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Orange fade to black Dutch mourn their exit in penalty shootout
Posted: Friday June 30, 2000 02:37 PM
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - "What a hangover!" headlined the Algemeen Dagblad Friday over a picture of Dutch captain Frank de Boer covering his face with his hands in shock. After missing five out of six penalties, including two in regulation, the co-host bowed out of Euro 2000 in the worst possible way following a scoreless draw with Italy in Thursday's semifinal. De Boer himself missed two of the penalties -- one in regulation time and the first of the shootout -- to become the major culprit in the fiasco. To make matters worse, popular coach Frank Rijkaard resigned immediately after the debacle. "The joys of penalties is turned into a psychological burden," said De Volkskrant. "The best Dutch players shone on the field but were failures from the spot," the paper said. "The bizarre performance of our penalty specialists will again launch the discussion why it always goes wrong from 11 meters," De Volkskrant said. The fans took it badly. Over 100 people were detained all over the nations when the Oranje parties quickly turned sour. Streets were thrashed, windows broken and some shops were looted. "Anti-soccer of the Italians pays off," was the headline in De Telegraaf. "Over and out. The golden dream of Oranje turned into a penalty nightmare," it said. "The orange madness, which held the country in its spell for three weeks is suddenly over," the paper said. Columnists also blasted the Italian tactics, which they considered to be far too defensive. "The sometimes sickening theatrical dives, the irritants and slowdown tactics which Italians used to counter sparkling Dutch play produced a triumph for a team which absolutely didn't deserve to win," said Charles Taylor of De Telegraaf. Orange team singing the bluesAMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- The Netherlands traded orange for black Friday as the nation went into mourning following the national team's semifinal exit at the Euro 2000 Championships. Defeated by the Italians after losing 3-1 in an overtime shootout, the Dutch could hardly believe their country's unexpected demise, so convinced had they been that their team would deliver the nation first major international title in a dozen years. Instead, coach Frank Rijkaard was crying on the team after the defeat. "We've had a long, intense emotional night," said Rijkaard, who announced his retirement following the defeat. "This morning it all came back and it is still very painful to be knocked out. "And when you look into the eyes of the people you worked with it really hurts. I didn't achieve what I set out to do. It's time to step aside and let someone else take over." In the meantime, the players packed away their bright jerseys to dress in more somber civilian clothing, as they filed out of the training camp in Hoenderloo. "We wanted to be in the finals but it didn't happen," said midfielder Edgar Davids. "It's always brutal to lose on penalties," he added, unable to hide his despondence. "It was a tough match. It's tough to swallow." With the Oranje's dismal shootout record, many Dutch fans had already begun preparing for defeat after the Italians had forced the shootout after holding the Netherlands scoreless after 120 minutes. There seemed little surprise among Dutch fans when team captain and free-kick specialist Frank de Boer, as well as Paul Bosvelt, had their spot kicks saved by Francesco Toldo, and Jaap Stam fired over the bar. Patrick Kluivert, who had missed a crucial penalty kick during the match, drew half-hearted cheers when he found the back of the net. The fans had reason to dread the shootout -- it marked the third successive European Championships where the Netherlands were eliminated in penalties. At Euro 92 the Dutch lost in a semifinal shootout to eventual champion Denmark. Four years later, they lost in the same way to France in the quarterfinals. And at the 1998 World Cup, the Oranje team lost to Brazil in another semifinal shootout. "I don't know why Holland can't win in a penalty shootout," said veteran Dennis Bergkamp, exasperated. "It's not the first time and it won't be the last. We have only to blame ourselves. It's so stupid." It was a woeful ending for the Dutch, who had seemed to finally find their form after a sluggish and worrisome start to the championships. The Dutch side crept through its opening match with a lucky 1-0 victory against the Czechs, eking the victory thanks to a lucky last-minute penalty. Against the underdog Danes, the Dutch struggled to find their pace and were held to a goalless draw in the opening half before showing a glimpse of their potential in the second for a 3-0 win. In their final group match against a French team composed principally of reserve players, the Dutch rallied to win 3-2. As a result, the team had been harshly criticized with fans, media an former soccer celebrities, all condemning the team for its lack of flair and conviction. But the Dutch had turned their game around against Yugoslavia. Dazzling and impressive, the co-hosts had given demanding home fans the kind of performance they had been waiting for and silenced the critics as Kluivert scored three times and the team got the biggest result ever in a final with their 6-1 victory. "It hurts, of course, but life goes on," said Frank de Boer's twin brother Ronald, who had been benched for the semifinal match. "We deserved to be in the finals, but when you miss two penalties and other opportunities, you're not going to win. "They didn't win, we lost."
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