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No excuses for Dutch Co-hosts have all the tools to win Euro 2000
Posted: Tuesday June 06, 2000 11:33 AM
This time, no excuse will do. If Holland doesn't walk away with Euro 2000, it will only have itself to blame. For years, the Dutch have been entertaining and riveting worldwide audiences with their sublime mix of creativity and talent. Yet in exchange for some thirty years of brilliance (apart from a barren spell in the early 1980s) all Holland has to show for it is the 1988 European title. It's hard to believe that the generation of Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens and Ruud Krol won as many major international trophies as Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas and Marcelo Balboa (i.e. zero), but it did. (It's even harder to mention Cobi and Cruyff in the same sentence, but that's another issue.) The next crop of superstars suffered a similar fate. Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten, Ronald Koeman and Frank Rijkaard, Hans Van Breukelen and Jan Wouters, were another gaggle also failed to secure the gold they deserved. Now, the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Frank De Boer are staring in the mirror asking themselves if they can break this legacy of failure. Logic says they will. The talent is beyond question, especially in the team's backbone. 
Edwin Van der Sar is coming off a stellar season at Juventus and, along with Italy's Francesco Toldo and Germany's Oliver Kahn, is the best goalkeeper in the tournament. Central defense ( Jaap Stam and Frank De Boer ) and central midfield ( Edgar Davids and Clarence Seedorf ) are likewise second to none in terms of strength, vision and skill. Run through the rest of the squad and it's as deep as they come. The intangibles are also in place. For starters, Holland is playing at home, which is always a huge boost. Don't take my word for it, look it up. Since 1954, every time the host nation had a realistic chance to take home the gold it did so, except in two cases: Spain in 1982 (but then Spain has turned underachieving into an art form) and Italy in 1990 (courtesy of supernatural stuff from one Diego Armando Maradona in the semifinals). You could make a case for Sweden in 1958, but even then it only lost in the final to a Pele -led Brazil. Beyond those instances, when the hosts had any sort of talent, it was usually enough to see them through (witness England in 1966, Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978, France in 1998). There is also a mental toughness to this bunch, a winning attitude which has been lacking in the past. Guys like Davids, Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert and Dennis Bergkamp have extensive experience at the highest level. They don't just know how to play good soccer, they know how to win. Furthermore, manager Frank Rijkaard has somehow managed to tame the demons of bickering and infighting which in the past have turned the Oranje into some grotesque combination of Jerry Springer and Days of Our Lives. Whether it was Ruud Gullit packing his bags days before USA '94 or rumors that the Euro 96 squad was split among racial lines, in recent years something has always popped up to wreak havoc in the dressing room. Not this time, Jaap Stam assures us. "There's nothing going on," the big bald one says. "We all mingle and the atmosphere is very good." Stam might simply be reciting the party line, but it does appear as if this squad is more cohesive than past Dutch teams. And if all that isn't enough, Holland can be further cheered by the fact that most of the opposition simply isn't very good. Germany is weary, creaky and unloved by its fans. Italy is weary, creaky and unloved by its fans and is missing both its star goalkeeper and centerforward ( Gigi Buffon and Christian Vieri ). England is a tactical shambles with serious flaws in key positions. Spain looks exceptional on paper, but its record in recent major competitions doesn't inspire too much confidence. All this would seem to leave only France among the traditional powers as a team with a solid chance of winning it all. But Holland has the luxury of being in the same group as the World Champions, which means it won't face them again until the final. All told, the deck seems stacked in Holland's favor, but to be sure, Rijkaard will have to deal with a number of issues. Bergkamp and Seedorf are his two greatest individual talents. At least one of the two must be consistently stellar throughout the tournament and that is far from a foregone conclusion. The Arsenal striker has been hit-or-miss much of the season, supposedly saving himself for the European championships and getting by on his reputation more than anything else, while Seedorf spent the first half of the season locked in battle with Real Madrid and the second half trying to stay afloat in Inter Milan's traveling sideshow of a clubhouse. Both can win games singlehandedly, but both have shown a tendency to fade when the going gets nasty. Neither is the kind of crafty, gutsy battler who thrives in high-pressure situations, which means the likes of Davids, Stam and Philip Cocu , the trench warriors, will have to ensure Bergkamp and Seedorf stay focused. Rijkaard also needs solidity from his back-line. When you attack as much as Holland, you will be vulnerable to the fast break, that's just a fact of life. What is crucial is that no mistakes be made, especially down the middle, where skipper Frank De Boer will be manning the fort. But most of all, Rijkaard will need solid, consistent finishing. With Ruud Van Nistelrooy injured and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left out, there is no natural pure goalscorer in this team. Kluivert is a superb centerforward on his day, but he isn't exactly a Gerd Muller -type goal-scoring machine. You can't expect him to carry the scoring load singlehandedly, which means others will have to chip in. Too many times we've seen Dutch teams pass circles around the opposition, only to be let down when it came to pulling the trigger. If Holland comes together even a little bit, it will romp its way to the title. London-based Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com. To submit questions or comments to Gabriele Marcotti, click here.
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