Tag: Martins Indi

June 18, 2014 by Jan

Live Blog Australia – Holland

Well good peeps. We are back on air. Last time we did a Live Blog (Spain) we lost the blog for days, so please be patient and don’t hit the refresh button too often :-).

Lets hope we are ready for this!

I am watching this in the middle of the night with some good friends (Aussie supporters) and – in all honesty – not so confident as normal.

Playing Spain will bring the best out of Holland (as did playing Brazil in 2010) but against minions (with all respect) is not always easy for us…

Anyway, join me at this exciting second game of Oranje. If we win: we are through! If we don’t, we are not (yet) :-).

What to expect? The Aussies will not play as arrogant as the Spanish. They will want to take the game to Holland but they will be cautious. It will either be a tough, fast paced game or the Aussies will be too cautious in their approach and Holland might be too smart not to attack like crazy. Which could result in a boring match, where a patient Holland will snatch the 3 points with one or two goals difference.

It seems that Louis van Gaal wants to play with the same team in the same line up. So 5-3-2, is the general expectation.

By the way, the Dutch hockey team was basically humiliated by a very fit and agile Aussie team: 6-1. The Dutch fans fear a similar fit and physically demanding Socceroo team. I am not sure. In hockey, Australia is world class. Not so much in ~~soccer~~ football.

[liveblog]

June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 by Jan

Match Preview Oranje – Australia: worries!

But not for us ( I hope). For them. The Socceroos. Or maybe: The Suckeroos, hahahaha.

They love their expressions in Australia. No worries mate! She’ll be right mate! Well, if Robin, Robben, Daley, Wesley, Bruno and Jasper have anything to say about it, it will be “She won’t be right!”.

Australia however, is pretty confident. They are always quite confident, simply because they know how to fight. They’re battlers. They love being the underdog. And they will never give up. That is in their DNA and they most likely will not be impressed with our stars.

After being courted into the game of football (soccer here) by none other than Guus Hiddink, the Socceroos take their sports seriously. They had mixed results at the World Cup, with 2006 seeing them screwed out of the competition by the “Italian cheating bastards”. Hiddink was succeeded by Pim Verbeek who didn’t make a lot of friends in Australia and some assistant coach from Germany took over for a while but he had all the flair and charisma of a garden hose, so they replaced him and finally had the guts to appoint an Australian coach. With an Australian name. Ange Postecoglou.

But the round chested former A-League club coach has that same quality Hiddink has. Doesn’t fear no one. And with the same starting eleven as the team that did so well against Chile (bar two forced changes), the Aussie manager is focusing on delivering a big upset to the World Cup, and the Dutch in particular. “The score we ended up with vs Chile doesn’t tell the whole story. We actually did well.”. Poste needs to replace injured Ivan Franjic who traveled back to OZ with a hamstring and Mark Milligan. James Holland – formerly of AZ and Sparta – might be his replacement. Heracles defender Davidson and Utrecht forward Tommy Oar will most likely start.

Postecoglou: “It’s a massive challenge for us to play Holland. They have so much quality and such a pedigree, but our team will grow as a result and we play good in big games.” The former Melbourne coach had to refresh the team and had to say goodbye to stallwarts like Lucas Neill, goalie Schwarzer and Harry Kewell. Tall striker Josh Kennedy got injured right before the World Cup so the Ozzies will filed a team, partly, of youngsters. Not unlike Holland. “And there is much at stake. If Holland wins, they will be placed and we can travel home. It’s a big game!”

And their star player, Tim Cahill of Everton fame, also is the man leading the line (like we have).

It seems like the Ozzie support will outshine the Dutch legion. Australia is the third nation in terms of supporters on the ground in Brazil, after Brazil (sic) and the USA with close to 20,000 people traveling to Brazil. In comparison, there are only 5,000 Dutch fans in South America.

Postecoglou: “I dropped my jaw when I saw Holland butcher Spain. I knew it would be at least tight between the two nations, but I rated Spain higher. But Holland was impressive at times. Still, I think we have a chance.” The Football Director of the Aussie Federation is none other than former Dutch coach Han Berger, who is in his final weeks now of his job. “This nation loves rugby more than anything. There are three different rugby variations. And they play football like they play rugby. In a fast pace move the ball forward and use physical strength and guts to push for a goal. This is not how you play football so we have started a whole new development process. But it will take a generation for that succeed.”

Which is why Ange has been given the task to refresh the “Hiddink generation” and bring new young players. This World Cup will be a learning curve tournament for them. Nigel de Jong is impressed with them. “I know Tim Cahill well. We played against each other a lot and I will meet him on the pitch again for sure. He is tough as nails and will not complain when you play manly. He loves it. He has a super mentality and is a tremendous header of the ball. With him, anything can happen. I rate him very high.” Australia lost 3-1 against Chile but as the coach said, the scoreboard didn’t tell the whole story. “We were close to 2-2 all the time in the second half, but we needed to play more compact and smarter. Big lessons to learn.”

Wes Sneijder expects a tough game against the Socceroos. “I understand the whole nation is euphoric and that is fine and dandy, but Australia is a tough nut to crack. We never beat them. That should tell you something. We are not with our head in the clouds. We won against Spain, but that merely gives us three points and a good goal difference. That is all.”

Robin van Persie, Oranje skipper, didn’t want to speak to the press. “Superstition,” he said. “I am sorry. But before the Spain game and didn’t do media and I got two goals. I hope to do the same tomorrow!”

There were some rumours that Van Gaal wanted to go with 4-3-3 against Australia and that Lens would come in for Vlaar. But the latest news is that Van Gaal will allow the same players to start, and he will play a 5-3-2 / 3-5-2 against the Aussies. Van Gaal didn’t want to say anything during the last press conference about. “I can play both 4-3-3 and 5-3-2 with these lads. And in both systems, we can play according to the Dutch School.” Van Gaal also commented on the new philosophy in which he allows the families in the hotel every now and then. “I want to treat these lads as grown ups. I don’t want to take them from their families for weeks and have them send skype videos to their loved ones. I believe the lads feel better if they get to see their families regularly. And when they do feel better, they play better.”

Van Gaal had an interesting comment to make about the venue of tonights game. “The dug out is literally dug out. I sit under the ground. I can hardly see anything due to this big tv camera in front of me. And I am not a coach who enjoys to stand along side the touchline. I want to sit and talk with my assistants. I asked them to fix it. I hope they have.”

Van Gaal was impressed with the response of the players after Spain. “As a coach, you sometimes need to keep the players grounded. But after the Spain game, it was the older players who did it. They immediately warned the young lads that this was merely the start. Nice, but merely three points. That makes my life easier, to have players with that mentality.” Wesley Sneijder: “You notice in the group that we’re away. The first game is always tense. And no one knows exactly what to expect. Now, Australia is forewarned. The whole world has seen how we play. It will be harder now, against Australia, I think.”

