Orange Blossoms

So how about those young Dutch stars? In the UEFA U-21 championship the Dutch haven’t had much luck. In 2004 they didn’t qualify for the finals and ended up fourth in their group with one win, four draws and three losses. In 2002 the Dutch went out against England in the playoff for the final tournament. In 2000 they made it to the Finals but didn’t make it out of the group. Here’s a quick list of how the Dutch have done in the past decade or so at the UEFA tournament.

2004 – Didn’t qualify
2002 – Lost in qualifying playoffs
2000 – Lost in group stages
1998 – Lost to Greece 0-3 in Semi-finals
1996 – Lost in the group stages
1994 – 2nd to last in qualifying
1992 – Lost to Sweden in the quarter finals

Of the 23 players going to Portugal only 6 played in the FIFA World Youth Championships in the Netherlands last June. Maduro and Babel have since been called up to the senior team and Medunjanin has been included only after the injury of Ibrahim Afellay. Last June the Dutch put together some exciting and entertaining performances but went out against Nigeria in a penalty shoot-out (10-9).

In qualifying for Portugal they ended up top of the group two pointed above the Czech Republic. They allowed 7 goals in 10 matches and scored 21. The squad has been helped by several key players becoming regulars for their clubs. Afellay, although he’s now injured, Huntelaar, Vlaar, Emanuelson, Castelen and Medunjanin are all starting to come into their own.

The team is definately a large part of Marco van Basten’s plans for the future as he tries to mold together a strong young side who will be together for the next couple of international tournaments. If the Dutch do really well I would expect to start seeing some of the young stars be snatched up by bigger European clubs.

The Jong Oranje play the German U-21 squad tonight in a friendly.