Oranje Heartbreaks – UEFA Euro 2000.

Ever since I witnessed Holland win their first ever international title in 1988, being a fan of the Oranje has been nothing but heartbreaks and bitter disappointments. With the Oranje not being part of the 24 teams playing this summer in France for the European Championship, let’s revisit their previous disappointments in this tournament since 1988.

The Lead-Up:

Two years after losing to Brazil in the Semi-Finals of the 1998 World Cup, the Oranje were back in the UEFA European Championship. This was their second consecutive elimination in a World Cup at the hands of Brazil. What made this exit painful was that their elimination came through a penalty shootout. This was the third time the Oranje had been eliminated by a penalty shootout this decade after Euro 92 and Euro 92. Manager Guus Hiddink stepped down after the World Cup and he was replaced by his assistant, the legendary Frank Rijkaard, who last played for the Oranje at World Cup 1994.

Holland and Belgium were the co-hosts for the 2000 edition. Thus, Holland did not have to go through qualifiers. However, they play in many friendlies to get ready for this tournament. They faced Croatia, Peru, Ghana and Germany in 1998. In 1999, Holland then faced Portugal, Argentina, Morocco, Denmark, and Belgium in a 5-5 draw in Holland, and Czech Republic. That year also saw them face Brazil three times, with the first two friendlies taking place in Brazil and the last one in Holland. In 2000, the Oranje faced Germany, Belgium, Scotland, Romania, and Poland in preparation for Euro 2000. This was the first Euro tournament to feature Nike as Oranje’s kit maker, after they switched from Lotto following Euro 1996. Personally, I consider the 2000 Oranje home shirt as my all-time favorite Oranje shirt.

The team from 1996 was now mature and battle ready, following their impressive showing at World Cup 1998 in France. Edwin van der Sar was in goal with Michael Reiziger as the right back and Frank de Boer as one of the two centerbacks. Ignored in 1996, Jaap Stam was now the other key center back for the team, with Arthur Numan and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, as the team’s left backs. The midfield saw the return of those who featured in 1996 such as Cocu, Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, who missed the costly penalty against France in the 1996 shootout, and a healthy Marc Overmars. Boudewijn Zenden would also feature for the Oranje after getting his debut in 1998 World Cup. Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Kluivert would be the dynamic duo to lead the attack.

Defenders Bert Konterman Paul Bosvelt made their Oranje tournament debut in Euro 2000 along with the young striker Roy Makaay. Another player who was supposed to feature for the Oranje was Ruud van Nistelrooy but he would miss out after suffering a serious cruciate ligament injury. Thus, Pierre van Hooijdonk and Peter van Vossen were called up. The former got to play and scored in World Cup 1998 while the latter was representing the Oranje at a major tournament for the first time since World Cup 1994. Surprisingly, the lone holdover from Euro 88, Aron Winter, also made it on the team.

Group A consisted of defending European champions Germany, England, Portugal and Romania. Group B consisted of co-host Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Turkey. Group C consisted of Spain, Norway, Yugoslavia, and Slovenia, who was making its first ever debut in an international competition. Group D consisted of the co-hosts, Holland, France, the defending World Cup Champions and the team that eliminated them in Euro 96, Denmark, the team that eliminated the Oranje in 1992 Euro Semi-Finals, and Czech Republic.

Holland kicked off their Group A with an impressive 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic courtesy of a penalty kick scored by Frank de Boer in the 89th minute. The penalty was considered soft as Ronald de Boer’s shirt was being pulled inside the box by Jiří Němec, which affected Ronald’s chance of meeting Overmars’s cross. Holland then avenged their 1992 elimination by the Danes through an impressive 3-0 victory with Kluivert, Ronald de Boer and Zenden all scoring in the second half. Denmark could have pulled one back after van der Sar brought down Ebbe Sand inside the box in the 80th minute, but Michael Schjønberg missed from the penalty spot. After a slow start against the Czechs, this was a superb all-around performance by the Oranje.

