World

Europe

Netherlands

“It can storm in Norway!”, Youri Mulder

October 14th, 2008 | By: Jan | 15 Comments »

Former Ajax, Twente, Schalke and Oranje striker Youri “son of” Mulder

Former Twente and Schalke 04 striker Youri Mulder knows Norwegian football well. His children are half Norwegian and the son of Jan spent and spends a lot of time in the country.

He even considered playing for a Norwegian side right after he retired from pro-football but decided against it. “Playing football in the Norwegian league is tough when you’re not physically strong,” he says. “It’s all romantic, the fjords and the herring and all, living up there, but boy they’re not easy to play against!”.

Oranje could do wonderful business for the WC ticket, but you don’t win just like that in Oslo, reminds the assistant coach of Schalke 04 us.

Mulder: “John Carew is without a doubt the strongest weapon they have. He is tremendous. Strong, but also pretty lightfooted and he scores so easily. Then there’s the smart Iversen, who has a nose for goals and they’re both good headers.”

Oranje will need to be very careful, Mulder knows. “They also have strong defenders like Hangeland, who plays at Fulham. Setpieces will be dangerous for Oranje.”

“Pedersen, the Blackburn player, has a velvetty kick in his feet and may reap danger for Oranje as well. They are also pretty shrewd in the turnaround. They can really hurt us, you know?”

The weakness of the Norwegians is their lack of creativity and they lack a good goalie. “They don’t have players like Bohinen or Mykland anymore, players with a through pass. It’s a bit predictable: full of spirit and physically strong.”

“And they need a good goalie. That cost them the EC qualification and the win against Iceland.”

“But, it’s hard to predict a result. It’s a clash of football cultures. They could punish us, we could butcher them.”

The 9 times capped Oranje striker: “For Norway, it’s a finals. They are in trouble and need to win, otherwise Oranje is off to South Africa. They know that. The vibe surrounding Norway was negative, but now everybody feels they should support the team. This may be a turnaround for them and Oranje should be very cautious.”

The Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo is sold out and the fans can be somewhat fanatic. “The trick is to keep calm. But it’s hard, when a bunch of vikings storm at you, hahahaaa….”

Tags: Carew, Holland, Kuyt, Marwijk, Norway, Oranje, Sneijder, Vaart, World Cup 2010, Youri Mulder

Netherlands World Cup RSS Feed

Comments

By mario | October 14th, 2008 at 9:53 pm

I think Holland will have a very difficult game and if they don´t don´t play at their they will have a bad day because to win in Norway is pretty difficult. We have lost there and they are dangerous at home.

Hopefully we´ll win!

By finnster01 | October 15th, 2008 at 3:04 am

8 hours and 52 minutes left to kick off.

By ferenc | October 15th, 2008 at 4:03 am

norway is a very difficult team to play. sorry finn,but they are not too good players,technically they are rather bad but (miles away from the joga bonito), they are very physic and oranje always has trouble against this kind of teams. hope we will win but i would be satisfied with a draw. and we have tons of injured players.

Posted from Hungary

By Jan | October 15th, 2008 at 4:18 am

I said 1-4 for Oranje right? Well, that’s the gambler in me :-).

In all honesty, I think Norway will win. Their drive and power will beat us this time. Supported by that desperate vibe of their fans.

Too bad, but it will make the group more interesting. I’d like to see Holland beat Scotland at Hampden Park on the last day, with a late strike by Ruud van Nistelrooy

By lowiesje | October 15th, 2008 at 5:52 am

I expect a thrilling match. It takes two to play. I like that. Norway in the attack, English style, kick and rush, some counters from the Dutch (that’s why you need Babel). Also Kuyt will play, I think, to eliminate, or harrash, the upcoming Riise. I think it will be an open game and no guarantee the Dutch will win.

Posted from Netherlands

By Felipe | October 15th, 2008 at 7:23 am

My predict is not that much: I think 2-0 to Oranje is enough, because the match will be hard.

Posted from Brazil

By goose | October 15th, 2008 at 8:27 am

Whats this Jan, loosing confidence in Oranje??
it will be a 2-1 victory or a 1-1 draw

btw; would really like to see somebody kick Riise into retirement (sorry finn) hate him almost as much as i hate Ronnie The Handbag

Posted from Netherlands

By ghost of steve finnan | October 15th, 2008 at 8:43 am

@Goose, why the hatred for Riise?

Ronnie the Handbag? Hahaaha!!!

Posted from United States

By Bruce | October 15th, 2008 at 9:18 am

Riise is an absolutely useless footballer. Dumb as a stump. All he can do is hit a football. So glad he’s not in Liverpool red anymore, and I’m glad he’ll be playing against Oranje. Maybe he can net an own goal for us. Haha.

Posted from Republic Of Korea

By goose | October 15th, 2008 at 9:56 am

never liked Riise but when he f up in the Champ. for Liverpool i never forgave him for it … just dont like the guy

dutch press says this is the line-up

vdSar
Marcellis
Mathijsen
Ooijer
vBronckhorst
vBommel
Kuyt
vdVaart
Sneijder
Huntelaar

i say; if we loose with more than 3 goals difference Finnster gets a ban!
deZeeuw

Posted from Netherlands

By finnster01 | October 15th, 2008 at 11:18 am

@Goose & Bruce: Never was a big fan of Riise myself, he certainly is never going to be mistaken for Albert Einstein (he’s is literally personally bankrupt, which on his wages is quite difficult to do). However, he does have a hammer of a left foot and his long throw-ins are useful.

No danger of Oranje losing by 3 goals so I take your ban Goose with a great pinch of salt

Latest in Norwegian press has the Captain Hangeland being very worried about giving away freekicks around the box and the Dutch speed in attack. The right back, Hoiland compares Babel to the cartoon character, Roadrunner, only that according to him Babel is faster.

In any event just about to ditch out to watch the game (as the market is tanking yet again), but no matter the result this is a win-win situation for me. Should Norway against all odds win, I’d be happy for the obvious reasons as that will give them the upper hand on the no2 position. Should Norway lose or a draw, it’s not the end of the world because I have always got Oranje to root for and that should take care of South Africa 2010 for me anyway. Hope it will be a good game, although something tells me it could end up being a nasty x-rated affair not suitable for kids to watch.

By finnster01 | October 15th, 2008 at 11:51 am

Official Oranje line-up:
Edwin van der Sar – Dirk Marcellis, André Ooijer, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst – Dirk Kuyt, Mark van Bommel, Demy de Zeeuw, Ryan Babel - Rafael van der Vaart - Klaas Jan Huntelaar

By Ramy | October 15th, 2008 at 1:02 pm

We look like a team of idiots on the pitch..
My vote for the most useless player undoubtedly goes to de zeeuw.. Im not sure what he’s doing, but it looks tremendously ineffective. Kuyt a close second.

Actually looking forward to Goose’s ratings.

By Ramy | October 15th, 2008 at 1:57 pm

a bunch of 5 and 6 ratings.. van Persie was however effective in mobilizing and conducting the attack better, which in my opinion led to the goal.

happy abt the result.. we should definitely work on our performance more though. thoroughly disappointing to watch.

By Ragnar | October 15th, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Goal Bommel…..Didn´t get the chance to watch it. How did we play?

Comments are closed