was noted for the emergence of Dennis Bergkamp, but they were eliminated by eventual champions Denmark, with Van Basten's kick in the penalty shootout being saved by Peter Schmeichel. This was to be van Basten's last major tournament as he suffered a serious injury shortly after, eventually conceding defeat and retiring at the age of 30 in 1995. In the 1994 World Cup, in the absence of the chronically injured van Basten and the striking Gullit, Dennis Bergkamp led the team with three goals and the Netherlands advanced to the quarter-finals, where they lost 3–2 to eventual champions Brazil.
1996-2004
At Euro '96, after drawing 0–0 with Scotland and beating Switzerland 2–0, they faced the hosts England in the pool A decider, with both teams on 4 points. After 62 minutes, with Scotland beating Switzerland 1–0, the Netherlands were 4–0 down and looked like finishing third behind Scotland on goal difference and going out of the tournament, but Patrick Kluivert converted aDennis Bergkamp assist and scored in the 78th minute to see the Dutch finish second on goals scored. They then played France in the quarter-finals, drawing 0–0 and being eliminated 5–4 on penalties. In the 1998 World Cup, Netherlands, whose team included Marc Overmars, Phillip Cocu, Edgar Davids, Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer, and Patrick Kluivert, met Argentina in the quarter-final, a rematch of the 1978 final. Near the end of regular time, after an unsuccessful dive to draw a penalty, Argentinian Ariel Ortega head-butted Edwin van der Sar.[3] Ortega was sent off and the Netherlands won 2–1 after a Bergkamp goal in the 89th minute. Bergkamp's goal was famous because of its quality — he touched down a 60-yard (55 m) pass from Frank de Boer then reverse-flicked it inside Roberto Ayala and finally volleyed it past the Argentine goalkeeper. In the semi-final, the Netherlands took Brazil to a penalty shootout after a late Kluivert goal tied the match 1–1, but Brazil won the shootout 4–2 and advanced to the final. Netherlands lost the third place match 2–1 to upstart Croatia. Soon after the World Cup exit manager Guus Hiddinkresigned after two tournaments in charge and was replaced by legendary ex-midfielder Frank Rijkaard. Netherlands co-hosted Euro 2000 with Belgium and were one of the favourites coming into the tournament. Getting all three wins in the group stage, including a win over reigning World Cup champions France, they then crushed Yugoslavia 6–1 in the quarter-finals, with Kluivert getting a hat-trick. In the semi-finals, their opponents, Italy, went down to ten men in the first half and the Netherlands were awarded two penalty kicks but failed to convert either chance. Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo made two saves in the shootout (in addition to his penalty saves in regulation time) to eliminate the Netherlands. Having failed to score during the tournament, Dennis Bergkamp retired from the national team after Euro 2000. Coach Frank Rijkaard was widely criticized by the press after the defeat to the Italians as the Dutch had squandered several chances to kill the game. Rijkaard resigned, with Louis van Gaal taking over. Van Gaal is credited with initially bringing through the spine of this Dutch side whilst manager of Ajax durting the mid ninieties, including Edwin van der Sar, Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Clarence Seedorf, Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert and the de Boer twins. Surprisingly the Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, with crucial losses to Portugal and the Republic of Ireland, the latter of which eliminated them from the Finals tournament. Van Gaal resigned at the conclusion of the Netherlands' unsuccessful campaign.
World Cup 2006-present
The Netherlands qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany and finished second in Group C after beating Serbia & Montenegro (1–0) and the Côte d'Ivoire (2–1) and drawing Argentina (0–0). Both Argentina and the Netherlands finished the group stage with seven points, but the Argentinians had a superior goal difference and finished first as a result. The Dutch were eliminated in the second round after losing 1–0 to Portugal, in a match that produced 16 yellow cards (which matched the World Cup record for most cautions in one game set in 2002) and set a new World Cup record of four red cards (two for either side) and was nicknamed "the Battle of Nuremberg" by the press[4]. Despite criticism surrounding his selection policy and the lack of attacking football from his team, Marco van Basten was offered a two-year extension to his contract by the Dutch FA, which would allow him to serve as national coach during Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. The move was widely regarded as a vote of confidence in van Basten and his assistants by theKNVB officials.[5] The Netherlands began their Euro 2008 campaign with a win in Luxembourg on 2 September 2006. On 8 September 2007, the Oranje beat Bulgaria at the Amsterdam ArenA on goals by Wesley Sneijder and Ruud van Nistelrooy. On 12 September 2007, the Netherlands won a hard fought victory against Albania, with van Nistelrooy scoring the winning goal in stoppage time. This win took the Dutch squad into second place in Group G, on par with Romania for points, but behind on goal differential. The Oranje were beaten 1–0 in Romania on 13 October 2007, but four days later, the Netherlands' 2–0 victory over Slovenia, while rivals Bulgaria could only draw in Albania, left the Dutch needing one win from their last two games, at home to Luxembourg and away to Belarus, to qualify for Euro 2008. The Dutch team was a participant in the "Group of Death", together with France, Italy, and Romania. They began Euro 2008 with a 3–0 win over World Cup Champion Italy in Berne on 9 June 2008. This was the Netherlands' first victory over Italy since 1978. In their second group match against France on 13 June 2008, the Netherlands won convincingly with a 4–1 score. The Dutch closed out an incredible group stage campaign with a 2–0 win over Romania. However, they lost in the quarter-final to former coach Guus Hiddink's Russia by 3–1, despite a late 86th minute equalizer by Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Russians ended the Dutch run with two goals in extra time.