Van Gaal: “Australia has to come and get something. They’ll attack. I know their coach and he is a good coach, with balls. The Australians will never roll over and lay down so we have a battle on our hands, I’m sure.”

June 16, 2014June 17, 2014 by Jan

Oranje trashes Spain: 5-1 (could have been 8-0)

Hi my friends, we are back. I think….

So you know: my tech guru friend Icko (big Holland fan too) has helped me upgrade, migrate, manifestate, generate etc etc to sort out the new site.

We have had issues, tech issues, hosting issues, potential virus issues, upgrade issues, conflicting software issues… Almost like the Dutch squad 1996 :-).

All these issues.

I wanted to thank you all for being loyal and for being part of this surge of Dutch Soccer Goodness online :-). And thanks to all who donate some of their hard earned cash. It hasn’t gone to beers, but to making sure the site is stable. We now have a following of 30,000+ people here so it is quite something…

Thanks to you all!!

I have had one of the best match experiences since….2010. This was truly a historic game. And will go down in history as such. Whatever happens next…

And also history for our blog. The success of the Dutch coupled with our “success” here brought my host server on its knees.

I have spent the last days in heaven enjoying our win. The Aussies here are all Orange fans now and there is some amazing stuff being written which I will cover for you here. But also spent the days in cyber hell trying to get my site back online. It seems that our success means two things: a site upgrade and most likely a dedicated server for the site :-(…. So lets hope it is all worth it.

Spain took Total Football from the Dutch. Today, Holland took it back!

, I will humbly point out here and now that I predicted a big win for Holland on our blog. I do believe the signals were there for all to see:

Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie were extremely motivated as this is most likely their last World Cup and they have a point to prove
Louis van Gaal finally made it to the World Cup, is highly ambitious and knows Spanish football well
Robben in particular has some beef to settle with Spain
Spain is lacking in real desire and is getting on agewise (the average age in midfield is 30 years)
We had it coming (and so did Spain)
Holland is superfit while most Spanish players had a gruesome seasonSo, just like in the Brazil game in 2010, the team took some time to settle and needed to be pushed to the point where the backs needed straightening and the teeth needed to be clenched, and something special was produced to get us into the game.
Van Gaal has done it before. The Ajax 1995 finals vs AC Milan saw Van Gaal doing his karate kick to fire up his team. This time around, it was captain Van Persie, who after a quiet first 30 minutes felt he needed to lead the way.

It took a wonderfully time run by him and a superb pass by Blind (great vision, great execution) to produce what will go down in history as one of the best World Cup goals ever AND one of the best headed goals ever.

We all know Van Persie is an underrated header of the ball ( last season he scored a number of tremendous header goals with Man United) but most of us here do not know Blind is actually a really good player.

That goal, just before the break, and the way RVP celebrated it with Van Gaal made all the difference. The Dutch went into the dressing room with a smile on their faces. And the world champions knew they had a game on their hands.

Who would have known? The first 25 minutes were not our best. Lots of nerves ( BMI, Janmaat, De Guzman), lots of back passing and hardly any Sneijder or Van Persie. Robben found Sneijder in space early in the game and that was a 100% goal scoring chance. I thought Wes could have done better ( the ball was blocked by Casillas chest-height which is probably the biggest gift for a goalie) but it wasn’t an easy chance.

It did look like Spain would score as at times they glided through our shaky defence but it took a non-penalty to do it. I know many of you don’t rate De Vrij too much (wrongly, I believe) and predicted he would be guilty of causing a spotkick but Costa’s leg actually went to De Vrij’s… It was NOT a foul. And like in the Brazil game, should not have been given. De Vrij blocked Costa technically well, keeping his trailing leg close but Costa was looking for it. He even checked the ref while on his way to the surface…

Holland deserves a compliment for sticking in the game and taking the game to Spain, with Blind offering up some good interplay with Robben. We had to crosses from the left that deserved better (Janmaat with a mediocre lay off and Van Persie misjudging the cross). Shapes of things to come.

Holland needed something special. And got it. A special pass by Blind. A special run by Robin van Persie. A special header. And a special celebration with Van Gaal.

Robin ended Casillas almost-recordrun of clean sheets and established his own record too. The first Dutch player to score in three consecutive World Cups. Robben would follow suit in the second half. The record topscorer for the Dutch got his 44th goal in 86 games.

In the second half, a reborn Holland showed up. While Spain seemed to have left something in the dressing room. Van Gaal had to change a couple of things… He wanted the team to 1) be less sloppy with that all important pass to the forwards, 2) be tighter to the Spanish, 3) have RVP and Robben use the space between Spanish midfield and defence better.

It took another well time pass by Blind to reach Robben and Robben simply needed to perform some magic. Everything he learned in his impressive career came together in that defining moment. First, there was the run, second there was the velvetty take, third, there was the little flick to send Pique into the woods and four the dummy to send Iker into the corner while Robben went straight through the middle.

Everything that failed in that moment in the WC2010 finals clicked today!

And Oranje wanted more. It smelled blood. And Del Bosque decided to bring more attacking power… He brough Pedro for Xabi Alonso. A change that puzzles every Spaniard still. Without Alonso in midfield it seemed like Sneijder would have even more options. Just before that change, Robben stormed through the center of the pitch to find Janmaat just on his right. The ballsy Feyenoord full back laid the ball off to RVP who went for a vintage Van Persie finish with the outside boot and rattled the cross bar. Could have easily been 3-1.

Only 2 minutes later and it actually was 3-1. A foul on Blind gives Sneijder the opportunity to deliver a curler to the far post. Van Persie and Martins Indi seem to demand all the attention of the defence and Casillas gets it wrong. All the way at the back its Stefan de Vrij who had the opportunity to redeem himself. He tries to head the ball but there is so much curve on it that he misses the header but the knees do the job. While hitting the post himself, the central defender scored the third.

In the 70st minute, David Silva scores an offside goal and the fans all realise that this game is not yet in the bag.

We’re only 1 minute further when Casillas has a howler. A back pass jumps off his foot and Van Persie is sharp as a knife and intercepts the ball and scores the 4-1.

Van Gaal takes De Vrij (yellow carded) off and brings Joel Veltman. Van Persie, also on a yellow, is also taken off for Lens while Fabregas replaces Silva. Nine minutes later, great vision by Sneijder followed by a pitch perfect pass in the stride of Robben. He enters a sprinting duel with a Spanish defender and visible squeezes everything out of his legs. He wants this so badly! And tricks everyone in his path, including a pathetically flapping Casillas: 5-1!

