Wondergoal+: Jari Litmanen

He was such a brilliant player with Ajax. It was an amazing team…i do miss them

Great saves by van Breukelen!

Oh and Litmanen, his name was on my first Ajax shirt! I was really hoping Finland would qualify for Euro 2008 and give this player a chance to shine with his homeland’s team.

Posted from  Netherlands

@Jan; too bad glass doenst shine!

Posted from  Netherlands

@ finnster01
no way norway is going to qualify for wc2010.

Group 9
group 9 winner will qualify directly or play a playoff?

Posted from  United States

@ M-O I believe its the eight best runner ups that go into a playoff, and the 9 group winners that go directly.

Posted from  Canada

@M-O & Dirk: The winners are automatically qualified and the #2’s go into a playoff. I’m not sure how the playoffs work though.

In any event, Oranje should win the group hands-down. The battle for runner-up is between Norway and Scotland. I think Norway will win that battle, and after that it is anyones guess. I still think they have a shot at qualifying, albeit a slim one. They are not as good as they used to be so Michel you are probably right.

Having said that, Holland plays 3 teams that does not play the kind of football they like. Iceland and Norway play the hard game with big fellas, good defense, and count on the odd set piece to do the damage. The long ball is often played to a huge holding striker (Carew and Gudjohnson respectively) which means midfield is not an issue so that is not the way Holland like it. Suspect Dutch center defense doesn’t help. Scotland plays different, but their style is smaller players with more speed applying constant pressure on the guy who has the ball and try not to give anyone time to be creative.

From what I have seen of Oranje, they should be fine. But against Norway and Iceland it will be interesting to see how they handle it. Van Bommel may be the bastard Oranje needs, because those games will be battles and you need someone to stand up and make a statement. Bump & grind is an understatement and historically the recent Oranje record against teams playing like that is not that great. In addition, I am a bit concerned Holland hasn’t played any friendlies against opposition who plays like this. I think it is a mistake, but we will see.

I love reading these blogs…its like reading newspaper articles about your favourite team from all different angles. What a great piece by Finn and his diagnosis of the teams in our group. Norway used to be a powerhouse qualifier in the mid 90s and Holland has never done too well against them (of course forget the 8-1 victory in the 50s?? or so).
Is Litmanen still playing somewhere ? I may have mentioned here that in the early 90s I went to Holland and a friend had tickets to a pre season Ajax v Zwolle game and they were testing a few new players. Finidi George,Litmanen,vd Sar….these were all outsiders and there were a couple of big guns (then) trying out for Ajax but didn’t make it. Papers were full of Finidi and Litmanen after the game, the rest is history.
Oh the best runner up for WC are put into a hat and the teams are drawn for the knock out. By the way in case a group has more teams than the average, they disregard the second placed teams performance against the bottom team to make sure all number of games played are equal. (Calculator anyone ?)

Posted from  Singapore

Oh Finn and as much as I love your articles, I am barracking for the Scots for No2, have always had a soft spot for them. Of course in 94 Norway won the group, beating England and Holland to it !! So if Norway finish top, you know I wont be barracking for the Scots

Posted from  Singapore

If Holland plays like in the group stages at the EC, they can beat any nation. If they play like they did against Russia, they can lose against any nation.

I have to tell you: I watch a game of Ajax in the CL in 1995 (I think it was), a game they won (can’t even remember the opponent) in the group stages.

I decided to constantly watch Litmanen, with or without ball. The way he is concentrated on the game for 100% 90 minutes long is tremendous. In every situation he made himself available, he’d never let his man go, he always knew to find the unmarked mates, etc etc. His play without the ball was something to behold. Like Frank de Boer, his defensive work never requioed him to tackle or slide, he was a master of the game of time and space.

Sorry, i aid “watch” but I mean “watched”…

Sory, I said aid and I meant said…

Sorry, I said sory bud I mean sorry…

Darn it, when does this stop??

Hahaha Jan…I think we can all work out what is being said here by everyone…great English or stuttering English don’t matter…just make a point and we all enjoy everyone’s comment. Of course you deserve a Pulitzer Prize for all your high quality journalistic contributions.(Perhaps you have a hidden agenda ?)

Posted from  Singapore

thanks finn and dirk
group 9 is a small group

Posted from  United States

@Jan: Peter Hoekstra joined Ajax in 1996 in order to replace injuring Marc Overmars (and also replaced Marc’s position in Oranje squad at EURO ‘96).

Posted from  Viet Nam

That’s right! What happened with Marc in 1996? Injury?

@Carlos: thanks, and I enjoy reading yours too. Sorry to hear that you have a soft spot for little men with red hair in skirts, but thats OK Joking aside, I spent 4 years in Glasgow at University and went to watch many a Celtic - Rangers derby. The old firm as they call it, is the scariest I have ever felt on a soccer ground. You literally had to watch everything you said, could not wear anything blue or green in case you walked into the wrong pub by accident etc. The passion of the fans, it was just incredible. Ajax - Feyenoord, even back in the hooligans days, was Sunday school compared to it. Never seen anything like it, and that includes Liverpool - Everton, Arsenal - Chelsea, and Barca - Real Madrid. Haven’t done Inter - AC yet, but hopefully that will happen also.

Jari Litmanen is still playing.

After a very unsuccessful 6 months stint at Fulham last season where he didn’t play a single game for the first team (injuries, including a bad pump of all things…), he now plays in the domestic Finnish league for FC Lahti.

He has scored something like 4 goals in 3 matches…I guess the old dog still knows how to bark

Posted from  United States

He still plays for the Finnish national team too, and recently scored a goal against Bulgaria i believe.

Posted from  Canada

@Jan: Marc suffered a serious right knee injury in 1996 in an Eredivisie game although he did not knock against anyone. He hit gainst an ad banner, if my memory serves me right

Posted from  Viet Nam

Marc once said that he considers his former teammate Jari Litmanen as one of the greatest players ever.

Posted from  Viet Nam

I can really emphasize with that. This guy had skill, vision, goal-scoring abilities and a great work rate. It was all about the team. It was never tricks for the sake of trickery. A very smart and serious pro. Wish he was born a Dutchman.

@Jan. Completely agree. I started watching 90’s Ajax because of Litmanen. He was so involved in the game. A great scorer, Huntelaar reminds me of him in that aspect. Good in defense and stoic. If only he had played for Holland. Always thought that the dutch team of 90’s had one missing component …him. They would have won it all