[edit]Last 5 and known next games
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Competition | Result |
|---|
| October 10, 2009 | Sydney Football Stadium,  Australia | Australia | F | 0 - 0 D |
| November 14, 2009 | Stadio Adriatico,  Italy | Italy | F | 0 - 0 D |
| November 18, 2009 | Abe Lenstra Stadion,  Netherlands |  Paraguay | F | 0 - 0 D |
| March 3, 2010 | Amsterdam Arena, Netherlands |  United States | F | 2 - 1 W |
| May 26, 2010 | Dreisamstadion,  Germany |  Mexico | F | 2 - 1 W |
| June 1, 2010 | De Kuip, Netherlands |  Ghana | F |
| June 5, 2010 | Amsterdam Arena, Netherlands |  Hungary | F |
| June 14, 2010 | Soccer City,  South Africa |  Denmark | WCF2010 |
| June 19, 2010 | Moses Mabhida Stadium, South Africa |  Japan | WCF2010 |
| June 24, 2010 | Cape Town Stadium, South Africa |  Cameroon | WCF2010 |
| September 3, 2010 | Stadio Olimpico,  San Marino | San Marino | ECQ2012 |
| September 7, 2010 | De Kuip, Netherlands |  Finland | ECQ2012 |
| October 8, 2010 | Zimbru Stadium,  Moldova | Moldova | ECQ2012 |
| October 12, 2010 | Amsterdam ArenA, Netherlands |  Sweden | ECQ2012 |
| March 25, 2011 | Stadium Puskas Ferenc, Hungary | Hungary | ECQ2012 |
| March 29, 2011 | Amsterdam ArenA, Netherlands | Hungary | ECQ2012 |
| September 2, 2011 | Philips Stadion, Netherlands | San Marino | ECQ2012 |
| Septebmer 6, 2011 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland | Finland | ECQ2012 |
| October 7, 2011 | De Kuip, Netherlands | Moldova | ECQ2012 |
| October 11, 2011 | Råsunda Stadium, Sweden | Sweden | ECQ2012 |
[edit]Colours
Coat of arms of the Netherlands The Netherlands national football team play in a bright orange shirt. Orange is the historic national colour of the Netherlands, originating from the coat of arms of the Dutch founding father William of Orange-Nassau. The top red band of the current flag was originally orange. The current Dutch away shirt is white, with two thin lines outlining a chevron containing the colors of the Dutch flag. Occasionally, orange socks are worn instead of light blue socks, such as in the qualifier against Scotland on March 28, 2009. Nike is the kit provider to the national team, a sponsorship that began in 1996 and is contracted to continue until at least 2018. [edit]Competitive record
[edit]World Cup record
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
|---|
 1930 | Did not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1934 | Round 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
 1938 | Round 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
 1950 | Did Not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1954 | Did Not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1958 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1962 | Did Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1966 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1970 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1974 | Final | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 |
 1978 | Final | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 10 |
 1982 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1986 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1990 | Round of 16 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1994 | Quarter-finals | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| 1998 | Fourth place | 4 | 7 | 3 | 3* | 1 | 13 | 7 |
 2002 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | Round of 16 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 2010 | Qualified | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 9/19 | 2 Finals | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 59 | 38 |
| [edit]European Championship record
| Year | Round | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
|---|
| 1960 | Did not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1964 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1968 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1972 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 1976 | Third place | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 1980 | Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| 1984 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1988 | Champions | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| 1992 | Semi-final | 4 | 2 | 2* | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| 1996 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 2* | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 2000 | Semi-final | 5 | 4 | 1* | 0 | 13 | 3 |
 2004 | Semi-final | 5 | 1 | 2* | 2 | 7 | 6 |
 2008 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
| Total | 8/13 | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 55 | 32 |
[edit]Summer Olympics |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.