Spain is totally wasted by then and in the 88th minute, Wijnaldum gets a big chance but is denied by the Spanish goalie. Robben picks up the ball from the air on the edge of the box and fires a rocket on target, again stopped by Casillas.

In the dying minutes, it seems Torres gets to score a goal but he dallies too long and Veltman cleans up while at the other side, Sneijder is gifted a golden opportunity but the Galatasaray man slips and fumbles the chance.

And thus ends one of the most memorable games of a World Cup ever. 6 goals (could have been 10!!), tremendous game play and lots of pathos!

The Spanish media talk about a humiliation and a nightmare. The Dutch media talk about a swinging Oranje, led by a sensational Robin and Robben. History in the making.

And within minutes, the coolest gems of pictures went all over the internet (I posted some here).

Robin van Persie was ecstatic. The skipper immediately commented on the game after the last whistle: “This is a dream come true! Ever since the 2010 finals, we were hoping for a re-match. And to do this now, with this team, at this stage. It was amazing. And the most important thing for me: Louis van Gaal predicted this almost to the detail. He knew how Spain would play, he knew when and how we could attack them. And everything he said ended up being reality. But let’s not get besides ourselves. We have won 3 points, but we’ll need to be ready for the next game now. So we will be proud for one evening and then our focus will go to Australia.”

After his goal, he went immediately to his coach. “But also the subs. I feel that we are doing this with 23 players. I wanted to include them in the celebrations. It’s 23 players and something like 30 staff hahahahaha. I’m a teamplayer. I don’t want the sole credits. I can’t score without that pass by Blind. So I need to emphasize that we all play our part.”

Arjen Robben was happy to leave that particular memory behind. “It was good for me to score twice against Casillas, hahaha. But honestly, that 2010 moment cost us the World Cup. We are not in the finals now, not yet at least, so we cannot be too happy as yet. By the way, I understand the goal scorers will get the attention but our young lads really stepped up. I am extremely proud of them. They kept a cool head, settled in really well and did the job for us. Without them, we can’t win anything. And I know from experience how overwhelming a World Cup can be when you are young. So well done to them!”

Louis van Gaal was susprised with the big score. “I didn’t expect this score. But I knew we could beat them. I know they always want to attack and dominate. Against our golden triangle, that would cause them problems. I expected them to score and I expected us to get opportunities to score as well. Playing one on one against Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie is quite hard. The media and the supporters always want us to dominate and press forward but against Spain, that is very hard. This was the best way to play them, I knew this. This is why we worked so hard to get this system under our wings. It worked out well. I will have to see if we will play like this against Australia as well. Depends… We’ll see.”

I was quite pessimistic, the first half our or so.

Janmaat was sloppy. BMI was sloppy. Hell, even De Jong was sloppy.

I felt like Spain could have had three in the first half hour. Although they failed to create any real chances. Their final pass was not good and Costa didn’t seem to be at ease too much.

After the 1-1, during the break, LVG finetuned the positioning of the players (Sneijder sitting deeper and closer to Blind), Robben playing between the lines and the four defenders and holding mids playing a bit more tight. At the same time, Spain looked sluggish in the second half and didn’t seem to be able to bring the energy needed to execute their game.

And we proved that you don’t need 65% possession to score 5 goals.

I will now let you listen to the great Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer on the BBC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D1MuFjyCjc

June 13, 2014June 17, 2014 by Jan

LIVE BLOG SPAIN – HOLLAND

Here we go peeps.

Cold in Australia. Dark. Early in the am. Yoghurt and muesli versus Sangria, Heineken, tapas and herring. But very ready for this. Waiting 4 years for this re-match.

Enjoy guys :-). I’ll be liveblogging here unless the game catches me in such a way, I can’t keep up.

VIVA HOLLANDA!!!

[liveblog]

June 12, 2014June 17, 2014 by Jan

Match Preview Spain – Oranje: Tapas time!!!

This is to tell you a bit about our first opponent, Spain.

Spain is a country in the south-west of ….of screw it!! You know who they are! Where they are! What they are! What they can do!

Hell, we taught them all they know… The likes of Michels, Cruyff, Beenhakker, Metgod, Hiddink, Neeskens, Koeman, Muller, Witschge, Cocu, De Boer, Afellay!!

The whole tiki-taka is a Dutch abbreviation of tik tak football. We say in Dutch “tik tak” if we mean pass and play. Tiki Taka is probably Cruyff’s way of explaining things in Spanish.

So Real Madrid was this powerhouse in the 50s and 60s and in the 1970s Barca tried to take the reign and for a long time they did very well in Europe with their clubs. Real, Barca, Sociedad, Valencia, Deportivo…. But the Spanish national team never really set the world on fire, like Uruguay, Hungary, England, Holland, Brazil and Germany did… They won the first European Championship in 1964 and repeated that consecutively in 2008 and 2012, which is quite good. But in World Cup terms, they were chokers. In 1982, they hosted the Cup but failed to impress under coach Santamaria. They were knocked out in the second round. They did fair much better in 1986 or 1994. In the 2002 World Cup, one could have expected Spain to beat South Korea but in a controversial match, South Korea beat the Spaniards on penalties.

Some people believe Luis Aragones was the inventor of tiki taka and it originated purely because in the mid naughties, Spain had a suspect defence. And the ball in possession in midfield strategy meant the defence would not be put under much pressure… We know better. Johan Cruyff and later Louis van Gaal will have done more for Spanish football than Aragones and the use of two former JC proteges as Barca coaches ( Rijkaard and Guardiola) will have added to this.

Historically, Spain always produced good players. Every generation had at least a number of above average lads although Barca and Real tended to find their star performers across the border. From Puskas and Di Stefano to Cruyff, Neeskens and Laudrup, to C Ronaldo and Bale to Messi and Neymar, but the Spanish squad currently is overflowing with talent and quality. The youngsters keep on going (not unlike the Dutch development) and this is probably the biggest issue coach Del Bosque has. Will he go for the more experienced lads that got him the two recent titles (2010 and 2012) or will he break down the existing hierarchy – like Van Gaal was forced to do – and select some young turks to keep the team fresh.

There is a risk in both scenarios and we will see what the man comes up with.

I think we will see Del Bosque play with Cesc as false striker. Iniesta and Villa from the flanks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Xavi starts on the bench, with Xabi Alonso centrally with Busquets and David Silva in midfield. A defence of Alba, Juanfran, Pique and Sergio Ramos. Although Javi Hernandez might get the nod over Pique. And I think Van Gaal will be playing 4-5-1 when Spain has possession and 4-1-4-1 in possession. I also believe we’ll see Clasie in our line up, as the little Xavi from Rotterdam has the feet to match the combination play in the tight spaces of Spain.

