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Semi Finals for World Cup drop-outs…
Comments(89)
Our Ruud van Nistelrooy got an empathic call from Bert van Marwijk. The team manager called to explain why Ruud wasn’t part of the squad. The French team manager has different values and Patrick Vieira had to hear the same message on the tv. Raymond Domenech was too busy too call. He was studying the planetary dynamics. This idocricy was almost the cause for Trezeguet not being selected in 2006.
The star sign of the former Serie A top scorer predicted something bad or other… The French people wanted another revolution and marched to behead the coach and he quickly included Trezegol in his squad. This amateur astrologer is still coach of one of the biggest football nations. After this World Cup, Laurent Blanc will take over, but that will be too late for former Gunner Vieira.
In all honesty, the 33 year old midfielder isn’t that good anymore. At Man City, Nigel de Jong relegated Vieira to the bench and he didn’t play too much for Inter either.
Much more remarkable is the absence in the French squad of Benzema (Real Madrid) and Samir Nasri (Arsenal). Both 22 years old and both highly talented. “They are young enough to keep on dreaming of another big tournament,” Domenech said later. And furthermore, no more comment.
The axe fell not only in France, but all over the globe. The preliminary squads are known and the team managers will bring those back to 23 players in the next days.
For Oranje, Hedwiges Maduo seems to be the biggest victim. He’s a regular starter at Valencia, he’s 25 years old in his prime and he is a central defender. Clarence Seedorf can’t compete against midfielders playing in the Eredivisie (Afellay, Schaars, De Zeeuw) and we all think that’s normal by now while Van Nistelrooy was very close to an invite.
When the VI reporter interview Van Nistelrooy about his deception and the names of big players who also wouldn’t go, Ruud said: “You can make a nice little team out of these guys.” And he’s right. The FIFA could give a wild card to this team. Inglorious Basterds, could be there team name.
I’d put Piet Velthuizen in goal. Left bank will be Gabriel Milito, the Argentinean defender of Barcelona and brother of Inter striker Diego. As center backs I’d pick Alex ( Chelsea) and Maduro. As right back, no discussion, Javier Zanetti the skipper of Inter Milan.
Two Argentineans will take holding duties in midfield. Madrid’s Fernando Gago and Inter’s Esteban Cambiasso. The creative midfielders will need to use their elbows a bit, because it’s crowded up there.
Juventus’ Diego (Brazil) never demonstrated his class this season, while Totti won’t be popular due to his horrible challenges. Ronaldinho might be over the hill… So, we’ll go with Nasro on the left, Seedorf centrally and Pato on the right.
I’d pick Van Nistelrooy as center striker but Luca Toni is a good understudy. Kevin Kuranyi (Germany) is the third striker. The team will be coached by – who else? – Hiddink with Leo Beenhakker and Ronald Koeman as assistants. Physiotherapy by the man who was wanted by the Oranje players but vetoed by Henk Kesler: Leo Echteld. Tonny Bruins Slot will handle the analyses.
I think this team would easily make it to the semi finals.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 89 comments.
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drop-outs+injured players:
frey – g.milito,alex,essien,zanetti – ballack,cambiasso – becks,clarence,ronaldinho – ruud
cassano and balotelli would be the supersubs.
Posted from 
Hungary
Another great dutch defensive talents: Van Huigevoort (Feyenoord), Luis Pedro da Silva (Groningen), Denswill (Ajax, a real beast), Sporkslede (Ajax), Schenkeveld (Feyenoord), Verkoelen (Psv). To bad they are a younger generation than Robben, Van Persie, etc.
Well Mohamed, Donk said himself he wants to be in oranje when he’s 25. He’ll have to have one hell of a next season or seasons with Club Brugge. Last year he was decent, but he needs to keep his concentration, thats where his weakness is. He has the rest, height, strenght, technique, speed, talent. Concentration is his enemy and still keeping him from a breakthrough.
Posted from 
Netherlands
@ Keko, You just mentioned the players that i meant at the end of this sentence
“Then there’s a load of defensive players, Janmaat, Kuiper, V.d.Maarel, V.Eijden, V.Rhijn, Kappelhof and even younger ones.”
Posted from Netherlands
drenthe got seriously injured in february/march and was only available for the last 3-4 games (but didn’t play). i read somewhere the real madrid might sell him to benfica or include in the demaria deal(actually marca wrote about this possible transfer,it’s probably gossip,and mourinho doesn’t want dimaria.)
