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Thanks for the memories: Oranje 1985

July 17th, 2009 | By: Jan | 15 Comments »

George Grun. A very sympathetic and able Belgium defender of the 1980s.

In Belgium, he’s a hero. In Holland, we cringe when we hear his name.

Rinus Michels was ready to take Oranje to the WC1986 in Mexico. New young players had emerged in the years leading up to this WC, players like Wim Kieft and Frank Rijkaard had demonstrated their skills and together with old hands like Ben Wijnstekers, Peter Houtman and John Metgod Michels prepared for a crucial last phase in the qualifications. But he wouldn’t be able to pursue his ambitions, due to illness and his buddy Leo Beenhakker to the reigns for him. Beenhakker was Volendam’s coach then and he thought he could actually manage both teams. Despite a good position in the Eredivisie, Volendam got relegated under Beenhakker and he also didn’t manage to qualify for the Mexico WC.

Oranje had to win a decider with our neighbors Belgium. We lost the away game, 1-0, but were confident to beat them in De Kuip.

A classic game would ensue, and not for the right reasons.

I was there. I remember exactly where I sat in the stadium, flanked by my dad (who busted his knee in the walk to the venue) and my father in law.

It was cold, very cold and Oranje had trouble playing great football. But, the game went their way. I think Houtman scored the 1-0 and in the second half we even came 2-0 up through Rob de Wit. With only 5 minutes to go, however, the fate of that Oranje team changed. John van Loen had come on as a pinchhitter and his direct opponent George Grun decided to move upfront. An Eric Gerets throw in reached the box and an unmarket Grun was able to head the ball behind Hans van Breukelen: 2-1.
Game over! Oranje stayed home, Belgium went to Mexico where they actually impressed.

John van Loen copped massive criticism for letting Grun go and wasn’t selected for Oranje in three years. That particular game was Van Loen’s debut.

Michels took over from Beenhakker and coached Oranje to victory in 1988.

That particular cold night in Rotterdam though, counts as one of my biggest down days… No Oranje at the WC, as we also missed the 1982 version…

Tags: Beenhakker, Breukelen, De Wit, Group C, Houtman, Kieft, Michels, Oranje, Van Loen

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Comments

By Brian | July 17th, 2009 at 8:44 am

Wasn’t that game the end of the road for Wijnstekers and Willy van der Kerkhof as well?

Jan – BTW, why weren’t Metgod and Arnie Muhren picked for Oranje at this point? Both were playing extremely well in England, and yet were ignored…

Posted from United Kingdom

By Jan | July 17th, 2009 at 5:53 pm

Good point Brian, and in all honesty: it’s everybody’s guess…

I have no idea. I think Metgod did play games for Oranje in that series but wasn’t a regular. Muuhren somehow slipped under the radar (can you imagine) when he was in England. He had a hard time getting out of his brother’s shadow and him moving to Twente must have made the KNVB rule him out. His move to Ipswich (we were very condescending about English football in those days) also didn’t help. He was seen as a playmaker but not good enough for Oranje. When he moved to Man United, the public opinion about Muhren changed and he would grow out to an important international in the autumn of his career.

But we’ve had more of those cases. Willy van der Kuylen, Willy Brokamp, Jan Mulder…world class players all, who some how didn’t fit the “Ajax/Feyenoord” mold of the days…

By Tiju | July 18th, 2009 at 1:57 am

Out of topic
Zeadorf -the managing role
http://www.espnstar.com/football/serie-a/news/detail/item294695/Seedorf-and-Dinho-clash-in-training!/

Posted from India

By OranjeRules | July 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am

Just read that Arsenal is ready to sell Adebayor to Man City. Does that open the door for KJH to join the Gunners and team up with RVP?

By finnster01 | July 18th, 2009 at 11:48 am

@OranjeRules: I hope so for Hunter’s and Oranje’s sake.

There is also a story floating around today in English papers that Harry Redknapp and Spurs have been given a deadline of early next week to agree a fee for Hunter with Real.

By OranjeRules | July 18th, 2009 at 11:58 am

Said it before, I’ll say it again. I want all the Real Oranje to go to England. That way I can watch them routinely on TV here in Canada as I sip my morning coffee on the weekends.

By dirk v.d.Berg | July 18th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

I think its more likely thta Arshavin will slot in beside van Persie, although they both like playing behind the strikers. Maybe Arsenal could switch to a 4-3-2-1, and play Huntelaar upfront.

Posted from Canada

By alaa | July 18th, 2009 at 2:06 pm

off topic,

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-video-van-persie-s-best-moment

By Marc | July 18th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

With ade now gone i hope arsenal get huntelaar. RVP and Huntelaar up front would be perfect. Also i hope all dutch players get a starting position somewhere in europe. Its important that all of our star players are playing to make sure they are ready for WC2010. Because at the moment sneijder, van der vaart, robben, and Huntelaar are not even close to be guaranteed a starting spot at evil madrid.

Posted from United States

By dirk v.d.Berg | July 18th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Nacer Barazite, dutch kid, scored today in a 2-2 draw for Arsenal.

Posted from Canada

By Carlos | July 18th, 2009 at 6:14 pm

Nacer has now scored a few goals pre season for the gunners, could get a spot in the first squad. apperantly they are all stunning goals. anyone has any clips ?

Posted from Singapore

By alaa | July 18th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

yeah pls, we want some goals for nacer.

maybe he is gonna be our main attacking midfielder for the worldcup because there is a chnace we wont see sneijder and van der vaart any more since they are stupid and decided to stay at madrid.

By Felix | July 18th, 2009 at 10:16 pm

http://www.livesoccertv.com/match/83341/barnet-vs-arsenal/

By Carlos | July 19th, 2009 at 2:04 am

Thanx Felix . he was wearing 11 !

Posted from Singapore

By Caleb | July 20th, 2009 at 10:15 am

Thanks Felix. Wow, that was a pretty nice goal by Bazrazite. One of these days he’ll break into the first team at Arsenal. I’m think this season he’ll probably at least get some cup matches. There’s no way he’ll even be in the Oranje squad for the WC though, nevermind replacing Sneijder/Vaart, even if those players aren’t playing regularly.

Posted from Canada

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