EC 2004: The Robben replacement

The infamous moment in Portugal, four years ago.

“Jose Mourinho understood my replacement of Robben,” Dick Advocaat whines, four years after the infamous tactical move of the Dutch team manager in the EC2004.

Advocaat says this in the book “Across the Border” which focuses at Dutch managers abroad. Apart from Advocaat, the authors also discuss the careers of Henk ten Cate, Sef Vergoossen, Aad de Mos, Ruud Gullit and Rinus Israel.

“I still support that replaccement, although in hindsight it didn’t pan out too good. But, some coaches - among others Mourinho - understood this chance perfectly. But, everybody has it’s own opinion.

That’s football. We were kicked out of the tournament later and everybody criticized me for that Robben exchange. The whole nation was upset. I took Robben off simply because he hadn’t played for three months.”

Advocaat also explains about his relationship with Willem van Hanegem, who was Advocaat’s assistant a the EC. “The working relationship with Willem could have been better. I admit. And that was also my fault. But, you know, you can’t win against Willem. The whole nation loves him. I think we were a very good combination, but he felt he was only picked for the job to entertain the masses. I think if our cooperation would have gone well, we’d still be in charge. Actually, Willem and myself would be ideal as team managers. But, it wasn’t to be.”