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Ex-PSV player Culina looks forward to Oranje

September 25th, 2009 | By: Jan | 77 Comments »

Socceroo Jason Culina would love the opportunity to defeat the Netherlands in front of a sold-out home crowd at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday, October 10.

Having spent the last ten years playing his club football in Holland, making 160 appearances with Dutch clubs Ajax Amsterdam, De Graafschap, FC Twente and PSV Eindhoven, Culina recently returned home to Australia to become the inaugural captain and marquee player of the new A-League club, Gold Coast United.

During his time in Europe, which included a wealth of Champions League experience, Culina developed an intimate knowledge and understanding of the Dutch style which he hopes he will be of use to the Socceroos against the Oranje.

“When I first heard about the game, it was a great feeling,” Culina said today, speaking at the Sydney Football Stadium.

“The Netherlands are currently placed third in the World Rankings behind Brazil [first] and Spain [second].

“For them [the Netherlands] to come out to Australia, and for the Australian public to see a top, world-class team in action, is fantastic for everyone. I think the Australian public is going to see a great game with great players.

“You only have to mention a few names like Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and the likes of these world-class players. To have them playing in our own backyard is unbelievable.”

The international friendly will be the third time that the Socceroos have faced the Netherlands, with the nations having drawn 1-1 in their inaugural meeting in Rotterdam prior to the World Cup in 2006.

In their most recent meeting in Eindhoven last year, the Socceroos defeated the Dutch 2-1 courtesy of goals to Harry Kewell and Josh Kennedy.

“To be able to have an advantage over one of the top-ranked teams in the world is absolutely great and we have the two good results against them so far,” continued Culina.

“But every game from now will be a test leading into the World Cup. We’ve got quite a few games scheduled, including Asian Cup qualifiers, and all these games are part of an important preparation, and also a tough fight for all the players that want to be involved in the World Cup.

“For me, and all the Australian players around the world, our goal is to be in the final squad for the World Cup in South Africa.

“If we are selected in this match, or any other match between now and South Africa, it is up to us to show Pim Verbeek that we deserve to be there.”

The match against the Netherlands will also serve as a warm-up for a crucial AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Oman to be held in Melbourne on October 14.

Tags: Australia, Culina, Group C, Oranje, Robben, Sneijder, Verbeek

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 77 comments.

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By 3ric | September 26th, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Discussion about Boulahrouz is very irrelevant at this point. This guy can’t even stay on the pitch for two consecutive games. The Cannibal on his best days is perhaps the most intimidating defender Oranje has seen since Jaap Stam, but those days are long and gone. Now with new crops coming into the fray (namely Vd Wiel and Loovens) and Vlaar determining to complete his comeback, I’d be very surprised if Boulahrouz can sneak in back to Oranje. Those of you who watched HSV vs. Bayern today would agree with me that Mathijsen is Van Marwijk’s best bet to keep the opponent’s goal count to the minimal.

By Sol | September 26th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

@Alex: and those same Everton fans probably say Saha was fantastic.

No pass, no winning goal.

It’s all that matters, again it’s those key moments that count the most and forgives anything you might have done wrong (they are probably referring to those high balls he let bounce and his later slip-ups at the end of the game, not that much though and he was playing in an unfamiliar position by then, def.midfield).

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | September 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pm

Yeah, Mathijssen was great wasn’t he? He was the main man for Hamburg in defense together with Boateng in a more offensive role.

I thought Elia and Robben both had their ups and downs, but overall played pretty good and were important for their team (what if Lahm had scored on that last chance created/initiated by Robben for example?).

Hopefully vPersie keeps scoring now so we can use him as central striker cause we really don’t have much options for that position (Kuyt missed a HUGE 1v1 chance).

Posted from Netherlands

By Jeroen | September 26th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Like I’ve said before, Mathijsen always plays a 7. He’s very consistent and quite reliable. No, he’s not world class, but he’s good enough to get the job done. Our other defenders are more plagued with inconsistency. I don’t think Mathijsen should be removed as starting CB.

Kuyt has also been very consistent in his performances. So long he stays on that right wing, he plays great. Let other people do the finishing.

I also hope van Persie keeps scoring.

Boulahrouz is our best destroyer. Defensively, even out of shape, I trust him more than any of our other defenders to take a man out. Unfortunately, he is always injured. That, and he really can’t build up. Russia took advantage of that by letting him be the free man.

