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Who is…Dirk Kuyt?

April 13th, 2006 | By: Mike | 8 Comments »

Since Marco van Basten has taken charge of the team there have been a whole host of new players that have come through the ranks. Many of these players had been perviously unheard of on the international scene. So I figured why not take a look at a few of the younger players who will likely be included in the squad and looked to in the future to carry the team.

Dirk Kuyt has been around for a while actually. It’s not a huge surprise that he has found it difficult breaking into the Dutch first team when you consider who was in front of him: Overmars, van Nistelrooy, Kluivert, Pierre Van Hooijdonk, Makaay and Robben. Van Basten completely overhauled the squad at the beginning of his tenure though and the likes of Kluivert, van Hooijdonk and Makaay have had to prove their worth while Overmars retired.

Dirk is 25 years old, born 22 July 1980. He was born in Katwijk, a city in the province of South Holland.

His first club was FC Utrecht where he scored 51 goals in 161 matches. He then moved to Feyenoord in 2003/04 and has become very prolific. To be precise, 74 goals in 113 appearances. He has also made 14 appearances for the Dutch and has scored 4 times, most recently the winner against Ecuador.

Dirk will likely follow the lead of other Dutch stars like van Nistelrooy and Kluivert and move abroad to increase his chances for silverware and success. He has been linked to Newcastle, Liverpool and most recently Tottenham. I don’t think its much of a stretch to believe that Kuyt will move to the Premiership and do very well there.

Tags: Dirk Kuyt, Feyenoord, marco van basten, Netherlands, Tottenham

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Comments

By sphinx | April 13th, 2006 at 6:04 pm

Kuyt is undoubtedly finest product among the new faces Basten brought in during the qualifying. He looks to be more complete as right winger than his predecessors, Van der Meyde, Zenden…
He plays deeper at central midfield role and Castelan fill up the blank on right wing at Fyenord. But in Netherlands I am not sure wo will be at the right midfield will play like Castelan. There also some critics.. he is threatening Ruud place after his winning goal against Ecuador.
So is he a prospect for right winger or central striker?
And how do you judge his defensive capability, better than Zenden?

Posted from Myanmar

By Mike | April 13th, 2006 at 6:26 pm

I’m not sure about his defensive qualities. He is used to playing as a striker but I really like what I see with Robben, van Nistelrooy and then Kuyt on the right. Van Basten can’t leave Ruud out of the side and the same goes for Kuyt. Maybe Robben should be worried.

For midfield I’d choose Cocu, Van Bommel and van der Vaart.

Posted from United States

By HedonistiX | April 14th, 2006 at 11:59 am

Believe Kuyt’s natural position is middle striker but if he is on the squad at the same time with RvN, he’ll be playing on the right.

From what I’ve read, Robben is “safe” on the left.

I’m suffering here in the US without watching many matches, hope to rectify this situation in the WC - obviously the Oranje needs to do well so I can watch more matches.

Posted from United States

By Mike | April 14th, 2006 at 1:00 pm

Have you checked out the Huntelaar post? No doubt Robben is quality and likely will be a starter but as far as goal scoring goes…Huntelaar, van Nistelrooy and Kuyt are pretty hard to beat in my mind. Robben is more creative and can run at defences which is why he’d probably get the nod on the left.

Posted from United States

By HedonistiX | April 14th, 2006 at 5:41 pm

Yes, I did but as mentioned, I lack recent knowledge due to lack of watching since I moved back to the US in ‘98.

I see Robben as a creator, not scorer, someone like Overmars instead of Bergkamp. RvN can surely score but he can’t create thus needs a Robben to feed him the ball. Thus, I agree with the thesis that Robben is a must start (Yes, I do agree with your thought on the stupid Bostvelt for Robben substitution 2 years ago).

I don’t know enough about Kuyt and Huntelaar playing style, but it looks more and more that Kuyt is the next on the front line together with Robben and RvN.

CHEERS,
–H

P.S.: so glad I found this blog - can’t find big Holland fan based in North America.

Posted from United States

By Mike | April 14th, 2006 at 5:46 pm

For footage of both Kuyt and Huntelaar make sure you check out the links to Youtube.com

Posted from United States

By Kuyt vs. Huntelaar - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Netherlands World Cup Team Blog | April 20th, 2006 at 8:46 am

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Posted from United States

By pierre sakhr | August 25th, 2006 at 12:17 pm

kuyt better than huntelaar

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