Posted from Hungary
Don’t forget Anita!!
Posted from 
United States
I want to know why aren’t we considered as one of the big candidates of this world cup ?
I check the world cup forums , the opinions of the famous coaches or famous old football players and no one even mentioned Netherlands to compete in this world cup :’(
they all vote for spain , brazil , argentina , england .. Some of them even vote for italy !
But no one mentioned Holland
Can i know why ?
Our players were from the best in europe this season , we have the strongest midfield in the whole tournament , very good attack with persie , huntelaar , kuyt , elia and babel ..
And not a bad defence anyway , with the help of bommel and de jong .. Good team work , it can work very well .. I trust frank de boer and Marwijk to take care of that .
i also wanna know what is special in Argentina , Brazil , Italy and England to be voted a head of us ?
Please , answer me guys cuz i’m too disappointed :’(
i’d like to know too if we had been a big candidate to win the world cup 98 before it started or not ..
Defence isn’t bad, only our regular LB is a doubt.
We have about 13 really good to top players and talents.
Stekelenburg, V.d.Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, De Jong, V.Bommel, Afellay, Sneijder, V.d.Vaart, Robben, Elia, V.Persie, Kuyt are the main people
Then 5 players in Schaars, Boulahrouz, De Zeeuw, Vorm, Huntelaar, Babel are the players that can just about handle the level and might become bit better still. But these players might also just develop further and join the first group.(Boulahrouz as CB could do that for instance)
And Gio, Ooijer, Boschker, Braafheid are in my mind over the hill(Gio, Ooijer), seriously out of form(Braafheid) or just decent to fill the places(Boschker)
Alltogether, a few player could have been different and the squad would be just a bit better.
Braafheid could be in the middle group though if De Boer get him working decently.
Posted from Netherlands
Though, if everyone stays fit, our regular XI can win the title. We should just hope we don’t lose to many main players, Brazil can replace every position equally good more or less, but we depend on the regulars.
Posted from Netherlands
Some reporter said, there is no longer just a talented group, there is a very mature and impressive squad’. He was a bit intimidated by them xD The Austrians are apperently quite the admirers of us, and Robben is almost a superstar there xD
Posted from Netherlands
They have good subs only in defence Alex ,
but in midfield , attack they don’t have even good starters ( compared to oranje ) ..
Agree with your classification of Oranje players ..
If only we had kept Belgium, Vermaelen well he’s injured now but, Kompany, Lukaku, Pocognoli, Lombaerts 
would be an improvement for some positions xD
Posted from Netherlands
Mohamed: brazil is always considered as the biggest favourite. it’s boring,but true. dunga is a great tactician (2 years ago he managed to beat in the copa america final a much stronger argentina 3-0). italy and germany are considered favourites because they won 4 and 3 times. with lesser teams but with good tactics and team spirit they managed in the past to get results (apart from winning tons of finals,semis etc.). argentina is argentina: they always have the best players but usually it doesn’t work. however with messi (and others like d. milito,samuel,etc.) this world cup might be different. apart from england and spain these teams are the usual suspects.
england had top quality players for years ago,but had a bad and very conservative coach. now they have one of the best tacticians in the world,and with capello the team spirit is totally different. rooney is probably the best striker in the world. spain won euro 2008,the team is based on barca,works perfectly and they have the best squad,however senna’s absence might be a problem.
in 98 oranje was considered as one of the top favourites (in every lines we had worldclass players: vds,fdb,stam,davids,cocu,overmars,bergkamp,kluivert and subs like seedorf). in 90 oranje was considered as the number one favourite after winning the ec 88.
and now? every foreigner specialists think the dutch defence is vulnerable against worldclass strikers (just remember arshavin who’s brilliant,but not a messi,rooney or f. torres). van marwijk is considered as a good coach,but not part of the elite (lippi,capello,del bosque,etc.). some people say oranje have always had internal problems,big egos,etc. and it might happen this time. i just tried to summarize the reasons i hear and read everywhere.
i think this time the egos won’t be a problem,internal conflicts won’t happen. the defence? i’m more suspect,but we’ll see – possession and attacking is the best way of defending.