Posted from Netherlands

By sonneveld | September 26th, 2009 at 5:02 pm

i am really happy about our defensive midfield

personally i think van bommel and de jong are both great.

de jong was great against man united and we all know van bommel who is also a good passer and can score a goal.

with those two i am pretty comfortable we wont lose the midfield battle

inter milan hasn’t scored in there last match and a hald wes snipes hasn;t played in the last match and a half

we just need to get braafheid playing more

stek

v.d.wiel mathijsen loovens braafheid
de jong van bommel

kuyt sneijder robben

van persie

By Miguel Rosado | September 26th, 2009 at 6:35 pm

@Jeroen: totally agree with you. Kuyt is very consistent but he Bert should play him as right winger.

By Miguel Rosado | September 26th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

————————-Edwin/Stekelenburg———————

—Wiel/Reizeiger—Heitinga/Stam–Mathijsen/Frank–Emanuelson/Numan–

—-Kuyt/Ronald—Nigel/Davids—Bommel/Cocu—Robben/Overmars—-

————————Sneijder/Bergkamp————————-

————————-Persie/Kluivert—————————

By Jeroen | September 26th, 2009 at 7:20 pm

edwin > steks

wiel has a while to go, but has potential to become even better than reiziger.

stam > heitinga

frank de b > mathijsen

braafheid = numan, given braafheid starts playing on a regular basis.

kuyt > ronald

davids > nigel…for now

for DM, van bommel > cocu. cocu > van bommel in all other positions.

robben > overmars (i am sure some will not agree )

bergkamp > sneijder, but I also wouldnt put sneijder in the same spot as bergkamp. bergkamp and van persie is better comparison.

kluivert > huntelaar, vp for striker pos. But both also have time to grow (time that kluivert did not use well at all).

On the other hand, van nistelrooy > kluivert.

I think in general our team is weaker defensively than in 1998, but it may even be stronger offensively. I certainly have more confidence in the midfield overall. But our defense, in my eyes, has improved considerably over the past 2 years. leading up to the EC and now the WC, i just feel so much more confident in the back 4. Yes, I think Ooijer should be sub. But at least we have an idea of who should be there, and its not 4 different people every game like in beginning of 2007. We have young and upcoming defenders that are very promising, and some of which are already delivering (v.d. Wiel, Braafheid to a lesser extent). Holland has never been known for its center backs…Jaap Stam being the obvious exception. I don’t think we should expect another player of his calibre any time soon.

Posted from Netherlands

By Miguel Rosado | September 26th, 2009 at 7:41 pm

I didn’t put it as a real comparison of players but of the system we used to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 and which player could fulfill those tasks.

By Kevin | September 26th, 2009 at 7:44 pm

Kluivert >= Nistelrooy in Oranje, Nistelrooy > Kluivert at club level

Posted from United States

By Jeroen | September 26th, 2009 at 7:58 pm

if van nistelrooy had bergkamp feeding him balls and he didnt have that row with van basten, then hed easily have outscored kluivert.

Posted from Netherlands

By Toys | September 26th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

I dont think so easy….wooooow
GP car

By Jan | September 26th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

Thanks for all that .

I haven’t been able to watch anything as yet, but I’ll see some highlights later.

In Holland, AZ lost the third game on the trot, with pics of a depressed Koeman on the front pages.

Twente and PSV both won their games. PSV looks stronger and stronger. Expect a piece on them soon!

By sonneveld | September 26th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

look at afellays goal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYA5P3h-dtA

it is the 4 minute and 40 second

By Sol | September 27th, 2009 at 4:15 am

Maybe it’s EXACTLY that, psv LOOKS stronger. It’s obvious AZ isn’t playing like they were last year, so maybe the others are just playing worse this year so PSV can easily get the top spot. Allthough they have some decent results except their first game against VVV Venlo. But then again, they drew against Sparta Prague, so I wouldn’t say they are any good. They might still win the Dutch league, but that doesn’t make them better than AZ last year.

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | September 27th, 2009 at 4:31 am

Just had a look at that video, nice goal by Affelay but man did they miss a lot of chances. Willem 2 was very poor defensively.

