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Memories of Oranje at Euro: 1976
Comments(52)
I promised you a look back at the Dutch presence at Euros in the past, right? We feel the 1988 tournament was the only one that that ever counted, right? It’s indeed strange how in the 1970s and early 1980s Holland couldn’t make an impression in Europe. While Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV and even AZ’67 ( 1980) impressed at club level in Europe, the national team was lacklustre.
Many reasons of course. First and foremost, national football teams didn’t “matter” that much back then. The 1970s was only 16 years after the time when the Dutch FA wanted to only select amateurs (!!) for the Dutch national team.
A lot has happened since and one Johan Cruyff was more successful off the pitch than on. He was the one instrumental in making sure players got paid decent money AND were insured!
While the FA boardmembers were insured ( and paid) when they traveled with the team, the players could lose their career if they broke something and wouldn’t get compensated.
Our first presence after WW2 on the European Cup level was in 1976. The tournament after the World Cup 1974 and the whole world expected Holland to set the record straight. Everyone knows what happened there…
The British referee Clive Thomas has admitted – after 32 years – that due to his failures Oranje didn’t win the 1976 EC. Thomas had a crucial role in the semi finals Oranje lost 2-1 against Czechoslovakia.
World Champions West Germany, Czechoslovakia, host Yugoslavia and Holland – favorites for the title – were qualified for the EC semi finals.
Oranje played the Czechs. The pitch was dreadful. It had rained for three days. The Czechs played it rough. After a couple of horrible tackles on Johan Cruyff in particular, the match derailed. Ref Thomas didn’t act and allowed the players to “sort it out”.
After Cruyff was fouled again, Johan Neeskens decided to play judge and jury and took revenge. Thomas decided to give the Barca bull a red card. Later on, again JC was assaulted after which the Czechs scored their second goal. Willem van Hanegem refused to kick off and wanted a word with the ref. The referee decided to give De Kromme a red card as well.
Oranje couldn’t cope with nine players and lost the game. Holland played for the third spot against the host-country and won the consolations game.
After 32 years, referee Thomas is invited to a Dutch sports program and sees the match again on tv. He is flabbergasted with what he sees now and almost in shock when he realizes how he affected the game, by not stopping the play after the horrible tackle on our Number 14. In that counter-attack, the Czechs score. Thomas litteraly said: “I have to apologize to Holland. That was my mistake. A mistake that cost Oranje the title.”
The best penalty ever! The Panenka. Clarence, are you paying attention??
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@carlos buddy,,,Roben -bosvelt substitution was horriifc and we escaped from that mistake after czec beat germany.ultimatly it didnt cost us…another F@@##king thing advocate did was not playing kluivert against extreamly physical portugal defence..RVN was heavily marked in that game,but still he earned an own goal for us through andrade…
Another FFF$$%^&&ing decision was in 2006.while RVN was watching the match like us and kuyt was playing…
Another F$%%&&ing decison in 2008 and 2010 was Afaleey sitting in bench and kuyt was playing ….
The KNVB should rot in hell. This decision is a travesty of justice. Frankly if I were Ajax I would not play.
Posted from 
United States
Ah dear, in a parallel universe somewhere Oranje is the dominant football power on the planet. 5 time WK champion, 5 time EK champion …
Surely no other football nation has had such tragedy as Oranje in our universe (relativity speaking of course).
hehe; i reckon that if this game was played today each team would have no more than 5 players left after 90 min., this game looked even more brutal than the WC74 game v Brasil..
Posted from 
Netherlands
I reckon that the players also look much older than the players of today, even though they are not … must be the moustaches
It is dreadful to think about it, we should have at least 2 or 3 trophies extra. a few EC’s and at lest one WC. Enough to drive a true football supporter mad xD lol
Posted from Netherlands
Hien and Jan,
I would also consider the 78 final as a game that we came back even though we ultimately “lost” it.
Don’t you find it incredible that the 78 team came from behind THREE times in a row ???
You are absolutely right, it is a very very short list. But it should ring a lot of bells.
1. How rare is for a team -in general- to come back from hell in an important game.
2. How rare is for the Oranje in particular to accomplish that.
3. None of the commonly considered best Oranje teams (74/98) have accomplished it ever.
1 + 2 + 3. It takes special characteristics that have nothing to do with ability to play soccer in order to come back from behind. The coaches and players of such teams are special. They cannot be measured simply by common statistics like number of saves or assists or whatever. It requires strength of character among the players and the coach. This is more rare attribute than being able to make a 30-meter pass. It is this strength of character that makes a team as a real candidate for a world trophy.