What can one say about this Spanish side. Oozing quality. Unbelievable quality. Mata, Corzola, Silva, Torres, Hernandez…just some names of players who might not even play. And then there is Michu and Isco who were left at home. To name a few players.

Spanish media have tried to create unrest in the Dutch team with stories of Oranje players living it up in the Rio night life. And claiming that Dirk Kuyt was actually involved in that. This rumour didn’t stick. If it was Depay, Fer and Wijnaldum one could have believed it but Kuyt and Robben would be the last players you’d expect to samba the night away :-). Van Gaal laughed it off.

Still, Holland’s golden triangle of Robben, Robin and Wes is seriously feared in Spain. And with reason.

I believe Holland will beat them with a shock 3-0 scoreline. Why? Because Spain is tired. And a little bit lacking desire. Real desire. Most of the players had a big season, with most even playing the CL finals. As C Ronaldo, Reus, Wellbeck and Van der Vaart can testify: the international football calendar is long. Spain doesn’t want to be put to the test this first game. They like to start a little bit relaxed. The big guns want to keep their powder dry. But Holland might only have 3 games to shine and Holland will be super ambitious and driven in that first game. Spain might see Holland as a nasty mosquito on their way to bigger game. While Holland will view the first game vs Spain as the finals!

So we will go out there and chase them all over the park from the first second and Spain won’t know what hurt them. I predict a goal in the first 20 minutes, with Arjen Robben being involved. I foresee a second goal before half time with Van Persie involved. And when Spain fights back with Costa in the second half, it will be a cool counter attack led by Sneijder allowing Oranje to finish Spain off! Just my feeling. And as I am the blog king here, I can delete this forecast during the game if things turn sour.

The ref is Italian. If I’m not mistaken, none of the Spanish players have a history in the Serie A. In the Dutch team, both Sneijder and De Jong have played in Italy and have encountered Rizzoli and speak the language. Could be a plus.

June 11, 2014June 17, 2014 by Jan

Does Van Gaal have an ace up his sleeve?

The temperature is rising, for sure. Not just in Rio (or Salvador) but definitely also in Holland and in Australia!!

You can almost touch the ball and smell the grass now..

And the question on everybody’s mind (in the Holland Camp) is: does Louis have a trick up his sleeve?

The tactically astute coach was clear in the press conference. “It takes something special to beat Spain. They have experience and quality on every single position. It is naive to say that we are as good. But we can still beat them. It will take something special but I am brooding on a little surprise for them.” Spain played some friendlies recently without a real number 9 (as Costa was also injured) but with Cesc playing as a false striker. Although it seems Diego Costa will be ready for Holland, Van Gaal seriously considers the fact that Spain might play without a striker. And he is planning accordingly. During training, in the last week, Oranje was seen playing with Clasie and De Guzman in midfield. De Jong and De Guzman played the more forward roles, with Clasie sitting just in front of the defence as the deeplying playmaker.

Robin van Persie declared he has not been pain free for 6 years. The groin issue he had was a bit overplayed in the media. Van Persie doesn’t even call it an injury. The Rotterdam born striker wants to be 100% ready for Spain and is looking to play an important role against the reigning champs.

The circumstances in Salvador and the other playing cities for Holland appear to offer Oranje Dutch weather. The last practice was witnessed by ex Oranje players like Van Nistelrooy and Aron Winter, while also Roberto Martinez, Everton coach, was present. They saw Clasie make the play from the mid circle with De Guzman and De Jong pressing up. They saw Blind, Janmaat, Van Persie, Robben and Sneijder finish in the box. Sneijder in particular was very impressive, with most distance strikes finding the net and most free kicks hitting the target.

Sneijder seems ready for Spain. The little general had a special week. For starters, he made it clear to all the doubters that he is back. Then he is about to play his 100st international game for Oranje. And he reached the age of 30. “Wonderful milestones, of course. But if we don’t win against Spain, I still won’t be happy. Those milestones are not that important compared to results. And we might not have a squad like Spain or Brazil, but we have quality and if we play our cards right, play tight and manage the turn around well, we can hurt them.”
Sneijder scored twice against Brazil in 2010 and is a famous face in Rio. The Brazil supporters and locals immediately recognise the “little one” as he is nicknamed here. “They are friendly. They mean well. They sell, cheer and wave to us. That is all fun.” Sneijder has a clear opinion about the 5-3-2. “What do you mean it is un-Dutch? That is ridiculous. We will play with eleven. And Dutch football is more than just playing with wingers. We play high paced circulation, forward pressing, using the flanks to attack… That is more than simply a system. I don’t follow all those debates. What counts for me is winning. And if the coach believes 5-3-2 is the way to go, then that is what we do. Simple.”

Asked about his status in Oranje. “I am not longer the captain. But I am still a leader. I think that is something you bring onto the pitch, with or without the band. Arjen has that too, and Nigel has it. We have many great personalities and you don’t have to be loud to be a leader. Someone like Fer commands respect with the way he can play and if you are marked by Martins Indi, trust me, you do check your back regularly. He can be a beast. The team spirit is wonderful. It’s much much better than in 2012 and I will protect it where I can. It’s important at this stage and that is something I know from experience.” Sneijder is starting his sixth big tournament with Oranje. “When I was 21 years old, I thought 30 year old players were old, hahahaha. Some of them retired after turning 30. But I feel so young still. I will play on for at least another 5 years and I intend to be present in 4 years again. You better get used to the idea.”

Nigel de Jong is ready too. Of course. And he knows his karate kick in the chest of Xabi will be mentioned and shown ad nauseum these coming days. “I really don’t care about my reputation. People will talk about you. My coaches are the ones that need to judge me on my performance and contribution. I have always been appreciated by my mates. That is key. I do not feel the need to defend myself for what I do. Whether you think I’m an asshole or a hero, I don’t give a shit.”

Janmaat (24) and Clasie (22) were both informed in the Feyenoord youth it was better for them to leave. Now, both are most likely starting at their first World Cup. “We are both examples that believing in yourself and never giving up does pay dividends.” The youthful fans with their Panini books can count on the patient signing by Janmaat and Clasie. Not that long ago, both players were also keen in collecting signatures of big name players. Janmaat indeed left Feyenoord, only to return after stints with ADO Den Haag and Heerenveen. Clasie refused to go. “A career can be made or broken by one or two decisions. Bad ones or good ones. It’s important to find the right coach at the right time. Alex Pastoor was key for me at Excelsior when I played there on loan.”

