We’re playing again. After those two non-events that were the Oranje friendlies ( Kesler is counting the euros no doubt) and the Hand of Gaul we can focus on the competitions again.
But first we need to discuss the rumor that Maradona will coach both Argentina and France at the World Cup . Ah, funny…
Not!
Feyenoord [...]

John van den Brom (42 years old) only played twice for Oranje. The current AGOVV Apeldoorn coach did score and got a penalty for Holland. The ex-Vitesse and Ajax libero/midfielder tells us about his past, present and future.
Past
“Bert Jacobs was my coach at Vitesse. We were out in Arnhem, in some pub and he walked [...]

I keep translating Bert Dijkshoorn’s pieces. I love them
It’s weird. Men who work in factories and have to sort apples all day… Put them in the right color box. I don’t care, really. Or girls at the supermarket, sitting on their knees to fill up the shelves with new types of chips. And [...]

Hugo Borst’s column in the AD
People ask me often – while the WC is still seven months away: “Do you think Holland will win the cup in South Africa?”
Does God exist? Is there life on Mars? Does Oranje Angel have a Brazilian wax?
There’s a good chance, but how do we know?
I personally think we have [...]

I don’t care about friendlies. Whether we win, lose, play new players, old players, no players…
It doesn’t work for me. Too much factors in play to seriously come to conclusions… How motivated were the players? What were the special tasks the coach gave them? How motivated was the opponent? The whole mental pressure of needing [...]

Arsenal confirmed that Robin van Persie will be out for six weeks. He tore his ankle ligaments against Italy and was stretchered of after a tough Chiellini tackle.
Van Persie will travel to Serbia this week to undergo a unique treatment. PSV midfielder Engelaar informed the Gunner about this method and Arsenal decided to follow that [...]

Young Oranje made a huge step towards the play offs for the Youth EC in 2011. Cor Pot’s team won 2-1 against Spain at the Sparta Castle in Rotterdam. There’s seven tickets for the Denmark EC 2011 for grabs in the play offs.
The confrontation with Spain was the first serious test for Pot’s talented team. [...]

The Netherlands might be the number 3 in the world according to FIFA, Oranje will go into cup 3, according to Marca.
France is said to go in cup 1, although Les Blues still have to qualify. If Ireland qualifies at France’ expense, Holland moves up one cup.
The preliminary categories:
Pot 1: South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Italy, [...]

Happy and proud. Those are two words that came to mind when Otman Bakkal heard he was called up to replace the injured Wesley Sneijder at Oranje. It will be his first appearance in the big team. Right after receiving the call, the PSV midfielder jumped in his car to drive to Heerenveen to join [...]

Bert van Marwijk praised his defense. Which basically means Oranje didn’t play well. “We couldn’t bring it tonight. It was disappointing. You sometimes get those games. But it was pretty poor. Still, to not concede against Italy when you’re not at your best means our defense and controlling players were alright. We normally have the [...]