I think there are a lot of readers here who do not seem to appreciate what it takes to win a tournament. It is certainly not just skills. BvM has made a selection that turned around a quarter final against Brazil. How often do we accomplish that?
I think the emotional strength of several Oranje players are the main reason for being able to turn around that game. Should we just dump them like that because some newer guys demonstrate skills ? I am not opposed introducing new players or new tactics in the squad but shouldn’t we do this slowly and carefully?
I see some suggestions here to dump 5-6 players, how does that make any sense ?
Posted from United States
Holland-Brazil WC 98, we came from behind to tie it but lost it in the penalty shoot-out. What’s new right?
Holland-Saudi Arabia WC 94 didn’t we came from behind to win it 2-1, if I’m not mistaken. Even though this game is not worth mentioning it 
@Ilir,…lol…the ‘94 Saudi game is best left to just a line in the history books, don’t remember if they were behind but a mediocre performance, and Oranje won on a goal by Taument that was a terrible mistake by Saudi defense…but the game does underscore that often the most successful teams start tournaments slow and build into them. After that performance, they lost to Belgium, but saved hemselves with a win over Morocco (some terrific play from Bergkamp), dispatched Ireland easily in the Round of 16, and had that great match against Brazil…(lost, but still a terrific match)
@Jan,
I read it in arabic news but there where no source,maybe its roumor may be not….
Demi…you are right on one point ,that is coming from back…for that you need extra guts and character…
We have that in Sniejder,persie,bommel,kuyt,roben and heitinga,steke etc…
But we were lucky to win against brazil..Coz they played better in first half..and they almost came close to double the lead…i was happy that we won,it was snijedr majic and it was well supported by roben(bastos was unable to attack eventually gave melo a redcard)..Persie was making space for sneijder and kuyt,always dragged 2 defenders with him.Bommel and dejong had a superb game for us..
it is not necessary that you have to come from behind..when you play attacking teams germany,brazil,arjentina,spain,portugal…you attack them with your best weapon and score one more by playing extreamly skillfull players..
@ Andrew,
I think the first half finished with Saudi’s 1-0 up. Jonk tied and then Taument at the closing stages. That was a WC made for Brazil. Oranje was playing in Orlando in the middle of the day hot and humid. I remember a few players got 2nd degree sunburns. While Brazil played in the nice S. Fransisco weather. If it wasn’t for the atrocious refereeing against Brazil we could have gone far with that team, despite the Gullit debacle. I remember the same linesman that never raised his flag against Brazil was picked for the final. I remember in two obvious offside occasions against Italy it was Puhl who blew the whistle (they were that obvious) but the linesman never raised his flag. I remember Havelange got booed by the fans. I’m afraid the same will happen in Brazil in 2014.
Tiju,
I am glad you see why Kuyt can be helpful. He was instrumental in the come back versus Brazil and he equalized with Uruguay in the friendly (it counts IMO).
Unfortunately every plan gets derailed. So, what do you do then? You really need the gutsy warriors to bring you back. Oranje didn’t have that since 78. It took me 32 years to feel it again. Krol, Haan, Brandts, Poortvliet, the vdKerkhofs all could be members of the 300 Spartan warriors LOL
Lots of guys you feel should be dumped now have the same spirit. And it WILL be needed at some point during the road to the trophy. I guarantee you that , it will be needed sooner or later.
The moment of truth in the match against Brazil was Steks versus Kaka. Robinho->Fabiano->Kaka and the 250 pound Siberian Tiger slapped the ball to a corner. That was not just luck. That was the save of the century my friend
It was an unhuman save. No human being of that size can jump like that.. ok maybe Schmeihel
@Ilir,
That is the way I remember it. Oranje was playing in D.C., a midafternoon game in Tampa (in the second half the filed was littered with those little plastic containers that the players took water from), back to Florida and then a trip to Dallas to paly Brazil. My recollection is also that something happened on the flight from Florida to Dallas, players ended up hanging, around the runway, and that was the incident that finally set Bergkamp off for good about flying…In retrospect, I think they had a good tournament…it was a team with guys near their end, Wouters, Rijkaard,(who was also playing hurt), Winter, Koeman and young guys on the cusp: the DeBoers, Bryan Roy, Overmars…not fast in Defense (Valcx and Koeman in the middle)…still they seemed to come good by the end. You wonder what would have happened if Gullit had played. He and Bergkamp together up front?