It seems that Janmaat is more and more becoming a trump player in Van Gaal’s deck. The right back is playing like a winger and has an impressive number of assists to his name. In particular his partnership with Van Persie works well. A transfer to Man United might be looming for the The Hague born player. Clasie admits to having to pinch himself at times. “I can sit in my hotel room and realising I am actually at a World Cup with Oranje. When I was little I was so busy supporting the Oranje players and now I am one of them.” And it was even four years ago when Oranje reached the finals and Clasie was just out on loan to Excelsior. Daryl Janmaat expected to play a Euro Tournament with Young Oranje but was one of the last players to be exited from the list. “I remember thinking that that might have been my only chance to play a bit tournament, hahaha. Interesting how life works.”

Jasper Cillesen is clearly Oranje’s number 1. Not all the fans are won over yet. Krul seems to have more experience, plays in a bigger league, is taller and seems to be much better with his feet. Van Gaal said about the topic: “Vermeer is the man with the best profile to be Oranje’s goalie, but Cillesen is simply the best in stopping the ball from going in.”

Cillesen saw Oranje lose the finals in 2010 sitting on the sofa with his parents. “I remember the toe of Casillas. That was luck. He went the other way and Robben hit this toe with the ball and he stopped Robben from scoring. A lucky for Iker. Bad luck for Robben. I know Arjen would have wanted Casillas to have made this tremendous safe. That is easier to digest. Now it is just bad luck. So lets hope we are more lucky this time.” Cillesen is a typical down to earth Dutch bloke. “When we came at the hotel, I saw all these cameras and I was keen to know what was going on… Normally, these scenes only appear when some celebrity is in the hotel or someone has died, hahaha. I asked what was the matter and they said: it’s us. Oranje has arrived. I realised suddenly we were at the World Cup in Brazil!!”. Asked about his role model, Cillesen has an interesting answer: A combination of Kahn and Van der Sar. The latter was the better goalie, but Kahn had that big personality. Very extraverted and loud. I think I am more like Edwin, but I do sense a bit of Kahn in me as well.”

We always had sensations free kick experts in Oranje. Willem van Hanegem, Jan Peters, Ronald Koeman, Frank de Boer, Pierre van Hooijdonk and now we have a number of them: De Guzman and Huntelaar can do it. Clasie has a nice kick. Sneijder, Robben and Van Persie are renowned but so is Nigel de Jong, apparently.

Other news: the Oranje players have two rules to abide to re: Social Media. No more tweeting and instagramming after 11.30 pm and no comments about colleagues. These rules are probably a result of the Eljero Elia “crisis” when the speedy winger – not part of Bert van Marwijk’s squad back then – retweeted a sarcastic comment from a fan about Kuyt after the Germany friendly defeat. “Kuyt played as if he still have the box around his shoes”. Elia thought it was hilarious. The KNVB didn’t.

He was also the center of a verbal outburst during the World Cup in South Africa when he was playing some PS3 game in his hotel room unaware that Boulahrouz had the camera on and the whole world (sic!) could enjoy this little bit of expression.

June 8, 2014 by Jan

Oranje in Rio!! Bring it on

A new post! But I still wanna make you aware of 1) my donation request as it is that time again (hosting cost, upgrades, domain name etc) and 2) enter your results in the Fantasy Competition! BRILLIANT trophies to be won :-).

Well here we are! Louis van Gaal was probably ecstatic. Some 12 years after failing to reach the highest in world football, competing at a World Cup, he finally made it. All geared up to show the world Louis is also the greatest of the world with the national team!

The team had a pleasant flight to Brazil and enjoyed their first days in Rio getting accustomed to the time zone and the climate. The touch down was early in Rio and Louis kept his players awake to make sure they would settle in quickly. The spent some time in the hotel and then went for a long beach walk. “I noticed a change. Coming into Rio, the airport, the buzz, the language, the smells…the players were immediately affected by it. More focused. The talk became different, when we did the beach walk. Everyone realised they were actually in Brazil. To play for the World Cup,” as Louis van Gaal put it.

The players live in the Caesar Park Ipanema Hotel and it was a true spectacle when the players arrived there.

The arrival of Oranje in Brazil does mean something. The first steps of the Dutch in Brazil are broadcast live on tv. A diversity of tv programs had anchor women out at the hotel and the training grounds to pick up some footage of the Dutch. Earlier on Bosnia and Chile arrived but those events were almost ignored. There were police and media choppers and the many people needed to be fenced off from the hotel grounds. They went to the Flamengo training grounds at 3.15 pm and had a short but fun session, to allow the muscles and joints to get into gear.

Playing some foot-volley and having fun with the Flamengo youth teams, present as ball boys. Sneijder, Wijnaldum and Van Persie stayed on the pitch to teach the lads some tricks and without a doubt vice versa. Van Gaal had to order the players in and Van Persie held up a big thumb to the lads when he made his way back. Arjen Robben didn’t train with the group. Van Gaal had one player too many for the game and offered one volunteer the option to bail out. Robben was quickest to raise his hand (I wouldn’t think Kongolo or Clasie would do this, hahahaha).

Wesley Sneijder is turning back into the 2010 Wesley Sneijder we all loved (and some hated). Cocky, arrogant, condescending and oozing with brilliance. His presence in Brazil was not an automatic one, under this team manager. It took a clash with Van Gaal and hard work. But he made it. “I was to blame, but I also fixed it. I planted a big flag for myself, on this mountain far away. And said “that is where I am going!”. And my flag is now close. And you know what, you all (media)…you also thought I was over the hill. I thank you for that. It helped strengthen my resolve.”

Classic Wes. Like Asterix, whenever he gets angry, special powers sink in as if he drank the magic potion and he is ready to take on the Romans. IT took a while for Sneijder to realise what Van Gaal meant. At first, he was angry. And hurt. The coach called him unprofessional?? Him??? The man of the 2010 World Cup? CL winner? But Sneijder realised he indeed had to change his tune. “I knew I wasn’t 100% fit. I hadn’t played for Inter for a while and at Gala I forced myself too much to get back into it. It took hard work to make all the improvements in my fitness and form. I am very close to being 100%.”

The biggest hurdle now is to adapt to the 5-3-2 system, which works very well for Sneijder. Bar for one thing: his timing. “The coach thinks I put pressure on the defence too early and as a result I end up playing next to Robin and Arjen. That is not good. I need to stick to playing closer to midfield. He is right. I need to adjust that.”

Jon De Guzman is the only player not 100% fit at the moment. He is working hard on getting back and according to his thumb up to the media, he is doing well.

