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Netherlands national football team logopng
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NED
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Oranje, Clockwork Orange,<br>Orange Crush, The Orangemen
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Koninklijke Nederlandse <br> Voetbalbond
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UEFA ( Europe )
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Marco Van Basten , ( 2004 -)
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Edwin Van Der Sar
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Edwin Van Der Sar (119)
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7 1st ranking date = August 1993
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2
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November 1993
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25
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May 1998
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5
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1
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1911-12, 1978, 1988-1990, <br/>1992, 2002, 2003, 2005
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56
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October 1954
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Patrick Kluivert (40)
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Belgium 1 - 4 Netherlands <br />( Antwerp , Belgium 30 April 1905 )
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Netherlands 9 - 0 Finland <br />( Solna , Sweden 4 July 1912 )<br /> Netherlands 9 - 0 Norway <br />( Rotterdam , Netherlands 1 November 1972 )
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England Amateur 12 - 2 Netherlands <br />( Darlington , England 21 December 1907 )
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8
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1934
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Runners-up, 1974 and 1978
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European Championship
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7
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1976
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The is the national
Football team of the
Netherlands and is controlled by the
Royal Netherlands Football Association . It has won the
1988 European Football Championship (Euro 88), and has reached two consecutive
World Cup finals in
1974 and
1978 but lost both finals to their respective host nations,
West Germany and
Argentina . At the peak of its success in the 1970s, the team was famous for its mastery of
Total Football and was nicknamed "Clockwork Orange" for its precision passing. In many countries the team is colloquially referred to as "
Holland ."
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.
Not until a shift to a national league and full professionalism in the 1950s did the fortunes of the Netherlands improve at both club and international level. In the
1958 World Cup qualifiers, they finished 2 points behind Austria, having lost 3-2 in Vienna after leading 2-0. The team saw continuous improvement throughout the 1960s.
They came out of this wilderness in the 1970s with the invention of and led by playmaker
Johan Cruijff and national team coach
Rinus Michels . The Dutch made huge strides, qualifying for two World Cup finals in the decade.
In 1974, the Netherlands beat both
Brazil and
Argentina in the second group stage, reaching the final for the first time in their history. However, the team lost to
West Germany in the final in
Munich , despite having gone 1-0 up through
Johan Neeskens ' early
Penalty Kick before any German had even touched the ball. Supported by the crowd, goals from
Paul Breitner and
Gerd Müller led to a victory for the Germans. In spite of losing the final, the "Clockwork Orange" and Johan Cruijff had already written a new page in football's history.
By comparison,
Euro 1976 was a disappointment. The Netherlands lost in the semi-finals to
Czechoslovakia , as much victims of infighting within the squad and because of coach
Georg Knobel , as well as the skill of the eventual winners.
In 1978, the Netherlands again reached the final, only to be beaten by the hosts, Argentina. This side played without Cruijff, who refused to participate in the World Cup, for reasons that never have become clear. It still contained players such as Neeskens,
Johnny Rep ,
Arie Haan ,
Ruud Krol and
Rob Rensenbrink from the 1974 selection. This time the Netherlands were less impressive in the group stages, as they qualified only as runners-up, after a draw with
Peru and a loss to
Scotland . In the second group phase, however, the Netherlands topped a group including
Italy and West Germany, setting up a final with Argentina. However, the Dutch finished as runners up for the second World Cup in a row as they ultimately lost 3-1 after two
Extra-time goals from Argentina. Agonisingly for the Dutch, Rensenbrink hit the Argentinian post in the last minute of normal time, with the score 1-1.
Euro 1980 was the last tournament that the generation of Total Football qualified for, but they did not advance past the group stage, despite the tournament format being expanded that year. Veterans such as Krol and Rensenbrink retired soon afterwards and the Netherlands missed the
1982 FIFA World Cup ,
Euro 1984 , and the
1986 FIFA World Cup in succession.
and a volley by Van Basten. This was the national team's first major tournament win and it restored them to the forefront of international football after almost a decade in wilderness.
Despite high expectations as the team entered the
1990 World Cup , that tournament was not a success. Van Basten failed to score, as he was frequently marked by opposing defenders, while Gullit was ineffective having not fully recovered from injury. The Dutch managed to advance despite drawing all three group games, meeting their arch-rivals West Germany in the round of 16. The match is most remembered for the spitting-incident involving
Frank Rijkaard and
Rudi Völler as the Netherlands lost 2-1.
The team subsequently reached the semi-finals in the
Euro 92 , which was noted for the emergence of
Dennis Bergkamp , but they were eliminated by eventual champions Denmark, with Van Basten's kick in the penalty shootout being saved by
Peter Schmeichel . This was also Van Basten's last major tournament, as he retired shortly after due to injury.
In the
1994 FIFA World Cup ,
Dennis Bergkamp led the team with 3 goals and the Netherlands advanced to the quarter-final, where they lost 3-2 to eventual champions
Brazil .