Posted from Hungary
one more thing,Mohamed: knowing the draw football pundits think oranje will be eliminated by brazil in the quarters. england has a very favourable draw,argentina and spain harder,but they won’t meet brazil or each other until the semis if evrything will happen as it seems.
Posted from Hungary
Right now in most polls Oranje is the third favourites to win this cup. Too bad will probably have to face the second favourites (Brazil) in the quarters. If we can win that, I’d say the semi’s against probably England (lucky bastards go the easiest draw in WC history) will be fairly easy, and then the finals against most likely Spain will be tough. I think I’d rather lose in the quarters than in the finals again…thats a heartbreaker
most probable 1/16s:
france-nigeria –> france
england-serbia/australia –> england
oranje-paraguay –> oranje
brazil-chili–> brazil
————————————-
mexico/uruguay/south africa-argentina –> argentina
germany-usa –> germany
italy-cameroon –> italy
spain-ivory coast/portugal –> spain
for me there’s one uncertainty factor: if fifa wants an african team in the quarters or even in the semis or not… if they want “interesting” things might happen…
Posted from Hungary
Bobotoh – yes the final 23 have been named its everywhere on this blog.
vP will be top scorer if he stays fit. And all you VdV fans with numbers on their mind. He will wear 23. Sneijder 10, vP 9, Robben 11, Kuyt7.
Posted from 
Singapore
@Mohamed – just because Drenthe looks like Davids, doesn’t mean he can be converted into a defensive midfielder as good as Davids!
But seriously, I think Drenthe should look to try and get out of Real, at least on loan. There’s a good chance that Ashley Cole will be coming to Madrid under Mourinho, so there’s little to no chance of Drenthe playing…
I think it’s fine to not be considered one of the favorites – let the “usual suspects” Brazil, Spain, England, Germany etc. be the favorites – that puts more pressure on them. More pressure = upsets
This team has the makings of a champion and I agree, there seems to be an air of confidence and I truly believe they want to and are ready to win (although I’ve been waiting for another major championship since ‘88!)
Since I can remember, there’s always been major upsets at these tournaments and you never know what can happen – let’s just hope a few of the so- called big boys can be knocked off, like Brazil, England, Spain & Germany. To win this thing, we need skill and luck – we just need some help with the luck…
Let them talk the other teams up – we’ll fly in under the radar!
I just realized that when Italy play their final groupgame, they will already know whether we are first or 2nd in our group (and we won’t know when we’re playing). So they are in control of their own fate whether they have to face us immediately after the groupstages (they can intentionally lose their game if we end up 2nd in our group, they’ll still probably have to win it though if we end up 1st).
They might also make a surprising decision in that regards since other strong nations may be on the other side of the draw/match-ups. Imagine Brazil coming in 2nd in their group (conservative defensive approach by Dunga resulting in 1 or 2 ‘Italy style’ draws in their groupmatches, and it might just happen). That would mean Brazil, Spain, Argentina and France are all on the same side (up to and including the semi-finals). If I were Italian, I’d prefer the side with the Netherlands, Portugal/Ivory Coast, Germany (also coming in 2nd in their group perhaps)/England.
Just speculating of course.
Posted from Netherlands
Oh, the above is assuming France will get 2nd place in their group as well. Not that unlikely either with a strong well-scoring Uruguay (and I’m rooting for Suarez 
).
Posted from Netherlands
Not to mention that Germany might just decide to aim for a 2nd spot after seeing Argentina take 1st spot in their group to avoid that Spain/Argentina side.
Posted from Netherlands
brazil will be eliminated by Orange in the quarters.
Hello guys, here (http://www.mixin.com/users/worldcup_netherlands) is the schedule of Netherlands matches… they will be great if anybody wants to add some fotos or vidéos^^
Posted from 
France
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This list includes the dutch players who can’t be usual starters for their teams , or who are too young to get into the starting 11 :
Boulahrouz , Zuiverloon , Brafhied , Donk , Seedorf ( he wants to be back to Ajax ) , Drenthe , Emnes , Huntelaar , Babel , Maduro , Krul , Van Aanholt , Bruma
____________ krul _______________
____ Donk ________ Bruma ______
zuiverloon ___________ aanholt
_____ maduro __ drenthe _____
____________ Seedorf __________
babel ____ Huntelaar ___ emnes
Hell , what a team !