Jordy Clasie is with the group, while Van Persie is allowed to take some breaks. The groin situation is not an injury, in Van Gaal’s words, but it probably does hurt. “But, players all play with little knocks and aches. Robin will have to wear it.”

Clasie played with the team without the orange skins and presumable is now the man to fill in for De Guzman. The latter is doing his separate physiotherapy exercises.

Thousands of people joined in when Oranje gathered for practice and the first time Van Gaal used his booming voice to reprimand Sneijder it almost felt staged. The Oranje no. 10 made a mistake in midfield and Louis stopped play, ran onto the pitch and gave Wesley an ear full who accepted it with his head down.

Back in Holland, the nation is prepping for another World Cup. Streets turn orange, companies put out their orange products and the media are creating their World Cup oriented programs, shows and items.

Patrick van Aanholt won’t be seeing all that. The Chelsea full back – out on loan at Vitesse recently – is on a plane to South America. Mexico. Not Brazil. The left back thought he did really well (in the Ecuador match and at training) but was told by Van Gaal he was just not good enough. “Mr Van Gaal told me that he felt I was the best attacking option for the left back position, but also the least defensive option. I do have a tendency to not give priority to my man and he felt I wasn’t paying attention enough. Something for me to work on. It was quite a blow. To be honest, I felt I was part of the squad. But I will have to shrug and learn and go on. Next season, Feyenoord might be my team. There is interest and Feyenoord is an amazing club. But I still have one year of Chelsea on my contract so when I get back from Mexico I’ll report back to London.”

June 5, 2014 by Jan

"Farewell Game" Holland vs Wales lacks punch: 2-0

Since 1998, Holland has played so-called “uitzwaai” games, before a big tournament. This time around, Wales was the “Australia stand-in” and LVG was able to try his non defensive approach against a solidly defending, skill-challenged and physically imposing opponent.

Here are some atmospherics.

For a while it seemed like Van Gaal giving Hans Kraay JR hell (see below) was to be the high point of the night…

Or maybe Mark van Bommel’s farewell?

But all in all, the lads did the job. If we’d beat Australia 2-0 at the World Cup, we’d probably be ok with it….

This game can be seen as another boring game. In which we didn’t give much away. In which Robben missed a couple of good opps and inwhich Sneijder shows how creative and smart he can be.

We also saw RVP leave the field with a groin situation but LVG confirmed it is not a biggie. No worries, as the Ozzies say.

So Van Gaal lost it when Kraay kept on asking and nagging about individual players and was comparing Van Gaal with coaches like De Boer and Mourinho who are coaching really animatedly while Louis is the Sphinx.

“What do you think I can do when I am yelling on the sideline? It mostly means I have not done my job! If I do my job, the lads know what to do and I can sit and observe and analyse. Yes, I might go out there and let one or two individuals know what they should change maybe. But other than that, I don’t want to coach constantly. It is ridiculous and it doesn’t work. Only maybe to motivate them more, but even that should not be needed. I think I should be able to sit on the stands and chat away with Mr Blatter and Platini, actually.”

The game started ok with Janmaat finding Robben in the first minute, who was crowded out before he could pull the tirgger. In the 3rd minute RVP gets a chance after a dribble but goalie Hennessey stops the ball. In the 8th minute, it’s De Vrij’s pass bringing Robben free before the goalie but he just misses the target. In the 25th minute, the fans start to slow clap and whistle a bit until a good little combination through the middle gets Robben in a good position again, but the ball flies over the goal.

In the 27th minute, the biggest cheers of the night so far are for Robson Kanu when he changes shorts on the pitch. In the 29th minute Robben has another attempt but the ball goes corner. Vlaar almost scores as a result.

Two minutes later it is 1-0, after Robben scores a tap in after an RVP attempt from a difficult angle. The goalie stops but Robben is alert. The supporter start the wave and in the 40st minute RVP almost scores a second on a low Janmaat cross.

Nigel practicing his “studs in the chest” kick

During half time it is clear that despite good opps for our forwards (we could be 2-0 or 3-0 up) the game play is not crisp and sparkly yet. Suddenly Lens starts to go out as well, it is clear that either Robben or RVP will leave the pitch. Which means trouble, if its RVP as Van Gaal said he wanted Robin to play as much as possible.

The ManU striker has a groin issue and decides to take a break. Lens on for RVP and Wijnaldum on for Fer.

Oranje starts the second half badly and Wales even gets some opportunities. In the 70st minute, a Wales player can dribble past a couple of defenders and Vlaar has to bring resolve. The Aston Villa man explodes and is so angry that he rams the ball at Wales’ goal from 35 minutes. The ball ends up in Amstelveen but Vlaar does get applause.

Only minutes later, Sneijder finds Robben with a superb pass who offers the goal to Lens.

Nigel de Jong is then subbed for Huntelaar. It’s 4-3-3, with Klaas Jan in the center, Robben and Lens on the flanks, Blind in the De Jong role and Wijnaldum and Sneijder completing midfield. That last 15 minutes is a better and more positive quarter than the first 30 minutes of the second half, with Huntelaar being close to scoring a third goal for Oranje.

LAte in the game, Sneijder finds Lens again but the Kiev forward made hands and is called back.

And with that, the game ends….

Van Gaal was realistic after the game: “I expected this to be much better. I hoped for it to be better and I wanted this to be better. But….we scored to brilliant goals. We created those ourselves and we gave not much away. That was good. Wales was tough, they parked the bus and I wasn’t happy with the pitch. Very slow. But then again, we should have done better despite all this. Too much loss of possession. It was boring at times, but the players are making big steps up and we’ll keep on working on it.”

“I am prepping the team for opponents with more attacking power at the World Cup. And normally I would play 4-3-3 against an opponent like Wales but I am in a process so unfortunately for the supporters, we played a system that is difficult against defensive teams. We will most likely end up using 5-3-2 for the big games, turning it into 3-4-3 when we can or 4-3-3 against the weaker opponents.”

Asked why Van Gaal selected so many forwards when he wants to play with two strikers only: “Statistics will show that if you bump into injuries at the World Cup, it is amongst offensive players. I think we will be able to hold our own with our defence but I need three different types of forwards. Strikers, wingers and offensive midfielders. I have also looked at multifunctionality. Kuyt can play on many different spots, so can Lens, so can Depay, so can Wijnaldum…. This gives me ultimate flexibility….”

On RVP: “We took him off as a precaution. He does have pain there but I think with some rest he’ll be fine.”

