European Football Championship 2008 / Netherlands

This article covers the Dutch national team at the 2008 European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland .

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Twenty years after the success at the European Championship in 1988 , the then top scorer Marco van Basten tried as a coach to lead the Elftal to their second international title. After the Oranje team had to admit defeat to Portugal in the round of 16 at the World Cup in Germany , van Basten was criticized for his result-oriented and uninspired style of play and personnel and substitution errors - especially in this last game. After the elimination it was said that van Basten could “argue that the real goal of his work has always been the European Championship.” The intermediate goal of qualification was achieved with only two defeats in twelve games. But even these appearances were rarely convincing, so that Elftal had to let Romania win the group and qualified second with only one point ahead of Bulgaria. In a friendly match in Vienna on March 26, 2008, the team caught up with EM hosts Austria after an early 0-3 and even turned the deficit into a 4-3 win.

At the European Championship draw in Lucerne on December 2, 2007, the Netherlands were drawn into a “group of deaths” with world champion Italy, runner-up world champion France and the winner of their qualifying group, Romania. The tournament in Austria and Switzerland was Marco van Basten's last appearance as a bond coach ; After the European Championship, Bert van Marwijk took over the national team on July 1, 2008 .

qualification

September 2, 2006	Luxembourg	Netherlands	0: 1 (0: 1)
September 6, 2006	Netherlands	Belarus	3: 0 (1: 0)
October 7, 2006	Bulgaria	Netherlands	1: 1 (1: 0)
October 11, 2006	Netherlands	Albania	2: 1 (2: 0)
March 24, 2007	Netherlands	Romania	0-0
March 28, 2007	Slovenia	Netherlands	0: 1 (0: 0)
September 8, 2007	Netherlands	Bulgaria	2: 0 (1: 0)
September 12, 2007	Albania	Netherlands	0: 1 (0: 0)
October 13, 2006	Romania	Netherlands	1: 0 (0: 0)
October 17, 2006	Netherlands	Slovenia	2: 0 (1: 0)
November 17, 2007	Netherlands	Luxembourg	1: 0 (1: 0)
November 21, 2007	Belarus	Netherlands	2: 1 (0: 0)

• The goals were scored by van Persie (4), van Nistelrooy (2), Sneijder (2), van Bronckhorst, Huntelaar, Koevermans, Kuyt, Mathijsen and van der Vaart; there was also an own goal by Albanian Dede.

Closing table

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Romania	26: 07	29
2	Netherlands	15: 05	26th
3	Bulgaria	18: 07	25th
4th	Belarus	17:23	13
5	Albania	12:18	11
6th	Slovenia	09:16	11
7th	Luxembourg	02:23	03

preparation

From May 20th to 24th the provisional 26-man squad was in the training camp in Noordwijk . On May 24, Elftal faced Ukraine in a friendly in De Kuip , which they won 3-0. The Dutch team prevailed against the quarter-finalists of the 2006 World Cup with an aggressive, deliberate game - without the sure EM participants van der Sar, van Nistelrooj, Robben, Sneijder, van Persie and Vennegoor of Hesselink. The goals were scored by Kuyt, Huntelaar and Babel.

The preparation continued from May 26th to June 1st at the Golden Tulip Victoria in Hoenderloo near Apeldoorn . The team met Denmark in Eindhoven on May 29th - this time with the players who were spared in the first test match ; in the 1-1 draw, especially in the first half, the van Basten team's “lively enthusiasm” convinced both audience and critics. The team was not as superior as against the Ukraine; but that was because the Danes had more to oppose. Ruud van Nistelrooy - the only tip in van Basten's currently preferred 4-2-3-1 system - scored his 31st goal in his 60th international match; after the break Christian Poulsen equalized . On June 1st, the Oranje team met to complete the preparation for Wales . In the 2-0 win (goals: Robben and Sneijder), the team “didn't play brilliantly, but never had any problems” with the Welsh. After the three test matches it became clear for the European Championship finals that Mathijsen would be given preference over Bouma in defense. Engelaar and de Zeeuw should then occupy the defensive midfield in Switzerland; Robben, Sneijder and van der Vaart were the first choice for the offensive creative department, with van Nistelrooy at the top. The team has been in the EM quarters at the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne since the evening of June 3rd . On the first day in Switzerland, the ailing van Persie was able to take part in the squad's team training for the first time. On June 5, around 4,000 football fans attended the public training session for the Oranje team at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise . After Robben sustained a groin injury in training on June 7th, van Bsten's desired formation failed in the attack. Substitute player on the left was in the starting line-up of the first match against Italy Kuyt.