- **Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.'
[edit]Current squad
The following 23 players were named as part of the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Caps and goals as of 26 May 2010
| No. | Pos. | Player | DoB (Age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|
| 1 | GK | Maarten Stekelenburg | September 22, 1982 (age 27) | 26 | 0 | Ajax |
| 16 | GK | Michel Vorm | October 20, 1983 (age 26) | 3 | 0 | Utrecht |
| 22 | GK | Sander Boschker | October 20, 1970 (age 39) | 0 | 0 | Twente |
|
|---|
| 5 | DF | Giovanni van Bronckhorst  | February 5, 1975 (age 35) | 97 | 5 | Feyenoord |
| 21 | DF | Gregory van der Wiel | February 3, 1988 (age 22) | 8 | 0 | Ajax |
| 23 | DF | André Ooijer | July 11, 1974 (age 35) | 53 | 3 | PSV |
| 3 | DF | John Heitinga | November 15, 1983 (age 26) | 52 | 6 | Everton |
| 4 | DF | Joris Mathijsen | April 5, 1980 (age 30) | 54 | 3 | Hamburg |
| 5 | DF | Edson Braafheid | April 8, 1983 (age 27) | 6 | 0 | Bayern Munich |
| 3 | DF | Khalid Boulahrouz | December 28, 1981 (age 28) | 29 | 0 | Stuttgart |
|
|---|
| 17 | MF | Ibrahim Afellay | April 2, 1986 (age 24) | 21 | 0 | PSV |
| MF | Stijn Schaars | January 11, 1984 (age 26) | 12 | 0 | AZ |
| 20 | MF | Demy de Zeeuw | May 26, 1983 (age 27) | 24 | 0 | Ajax |
| 6 | MF | Mark van Bommel | April 22, 1977 (age 33) | 54 | 9 | Bayern Munich |
| 8 | MF | Nigel de Jong | November 30, 1984 (age 25) | 40 | 1 | Manchester City |
| 14 | MF | Rafael van der Vaart | February 11, 1983 (age 27) | 76 | 15 | Real Madrid |
| 10 | MF | Wesley Sneijder | June 9, 1984 (age 25) | 59 | 12 | Internazionale |
|
|---|
| 9 | FW | Dirk Kuyt | July 22, 1980 (age 29) | 61 | 14 | Liverpool |
| 21 | FW | Ryan Babel | December 19, 1986 (age 23) | 38 | 5 | Liverpool |
| 7 | FW | Robin van Persie | August 6, 1983 (age 26) | 42 | 16 | Arsenal |
| 11 | FW | Arjen Robben | January 23, 1984 (age 26) | 46 | 11 | Bayern Munich |
| 18 | FW | Eljero Elia | February 13, 1987 (age 23) | 6 | 2 | Hamburg |
| 19 | FW | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | August 12, 1983 (age 26) | 31 | 15 | Milan |
|
[edit]Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months and are still available for call up.
| Pos. | Player | DoB (Age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
|---|
| GK | Piet Velthuizen | November 3, 1986 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | Vitesse | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
|
|---|
| DF | Ron Vlaar | February 16, 1985 (age 25) | 3 | 0 | Feyenoord | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
| DF | Vurnon Anita | April 4, 1989 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | Ajax | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
| DF | Glenn Loovens | October 22, 1983 (age 26) | 1 | 0 |  Celtic | vs Australia, 10 October 2009 |
| DF | Dirk Marcellis | August 13, 1988 (age 21) | 2 | 0 | AZ | vs  Norway, 10 June 2009 |
|
|---|
| MF | Orlando Engelaar | August 24, 1979 (age 30) | 14 | 0 | PSV | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
| MF | Otman Bakkal | February 27, 1985 (age 25) | 1 | 0 | PSV | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
| MF | Wout Brama | August 21, 1986 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | Twente | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
| MF | David Mendes da Silva | August 4, 1982 (age 27) | 7 | 0 | AZ | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
|
|---|
| FW | Jeremain Lens | November 24, 1987 (age 22) | 0 | 0 | PSV | World Cup 2010 preliminary squad, 12 May 2010 |
|
[edit]Past managers
[edit]Individual all-time records
Still active players are highlighted
[edit]Friendly titles
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]External links
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[show]
Netherlands national football team results |
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