Willem van Hanegem added some words as an analyst… “The more I see Holland play, the more I feel we need to have more creativity at the back. With all due respect, I would want to see Sneijder, sitting deep. Playing just in front of the defence. So he has a lot of the ball, he can accelerate the game with his pinpoint passing and we can more legs up front to support Van Persie with runs. We need a number 10 like Litmanen or Bergkamp. A moving player. It feels to me like Van Persie is constantly in Sneijder’s way and vice versa. This is why only Robben seems to benefit from Sneijder, because of his movement. With a player like Wijnaldum or as Cruyff said, Klaassen behind Van Persie and Sneijder sitting deep, we could use the strength of all players much better. Wes can move up at times for a distance strike or with corner kicks and free kicks but he should temper his urge to score goals and serve the team.”

Leroy Fer played his first 45 minutes since a while. He was subbed for Wijnaldum at half time. “I think it went ok. In possession I played well, I had some good through balls and playing with Janmaat on the right is really good when we have possession. When we lost the ball, I wasn’t pressing well enough, the coach said. I think he wanted to see improvement there and brought Gio for me in the second half. But I’m happy I got to play.”

And lastly, as a bit of fun trivia, you know about how the Dutch Legion gets all crazy when Orange is playing a tournament?

Whole suburbs turning Oranje? Stupid suits, dresses, glasses, hats, fuzzy animals, what not?

Well, in case your heart stops while watching Oranje win the first World Cup ever against Belgium, this Summer, this is how you can go out:

June 4, 2014 by Jan

Pre-Wales Update from the Oranje Camp

SEVEN DAYS TO GO. Gosh, I need a timer on my site…. Why am I so web-challenged… 🙁

Anyway, no matter. It’s one more friendly before we go for the big job.

Wales tomorrow, sans Bale and Ramsey sadly. Ramsey was one of my fave players last season. What a tremendous revelation he appeared to be.

Louis will play with yet another system. A bit cheeky of course. We will end up playing 3-4-3. With Sneijder close to RVP and Robben roaming where ever. Blind, De Jong, Fer and Janmaat in midfield (Blind and Janmaat covering the flanks) and BMI, De Vrij and Vlaar as defenders.

A system the players should be able to handle, without too much of an issue.

I like this. To me, it says Louis might be working with different systems vs our group opponents. Spain will most likely need a 5-3-2 approach (or a 1-9-1 approach, hahahaha). Chile depends a bit on their first result and how they play. Australia will most likely need a 3-4-3.

Van Gaal: “I selected the players also on the basis of their ability to play various systems.”

This probably explains why Van Aanholt was not needed. Blind can play on four positions, Kongolo on three positions.

De Guzman is out, as you know, and Clasie is not 100%. Odds are high that Fer will start. And from what I hear, De Guzman might not be out of the woods as yet, with his hamstring which might be very bad news indeed…

Wondering who LVG will call up if De Guzman needs to throw the towel…

Nigel de Jong is about to start his fourth big tournament as a starter. This time under Van Gaal. The 29 year old has an impressive list of clubs on his resume and after playing more than 10 years at the highest level, he still is hungry for the ball. “I have to be. That is how I can survive. You know, the playing pitch is like a jungle. It’s the survival of the fittest. I want the ball if I don’t have it and I must want it more than the other guy. Otherwise I don’t stand a chance. EWhen I played in the Ajax youth, we would win most games because we were better. When you play for Man City or Milan or Oranje, you don’t win because you are better. Because you are not. There are ten nations at the World Cup that could claim better players than us, spot by spot. Fine. We need to be better organised, better mentally, more hungry, etc. I reached the top in football not because I was the best player. I played with guys in the youth who were seriously, much more skilled than me. But I made it. And sure, when you are Lionel Messi or C Ronaldo, you can play frivolous and win. I can’t. I know my limits, hahahaha.”

De Jong looks the part too. Muscly, buff, tattooed and a stern look. But when you hear him speak, he is an intelligent, soft spoken and humorous bloke from the streets of Amsterdam. Vilified and criticised for his harsh play and in particular after he was involved in a couple of broken legs and a chest kick studs up to Xabi Alonso, people started to feel De Jong was giving Dutch football a bad name.

“I don’t care too much about what others think. It makes life easier this way, you know? I don’t respond to these things. I know and Xabi knows whether I hit him on purpose or not. That is enough for me. I will not go and publically defend myself. I am hired to do a job and in my position I cannot not go into the tackle for fear I might hurt the other bloke. The team manager would take me off. The team manager selects me and I do what he wants me to do. I am now starting at my fourth Tournament, so I guess I am doing my job properly.”

Van Gaal overlooked De Jong in March. Was he ever scared he would miss out on Brazil. “Nope. The team manager told me he wanted to see others at work. I am confident enough to know that if I would focus on my own game, I would be part of the squad. I am one of the best on this position, full stop. When I am fit and happy, I can deliver.”

De Jong enjoys the new system. “Yes, it fits us. It is the right thing to do. And I believe we will have it down pat for Spain and I believe we will go for the win. That first game is very important and we will try and win it.” Is a draw not a good result? “No man! You always go for the win. That is why we play.”

The mood is good in the Oranje camp. The Feyenoord youngsters (Wijnaldum, Fer, De Guzman, Clasie, Vlaar, De Vrij, BMI, Kongolo, Janmaat) seem to have a dominant role in the squad . This clip explains their shenanigans. What they basically say is: Bruno Martins Indi is the joker of the group, always trying to fool a mate. Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt are the best mentor / motivator, biggest training animal is Bruno Martins Indi, Terence Kongolo is the worst in playing pool, player who most underestimate himself: Bruno Martins Indi, the man who knows much about football: Louis van Gaal.

Martins Indi remembers one of his first friendlies, when apparently Robben yelled really loud in the tunnel towards the field “There are no friendlies!! We are Holland and we play to win!!”.

Yolanthe, Wesley’s better half, presents the new Orange knickers to the world. You can order them through this website if you are interest. One word of warning: Yolanthe is not part of the offer!!

June 2, 2014 by Jan

Cruyff and Van Hanegem speak, and so does Louis!

Only nine days to go people!!! It is getting scary. I have to make the Fantasy World Cup League for us and have two more World Cups to cover here, for our Memory Lane trip…. But the news is coming fast and furious!

Everytime it’s the same story. A couple of weeks before the big tournament starts, Van Hanegem and Cruyff are asked about their opinion. And the two Oracles of Dutch football always have great soundbites… So Van Gaal will have to now allow these two (Waldorf and Statler) looking over his shoulder and commenting on all his moves. As if I wasn’t enough :-).

We’ll see what they have to say in a bit. First: jersey numbers. They’re out. And it’s official: Blind will play with 5 (and therefor take the left back spot, is my wild guess) and De Guzman will be the starter in midfield with 6. Robin wears 9, Robben 11 and Sneijder 10.