Dutch contingent

On May 6th, the KNVB announced a provisional expanded 30 European Championship squad, from which five names were deleted on May 16: in addition to Clarence Seedorf , who had already canceled himself on May 13, as he “held his position within the Team too low ”, and van Basten lacked confidence, so were Urby Emanuelson , Kew Jaliens , Hedwiges Maduro and Danny Koevermans . Instead of Seedorf, in addition to the 25 remaining players, the long-injured Khalid Boulahrouz was called up for the training camp in Noordwijk . The day after the friendly against Ukraine, van Basten announced that goalkeeper Sander Boschker and midfielder Denny Landzaat would not be traveling to Switzerland. On May 27, van Basten and van 't Schip announced the supposedly final line-up; Boulahrouz was the last player to be removed from the squad. On May 31, 2008, however, Boulahrouz was reappointed among the 23 EM travelers; he was nominated for Ryan Babel , who had torn a ligament in training.

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the European Championship	birthday	Games	Gates
goalkeeper
1	Edwin van der Sar	Manchester United	October 29, 1970	3	0	0	0	0
13	Henk Timmer	Feyenoord Rotterdam	December 3rd, 1971	0	0	0	0	0
16	Maarten Stekelenburg	Ajax Amsterdam	09/22/1982	1	0	0	0	0
Defender
2	André Ooijer	Blackburn Rovers	07/11/1974	3	0	1	0	0
3	John Heitinga	Ajax Amsterdam	11/15/1983	3	0	0	0	0
4th	Joris Mathijsen	Hamburger SV	04/05/1980	3	0	0	0	0
5	Giovanni van Bronckhorst	Feyenoord Rotterdam	02/05/1975	3	1	0	0	0
12	Mario Melchiot	Wigan Athletic	04/11/1976	1	0	0	0	0
14th	Wilfred Bouma	Aston Villa	06/15/1978	2	0	0	0	0
15th	Tim de Cler	Feyenoord Rotterdam	11/08/1978	2	0	0	0	0
21st	Khalid Boulahrouz	Sevilla FC	12/28/1981	4th	0	1	0	0
midfield player
6th	Demy de Zeeuw	AZ Alkmaar	05/26/1983	1	0	0	0	0
8th	Orlando Engelaar	FC Twente Enschede	08/24/1979	4th	0	0	0	0
10	Wesley Sneijder	real Madrid	06/09/1984	3	2	0	0	0
11	Arjen Robben	real Madrid	01/23/1984	2	1	0	0	0
17th	Nigel de Jong	Hamburger SV	11/30/1984	3	0	1	0	0
20th	Ibrahim Afellay	PSV Eindhoven	04/02/1986	3	0	0	0	0
23	Rafael van der Vaart	Hamburger SV	02/11/1983	3	0	1	0	0
striker
7th	Robin van Persie	Arsenal FC	08/06/1983	4th	2	1	0	0
9	Ruud van Nistelrooy	real Madrid	07/01/1976	3	2	0	0	0
18th	Dirk Kuyt	Liverpool FC	07/22/1980	4th	1	0	0	0
19th	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	Ajax Amsterdam	08/12/1983	1	1	0	0	0
22nd	Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink	Celtic Glasgow	07/11/1978	1	0	0	0	0
Trainer
	Marco van Basten		October 31, 1964

Games

Preliminary round

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Netherlands	9: 1	9
2	Italy	3: 4	4th
3	Romania	1: 3	2
4th	France	1: 6	1

• Netherlands - Italy 3: 0 (2: 0)
  • van der Sar - Ooijer, Boulahrouz (77th Heitinga), Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst - de Jong ( ), Engelaar - Kuyt (81st Afellay), van der Vaart, Sneijder - van Nistelrooij (70th van Persie)

Goal sequence:

1-0 Ruud van Nistelrooy (26.)

2-0 Wesley Sneijder (31st)

3-0 Giovanni van Bronckhorst (79.)

Oranje put the world champion in their place with impressive speed football and above all showed the defensive weakness of the Italians. The goal to 1-0 caused a stir, as the Italians suspected an offside position, but Panucci picked up the offside in goal. After the break, Italy tried better to counter but could not land the decisive shot on goal. After the counter goal to 3-0, the game was decided.