At
Euro 96 , after drawing 0-0 with Scotland and beating Switzerland 2-0, they faced the hosts England in the pool A decider, with both teams on 4 points. After 62 minutes, with Scotland beating Switzerland 1-0, The Netherlands were 4-0 down and looked like finishing third behind Scotland on goal difference and going out of the tournament, but
Patrick Kluivert converted a
Dennis Bergkamp assist and scored in the 78th minute to see the Dutch finish second on goals scored. They then played France in the quarter-finals, drawing 0-0 and being eliminated 5-4 on penalties.
In
1998 FIFA World Cup , Netherlands, whose team included
Marc Overmars ,
Phillip Cocu ,
Edgar Davids ,
Frank De Boer ,
Ronald De Boer and
Patrick Kluivert , met
Argentina in the quarterfinal, a rematch of the 1978 final. Near the end of regular time, after an unsuccessful
Dive to draw a penalty, Argentinian
Ariel Ortega head-butted
Edwin Van Der Sar
1
. 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 pass from
Frank De Boer then reverse-flicked it inside
Roberto Ayala and finally volleyed it past the Argentine goalkeeper. In the semi-final, the Netherlands took
Brazil to a penalty shootout after a late Kluivert goal tied the match 1-1, but Brazil won the shootout 4-2 and advanced to the final. Netherlands lost the 3rd place match 2-1 to upstart
Croatia .
Netherlands co-hosted
Euro 2000 with Belgium and were one of the favourites coming into the tournament. Getting all three wins in the group stage, including a win over reigning World Cup champions France, they then crushed Yugoslavia 6-1 in the quarter-finals, with Kluivert getting a hat-trick. In the semi-finals, their opponents Italy went down to ten men in the first half and the Netherlands were awarded two
Penalty Kicks but failed to convert either chance. Italian goalkeeper
Francesco Toldo made two saves in the shootout (in addition to his penalty save in regulation time) to eliminate the Netherlands. Coach
Frank Rijkaard was widely criticized by the press as the Dutch had squandered several chances to kill the game and he resigned, with
Louis Van Gaal taking over.
Dennis Bergkamp retired from the national team after Euro 2000, having failed to score during the tournament.
Netherlands failed to qualify for the
2002 FIFA World Cup , with crucial losses to Portugal and the
Republic Of Ireland , the latter of which eliminated them from the Finals tournament.
Van Gaal resigned at the conclusion of the Netherlands' unsuccessful campaign.
Netherlands reached the semifinals of
Euro 2004 but lost to Portugal. Coach
Dick Advocaat was criticized for his tactics and player changes and stepped down after the tournament. Also, many of the team's World Cup veterans like
Frank De Boer ,
Ronald De Boer ,
Edgar Davids ,
Clarence Seedorf ,
Marc Overmars ,
Jaap Stam , and
Patrick Kluivert had either retired or were not selected for the upcoming World Cup by new coach
Marco Van Basten .
]]
The Netherlands qualified for the
2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and finished second in Group C after beating
Serbia & Montenegro (1-0) and the
Ivory Coast (2-1) and drawing
Argentina (0-0). Both Argentina and the Netherlands finished the group stage with 7 points, but the Argentinians had a superior goal difference and finished first as a result. The Dutch were eliminated in the second round after losing 0-1 to
Portugal , in a match that produced a World Cup record of four red cards (two for either side) and was nicknamed "the Battle of Nuremberg" by the press
2
. Despite criticism surrounding his selection policy and the lack of attacking football from his team,
Marco Van Basten was offered a two-year extension to his contract by the Dutch FA, which would allow him to serve as national coach during
Euro2008 and the
2010 FIFA World Cup . The move was widely regarded as a vote of confidence in Van Basten and his assistants by the
KNVB officials.
3
The Netherlands began their
Euro 2008 Campaign with a win over Luxembourg on
2 September 2006 . Currently they are in 3rd place in their group with six games left.
match at the
Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion ,
Stuttgart ]]
The Netherlands national football team does not wear the colours of the Dutch flag of today, but instead plays in bright orange. Orange is the historic national colour of the Netherlands, originating from the coat of arms of the Dutch founding father
William Of Orange-Nassau . The top red band of the
Current Flag was originally orange. The current Dutch away shirt incorporates the flag colours as a diagonal stripe.
See Also: Germany and Netherlands football rivalry
The Dutch national football team has a long standing rivalry with
Germany . Although it might date back to the Second World War, usually people date it to the
1974 FIFA World Cup , where the Netherlands lost the final to West Germany, despite being regarded as the better team. Other notable clashes between the two nations were in the semifinal of
Euro 88 , where
Marco Van Basten slid the winning goal in the last minute past the German keeper, and the game in the Round of 16 in the
1990 FIFA World Cup , with Germany beating the Dutch after an infamous spitting incident involving
Frank Rijkaard and
Rudi Völler .
- Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on Penalty Kicks .''
- Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on Penalty Kicks .''
- ---Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.''
The following players were called up for International Friendly against Switzerland on August 22 2007 .
Caps and goals as of August 22 2007 , included against Switzerland .
other=Euro 2008 qual. v. Slovenia , 28 March }}
The following players have all recently been called up to the Netherlands squad. Bracket shows last call-up time.
''Listed according to when they debuted for Netherlands (year in parentheses):''
As of June 6 , 2007 , the ten players with the most caps for the Netherlands are:
As of June 6 , 2007 , the ten players with the most goals for the Netherlands are:
