| HOLLAND
Best finals record:
Winners 1988
Qualification record:
Qualified as co-hosts
|
Jaap Stam
|
Coach: Frank Rijkaard
Squad: Edwin van der Sar, Sander Westerveld, Ed De Goey, Frank de Boer, Winston Bogarde, Jaap Stam, Aron Winter, Bert Konterman, Michael Reiziger, Arthur Numan, Andre Ooijer,
Ronald de Boer, Clarence Seedorf, Philip Cocu, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Edgar Davids, Marc Overmars, Boudewijn Zenden, Paul Bosvelt,
Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Roy Makaay, Jeffrey Talan, Peter van Vossen.
Prospects
As joint-hosts of the tournament, Holland go into Euro 2000 as the bookmakers favourites – and rightly so.
Forget their reputation of being a major let down in recent finals, Holland circa 2000 seem to be a much more settled squad.
Petty squabbles which have blighted so many campaigns are, for the time being at least, a thing of the past under Frank Rijkaard’s management and a harmonious Dutch camp is bad news for the rest of the competing teams.
The firepower at the coach’s disposal is frightening.
The qualities of Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars and Patrick Kluivert need no introduction here.
But Frank Rijkaard has just suffered a major blow with the loss of PSV striking sensation Ruud van Nistelrooy, a £19million transfer target for Manchester United.
He suffered a serious knee injury after his move to Old Trafford collapsed and he will miss the tournament.
Despite that loss the options at Rijkaard’s disposal going forward are the best any coach has to fall back on but there is also a steel spine to his side.
Edwin van der Saar is an experienced last line of defence while in front of him the De Boer twins, Jaap Stam and Winston Bogarde provide a very physical presence.
Edgar Davids is the workhorse in the centre of midfield while a rehabilitated Clarence Seedorf is always a threat. With Overmars and his long-time understudy Boudewijn Zenden adding pace out wide you have the most potent attacking force in the competition.
The draw could have been kinder to Rijkaard’s side, Group D including testing fixtures with the Czech Republic and France, but their fanatical home backing will be a major factor.
They start on 11th June with a clash against the Czech Republic in Amsterdam before moving on to Rotterdam five days later to face Denmark. Their final group game takes place on the 21st, back in Amsterdam, against the world champions and by then the whole nation should be engulfed in the tournament.
The fear is their current form.
Having qualified as co-hosts, the side haven’t played a competitive fixture since the World Cup (where their exciting, vibrant, attacking football won many admirers).
At the turn of the year the side had only won once for their new coach (a 2-0 defeat of Peru) and went 11 games without success following that victory.
On November 13th Rijkaard’s side fought out a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic and an unimpressed home crowd vented their frustration.
Legend Johan Cruyff echoed their views on television afterwards accusing the team of lacking many of the basic skills.
Crucially Rijkaard is unfazed and in his own words you "wouldn’t judge Pavarotti on how he sings in the shower".
Holland have big-game players and they will come into their own when the tournament itself gets under way.
They will need to win the fans over again – but a solid qualification from group D would do that.
If this happens the momentum they will have gathered will be difficult to stop.