@ Demi
While you raise a good point; I highly doubt the great Brasilian/Italian/German sides chose their squad based on who would have the character to come from behind. They chose the most talented, well balanced 11. The 11 who work as a complete unit. As Spain/Barcelona have shown us; technique and unity are the keys to victory. (that and Cruyff taking the Dutch philosophy of football to Barcelona in 70’s) A little luck would help too as we seem to be on the bad end of that because of moronic referees.
We need to chose the best side so that we don’t end up in positions where we have to come from behind. We need to stay ahead and winning 1-0 is great as long as we win.
But I do see what you mean about having the character and experience to maintain composure and come back from a bad situation. But that comes from playing in important games. We have some younger players who deserve their chance to fill the holes in our side.
Gullit had an annoucement that he would not play in the WC 94. Perhaps disagreement with the coach/entire coaching staff. Like Cruyff in 78 but we all know the reason now for Cruyff’s decision thanks to Jan’s articles. When Cruyff did not join, the 78 team did not have a super star, just a collection of stars so that team is a bit different. Just my opinion.
On another topic I believe Afellay should start ahead of Kuyt but this is not going to happen. Question of Afellay’s fitness. We will wait and see.
With the emerging young stars is it better to reestablish netherlands B? Means we have about 23-30 players who practice together or separately with team A, once they need 1-2 players it would be alot easier to get good back up. Thats apply to douglass too. I would love to see exhibition team A vs team B or dutch overseas vs dutch eredivisie.
As an Ajax supporter I am fine with a replay, in fact it could have been a lot worse. Some Uefa games that have been abandoned due to home crowd trouble invariable end up in awarding a 0-3 defeat for the home team. So it’s relatively fair !
Posted from 
Singapore
As for Ajax rematch, I do not mind but it should restart where the game left off. For the goalie that was attacked, he should not be red-carded. He should be fined after the game for unsportmanlike conduct (banned some games whatever), but his action did not affect the game or the opponent. By kicking him out it is unfair advantage. I am more concerned about the outcome of JC vs Van Gaal.
Last, with only 6 months left and only a few friendlies scheduled (perhaps 5 or fewer) before EU start, I think that it is likely that Bert will not make any drastic changes for the line up. It is likely he will do that after Euro, beginning of WC qualification. I still hope that he make some changes especially on defense.
Hi all.
I have made, what I think, is a brilliant discovery.
I don’t speak dutch, so I unfortunately am unable to understand anything.
Klass Jan Huntelaar – shopping
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_8-uRJRqE0&feature=related
Nigel de Jong at home. (cool cars)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PUbSqL8Dv8&feature=related
Robin van Persie, with Bouchra and children http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFbji6Ic-AQ&feature=related
Raf van der Vaart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g1r_CUsW7Q&feature=related
Arjen Robben with family
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8TSBdP0qfs&feature=related
Enjoy!
Re affelay, i doubt he will be back quicly to his form on time, with current barca players competing 1-3 subs every week, it gonna be hard to get enough playing time in 6 months, with orange reasonably we should expect him as a subs not starter.
@Andrew, the incident with the plane in the US in 1994…. Lex Muller , the arrogant chief of sports of the AD newspaper thought he was funny when he told a stewardess when he boarded the plane that he had a bomb. The team got delayed for hours and some players got seriously dehydrated. Bergkamp got the shits and realised that people with bombs actually do exists and he never flew since…
Re: the 1976 video, I know I may catch some heat but honestly I don’t see how the referee decided Holland’s fate. We scored 1 goal which was an own goal by the defender and except for a clear chance by Rensenbrink I don’t see any other clear chances from our attack. Neeskens foul was a clear red. Yes, referee missed a foul on Cruyff right before 2nd goal by he didn’t see it, shit happens. I don’t care what the referee does, if you’re playing 11 to 10 (before Neeskens red) with all that talent you should be able to score and win. And I don’t think that had Van Hanegem stayed in we would have won.
This video makes me appreciate BVM.
@Jan, Thanks for the background re: the 1994 plane incident. I never really knew what happened, just remember the pictures of the players and wives/girlfriends sitting on the side of the runway.
Re: Ajax replay. I agree with Carlos. based on the way crowd incidents are often handled, Ajax is lucky the game wasn’t awarded to AZ.
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WTF?? Ajax – AZ will be replayed instead of resume and Van Der Wiel’s goal will be cancelled!!
Further than that, Ajax will be fined and play the game in empty stadium.
Posted from
Hong Kong