Posted from Netherlands

By Marc | September 27th, 2009 at 7:39 am

Good goal by Affelay like De Zeeuw’s today

Posted from United States

By ferenc | September 27th, 2009 at 9:21 am

i don’t like comparisons between the 98 and the current team. not because individually they were better in every single positions but because bthe two teams have very different values. they were brilliant and sometimes produced magic with lots of players in the world top3 in their positions. but their team spirit,the cohesion between different units wasn’t as good as now. This teaqm is a real team,the 98 was a collection of fantastic solists. (individually i obviously prefer them,i miss players like patrick kluivert,edgar davids,denis bergkamp,marc overmars,jaap stam,clarence seedorf with their big egos,but now i feel a kind of chemistry existing which has very very rarely existed in the history of dutch football.)

Posted from Hungary

By ferenc | September 27th, 2009 at 9:25 am

about patrick kluivert: i’m always sad hearing his name. for me he was the most gifted,most talented player of the last 20 years but he prefered nightlife,women,the easy side of life instead of working hard and becoming number one football player of the world. for similiar reasons i respect a lot ruud who had lesser gift than patrick but with hardwork and a good mentality hze overcame this difference aqnd became the best striker of hzis generation,the number one striker of the years 2000.

Posted from Hungary

By Carlos | September 27th, 2009 at 9:52 am

Patrick and Ruud – born on the same DAY !!

Posted from Singapore

By Miguel Rosado | September 27th, 2009 at 7:19 pm

@ferenc: I don’t agree at all. The 1998 team was a real team they played as a unit and I still don’t see that with the current national team we have great individuals but they haven’t performed well in a major tournament. The 1998 generation always reached semis, I think the current team can do even better but they have to improve if they want to beat Brazil, England, Spain, etc…

By Jan | September 27th, 2009 at 7:35 pm

Well… the 1994 team was a bit of a problem. The 1996 team didn’t perform as a team (Daviss incident, the black-white Ajax issue, the money Ajax issue). Only the 1998 and the 2000 teams played like a team. The 2002 campaign was a disaster. The 2004 campaign wasn’t too good either.

But, you know, teams “emerge” when they win games. You don’t need to be mates to gel as a team.

I think Van Marwijk is like Hiddink a bit. This is the type of people manager a national team needs. I can see Been becoming a good one, but Rutten is probably too much like Van Gaal.

If you look back, coaches that have that confidence and fatherly approach did well: Michels, Rijkaard, Hiddink, Van Marwijk…

The ones that tend to think they are the superstars themselves seem to fail (Van Basten, Van Gaal).

Then there’s the odd one out (Happel) and the uninspiring Advocaat…

Just my thoughts though…

By Sol | September 28th, 2009 at 6:22 am

van Gaal hasn’t failed, he’s won more prizes than Hiddink at clublevel (internationally).

Van Gaal:

* 1 x Champions League: 1994-95 (with Ajax)
* 1 x Intercontinental Cup: 1995 (with Ajax)
* 1 x UEFA Cup: 1991-92 (with Ajax)
* 2 x UEFA Super Cup: 1995 (with Ajax), 1997-98 (with Barcelona)
* 4 x Dutch Eredivisie: 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96 (with Ajax), 2008-09 (with AZ)
* 1 x KNVB Cup: 1992-93 (with Ajax)
* 3 x Johan Cruijff Shield: 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96 (with Ajax)
* 2 x Spanish League: 1997-98, 1998-99 (with Barcelona)
* 1 x Copa del Rey: 1997-98 (with Barcelona)
* 2 x Rinus Michels Award (2007, 2009)
* 1 x Audi Cup (2009)

Hiddink:

* 1 x Champions League: 1988 (with PSV)
* 1 x Intercontinental Cup: 1988 (with PSV)
* 6 x Dutch Eredivisie: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06
* 4 x KNVB Cup: 1988, 1989, 1990, 2005
* 1 x FA Cup: 2009 (with Chelsea)

Posted from Netherlands

By Sol | September 28th, 2009 at 6:23 am

oops, Hiddink won the intercontinental cup in 1998 with Real Madrid, not in 1988 with PSV

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | September 29th, 2009 at 1:13 am

Van Gaal failed as team manager. I wasn’t talking club football. That’s my whole point. Some coaches are ideal as club coach (Van Gaal, Adriaanse, Rutten) but probably not as team manager.

Anyone who comes back to this comment saying “ah, but Davids was injured and De Boer was injured”….well, I won’t end this sentence really

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