Ruud van Nistelrooy isn’t going to take himself out of the running for international football. He has flatly rejected retiring from the Dutch national squad. I however think that his future appearances will be limited due to a young man by the name of Klaas Jan Huntelaar. But then again, what do [...]

Marco van Basten’s contract will be extended in order to keep him in the top spot until the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, further reinforcing the notion that the KNVB wanted and expected this tournament to be a learning experience from which van Basten can take this team and mold them into a [...]

There was a whole lot of positives in the tournament that left us wanting so much.
Wesley Sneijder turned in some good performances. The Dutch midfield on the whole wasn’t great but Sneijder should return home with his head held high. Look for him to retain a starting position in the team for the [...]

The Netherlands are out of the World Cup. When I slipped my brand new #11 Robben shirt out of the bag and put it on a wave of calm and confidence over took me. I’m not too worried about the future of the Dutch. Marco van Basten should remain coach. How [...]

Well what do you know…M. Blatter agrees with 98% of those reading this blog in that the referee was AWFUL yesterday. That makes me feel a little better.

Here are some quotes from the players from Portugal and the Netherlands. Here are the coaches’ thoughts. If they can be civil and gracious even in the face of such piteous officiating then so can I. My apologies to any Porgtuguese supporters I offended or upset.

Well that was a travesty of a match. The officiating was awful. Figo should have been sent off for the head-butt. That “elbow” by Boulahrouz on Figo? Give me a break. Costinha should have been sent off 10 minutes earlier. If the referee had absolutely consistent we would have [...]

I don’t know what to say about it really. I hope van der Vaart comes on for van Bommel. It seems like another sending off is on the way and I don’t want it to be a Dutch player. The stage is set for a Dutch come back. Things were starting to [...]

Lining up against Portugal in Nuremburg today will be:
E. van der Sar
J. Mathijsen
A. Ooijer
K. Boulahrouz
G. van Bronckhorst
M. van Bommel
P. Cocu
W. Sneijder
R. van Persie
D. Kuyt
A. Robben
There are a couple surprises. Mathijsen is retained and Heitinga sacrificed for Boulahrouz. van Bommel keeps his place and Kuyt replaces van Nistelrooy. It’s a gutsy move by [...]

Well here we are. I’ve read in a few places that the Dutch should be pleased with what they’ve accomplished given Marco van Basten’s conservative goals for this tournament. The Dutch aren’t supposed to do well and this is really only a way of giving experience to a team who is expected to [...]