• Netherlands - France 4: 1 (1: 0)
  • van der Sar - Ooijer ( ), Boulahrouz, Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst - de Jong, Engelaar (46th Robben) - Kuyt (55th van Persie), van der Vaart (78th Bouma), Sneijder - van Nistelrooij

Goal sequence:

1-0 Dirk Kuyt (9th)

2-0 Robin van Persie (59th)

2: 1 Thierry Henry (71.)

3: 1 Arjen Robben (72nd)

4: 1 Wesley Sneijder (90th + 2 ')

Against the vice world champions, the van Basten protégés made it into the quarter-finals in their second game. The French team, which played very well and was fighting strong, was on the verge of equalizing several times. Even after the connection hit and the 3-1 in return, the French never gave up; It was only in stoppage time that the Dutch produced the final result, which in its height belies the drama of the game.

• Netherlands - Romania 2: 0 (0: 0)
  • Stekelenburg - Boulahrouz (58th Melchiot), Heitinga, Bouma, de Cler - de Zeeuw, Engelaar - Afellay, van Persie, Robben (61st Kuyt) - Huntelaar (83rd Vennegoor of Hesselink)

Goal sequence:

1-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (54th)

2-0 Robin van Persie (87th)

“Without nine” the Netherlands played against Romania in their third game. With the exception of Boulahrouz and Engelaar, there were only players in the starting line-up who had not been in the starting line-up. In a controlled game, the Dutch "B-Elf" defeated the Romanians 2-0 without any problems. In the quarter-finals on June 21, the opponent is Russia .

For details see European Football Championship 2008 / Group C

Quarter finals

• Netherlands - Russia 1: 3 aet (1: 1, 0: 0)

van der Sar - Boulahrouz ( ) (54. Heitinga), Ooijer, Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst - de Jong, Engelaar (62. Afellay) - Kuyt (46. van Persie ( )), van der Vaart ( ), Sneijder - van Nistelrooy

Goal sequence:

0: 1 Roman Pavlyuchenko (56th)

1: 1 Ruud van Nistelrooy (86.)

1: 2 Dmitri Torbinski (112.)

1: 3 Andrei Arshavin (116.)

From the start, the Dutch team failed to prove the class they showed in the first few games. After the break, she had to accept the deficit, which van Nistelrooy was only able to equalize shortly before the end of regular time, playing cautiously and without bite. In extra time, the opponents trained by Dutchman Guus Hiddink proved to be the more effective team. Marco van Bsten's dream of being the first player to win the European Championship as a coach was over.

For details see European Football Championship 2008 # quarter finals

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Stefan Hermanns: Marco van Advocaat. Holland coach van Basten made some mistakes at this World Cup that are reminiscent of his predecessor. , in Der Tagesspiegel of June 27, 2006, online version ( Memento of the original of May 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. sighted on May 15, 2008 
2. ^ "Les Bleus in the group of death", Le Parisien of December 2, 2007, quoted from spox.com
3. ↑ Oranje kweekt vertrouwen met zege ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , OnsOranje Nieuws of May 24, 2008  
4. ↑ ^{a b} Orange in eerste helft goed ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Match report on the OnsOranje website  
5. ↑ ^{a b} Oranje na 2-0 zege opgetogen naar EK ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Match report on the OnsOranje website  
6. ↑ Van Persie sluit aan bij groep ( Memento of the original dated June 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Report to OnsOranje.nl  
7. ↑ In beeld: Veel belangstelling Oranje ( Memento of the original dated June 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , OnsOranje Nieuws of June 5, 2008  
8. ↑ Dertig man in voorlopige EK-selectie ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Notification of the KNVB dated May 6, 2008  
9. ↑ Clarence Seedorf zegt af voor EK ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Notification of the KNVB dated May 13, 2008  
10. ↑ Seedorf renounces the EM , announcement of the kicker from May 13th 2008
11. ↑ Afvallers confessing; Boulahrouz traint mee  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Message from de Telegraaf dated May 16, 2008  
12. ↑ Geen Jaliens, Maduro, Koevermans, Emanuelson ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Notification of the KNVB from May 16  
13. ↑ Definitive EK-selectie bekend ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Notification of the KNVB from May 27th  
14. ↑ kicker.de: Boulahrouz replaces Babel
15. ↑ "Why van Nistelrooy's hit was regular" , Stern.de of June 10, 2008