Now, back to JC and De Kromme.

Cruyff: “I miss a player like Davy Klaassen. If you want to play 5-3-2 and move up to 3-5-2, it means you need smart players with a brain for timing and positioning. Klaassen has that in spades.”

Van Hanegem: “It is good to see Sneijder is back in top shape. But I am annoyed with that baseball cap. You can’t see his eyes when he’s being interviewed and that is wrong. Someone needs to tell him to lose the cap!”

Which teams will end in the top 4.

Cruyff: “Argentina. Never did a European nation win in South America. With players who can play really good football but also players who can numb their mind and tirelessly focus on that one element: win and bring out the best of yourself.”
Van Hanegem: “Argentina will be very keen to perform and with Messi and Di Maria they have two very good players. I won’t say Messi saved himself for the World Cup but I’m sure it has crossed his mind a number of times this season.
The Argentine defence is solid and if Messi can bring his top form, he might be forever heralded as the greatest ever, what winning the World Cup in Brazil!”
Cruyff: “But Brazil has so many great players…”
Van Hanegem: “Brazil… I did have my doubts until I saw that crush Spain in the Confederations Cup…”
Cruyff: “So aggressive….”
Van Hanegem: “But in a good way! Driven. Hungry. With that “don’t fuck with us!” mentality. That was what they resonated. And they didn’t seem to be worried with pressure. Everywhere they play, they feel pressure…”
Cruyff: “They know how to deal with that pressure…”
Van Hanegem: “I sometimes feel they played with the brakes on a bit, the Brazilian players in their club competitions…. Because they know they have to win this. They are the stone cold favorites.”
Cruyff: “Spain?”
Van Hanegem: “I doubt them. I normally would say yes, Spain, but they haven’t been to dominant. I think they are losing it.”
Cruyff: “But they have great players, still. Midfielders mainly. This is the problem they have in England too. They all have foreigners as strikers. Benzema, C Ronaldo, Bale and in Barcelona it’s Neymar, Messi and Sanchez… They quickly grabbed Diego Costa. Smart.”
Van Hanegem: “I think that is a top player. But Llorente of Juventus is no slouch either. And they do have some other physically strong players…yes, Spain is on my list.”
Cruyff: “And again Germany, of course.”
Van Hanegem: “If you see their squad with quality… Gotze, Reus, Muller, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Neuer….”
Cruyff: “Germans are always a threat. And with the introduction of more foreign coaches like Van Gaal and Guardiola, they will only get better.”
Van Hanegem: “You just know that Germany will be up there again.”
Cruyff: “Outsiders… I don’t see Holland as such, we are a bit too young. We have quality but lack experience. And that draw….”
Van Hanegem: “I would mention Belgium before Oranje. They have so many great players. France too by the way. I think we should cheer them if they survive the group.”
Cruyff: “It will be extremely tough.”
Van Hanegem: “The first game is versus Spain. The first game of the world champions, is always a tough one. The pressure is extra big. So yeah, we might be able to get something against them.”

Oranje might get passed the group stages but is not planning on winning the beauty prize. Results first. Van Persie: “It wasn’t sparkling. We need to find the balance still.” The times of the beautiful game seem behind us. Van Gaal decides to play a less attractive and more realistic game. Which is: stop as much as possible and play all balls on the three upfront! Van Persie: “Our goal versus Ghana was a good example of this. We created three good chances in this way, but we missed the opportunity to pick the right moment as we could have broken more. It is still a bit too sloppy.”

The players realise that it will be a tough battle for our team and the rock in midfield Nigel de Jong is quite useful in those games: “I think we did well. We could have been 2-0 or 3-0 up by half time. If we did score, I don’t think anyone would have complained. This team needs a bit more time, but the potential is certainly there.”

We just had the Oranje press conference and here are some soundbites:

“Jon De Guzman had to leave the training this morning. He felt something in his left hamstring. I won’t take chances. Against Wales, we have sufficient replacements at the moment. I won’t make any rash decisions and we’ll see tomorrow what happens.”

“I might use a 4-4-2 against Wales.If Wales comes at us with one striker, it is useless to play 3 defenders. I will move one player up (Daley Blind). This is easy. He played in midfield for Ajax and Bruno played left back for Feyenoord. This is how I defined my squad.”

Louis gets bit antsy when the media complain about the narrow win against Ghana. “Oh dear, we only won 1-0?? Did you see how the other big countries done? We won 1-0 but it could have been 3-0. Germany plays 2-2 against Cameroon. Italy can’t win. And Spain wins against the number 8 of South America.”

“I am not sure if we are ready in time. We are making great progress but time will tell if we are ready for Spain and Chile and Australia. I do hope so. But like I said, we do pretty good if you take the friendly results as a benchmark. Wesley Sneijder played well today on training. He is playing really in midfield now.”

Mark van Bommel will be celebrated before the Wales game. He played 79 times for Oranje and Van Gaal (the coach who drove him out of Munich) was the coach back in 2000 to give Van Bommel his first cap.

Van Gaal talks about the number 10 position: “I can play Robben as 10, but I want his depth and speed upfront and Sneijder is a better passer of the game. But I have to look at fitness and how well a player plays within the system. I need to make sure Robin doesn’t need to work too hard. I saw him chasing the left and right defender against Ghana. He was doing too much. The wide defenders of our team need to manage those two.”

Van Gaal also claims that four players in the squad have not reached their full fitness yet. “I won’t mention names but we have four players who need to make a step up. The medical tests show this. Full fitness is needed if you want to play like I want to play. The games against Romania and Hungary were good examples.”

Sneijder is probably not one of those players. Chest out, chin up, the Galatasaray midfielder has managed to get to full fitness thanks to the help of K1 fighter Saki. The kickbox start trained for months with Wesley. “I contacted him. I met him once and he was a nice guy and very fit. I started working out with him. I also played and trained for Gala of course which also helped. But Saki is a Gala supporter and I needed some improvement in explosivity and footwork. I need to be faster and lighter. We did two to three sessions per week, in the evening. And I worked on a special program for the KNVB as well. My body mass index is now better than it was in 2010!”

Yolanthe explained his routine. “Gets up early. Takes his healthy breakfast and trains and trains. And he sleeps two hours in the afternoon. He started this as a kid and still does it. And I cook healthy and light. Lots of beef, fish and raw vegetables. And when take cream on my strawberries or chips on the sofa, he refuses. He is very serious.”

Sneijder was not too happy with the performance vs Ghana but is hopeful: “It was still a bit new and we needed to check too much…. and suddenly it clicked but then other things went wrong. Little things. We need to iron those out and we will. Once we do that, you’ll see it will look much better suddenly.”