Both France and Holland had won their first two group stage matches so the final group stage match would determine who would finish first and second in the group. Although France would rest the likes of Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry and others. Holland only rested the likes of van der Sar for Sander Westerveld, and Reiziger for Bosvelt, but the rest of the lineup was strong with Bergkamp and Kluivert up front. This was a classic match where France took the lead twice and Holland managed to comeback twice before winning it 3-2. Christophe Dugarry gave France the early lead before Kluivert equalized in the 14th minute. David Trezeguet scored France’s go ahead goal in the 31st minute to give France a 2-1 halftime lead. Holland got their equalizer in the 51st minute courtesy of a superb powerful free kick goal by Frank de Boer from quite some distance. Zenden then scored the game winner right around the hour mark to avenge the Quarter-Finals elimination by France in 1996.

Defending Euro 96 champions, Germany exited the group stage so a new champion was going to be crowned. Would Holland be celebrating on home soil with the Final taking place in Amsterdam? The Quarter-Finals had France facing Spain, Italy facing Romania, and Portugal facing Turkey.

Holland’s opponents in the Quarter-Finals would be Yugoslavia. Holland, destroyed, and some would say peaked, in this match that saw the Oranje crush their opponents 6-1. Kluivert scored a hat trick and Overmars scored a brace. Dejan Govedarica scored an own goal, which we thought was going to be Kluivert’s third originally before he would score again a few minutes later. Savo Milošević scored Yugoslavia’s consolation goal in stoppage time. Holland’s victory meant a Semi-Finals showdown with Italy while Portugal would face France.

The Heartbreak:

For those who watched this match, I apologize for making you relive this traumatic nightmare. For those who lucked out and never got to witness this match, consider yourselves lucky. Watching the highlights or full match now will never compare to witnessing this clash as it happened.

Holland lost two players to injuries prior to this match. Arthur Numan tore a muscle at the bottom of his right foot against Yugoslavia, which meant Giovanni van Bronckhorst would be the starting left back. Also, striker Roy Makaay tore a ligament in right ankle during training a few days before the Semi-Finals and would be out. Although Reiziger started the first two group stage matches as the right back, he was on the bench in place of Paul Bosvelt, who started against France and Yugoslavia. Stam and Frank de Boer anchored the middle of the defense. Overmars, Davids, Cocu and Zenden formed the midfield supporting the front two of Bergkamp and Kluivert.

Italy decided to play it safe and started a back five with the intent of sitting back just to counter-attack whenever the moment presented itself. There were far too many shots to list them all in this lookback but Holland were the dominant side from the opening whistle till the end. Just after three minutes, Bergkamp spotted a surging run from Philip Cocu and delivered a superb ball but Cocu’s final effort saw the ball fly over the bar. In the 14th minute, Bergkamp managed to get through on goal but his effort glided past Italy’s keeper Franseco Toldo, and struck the far post before bouncing away from the goal.

Italy were struggling with the Oranje attack and both Gianluca Zambrotta and Mark Iuliano were booked in the 15th and 16th minute respectively. In the 34th minute, Zambrotta would see red for his second bookable offense on Zenden and the Oranje were going to enjoy an extra man advantage for the remaining hour. In the 37th minute, Holland were awarded a penalty after Alessandro Nesta held back Kluivert inside the box. Frank de Boer stepped up to take the penalty against Toldo, who was only starting after first choice Gianluigi Buffon (Yes, him!) broke his hand in a friendly a few days before the tournament kicked off. Frank had converted against the Czechs in the opening group match but on this day, he could not. Toldo guessed correct as he dived to his left and denied the Oranje from taking the lead.

Holland lost their composure after that penalty miss and played lethargically till the half time whistle. Italy, down a man, opted to just sit back and defend. It was the classic “Parking the Bus” strategy before the term was made famous many years later. Holland kicked off the second half by being more patient, but that did not stop Italy from threatening when Stefano Fiore tested van der Sar with a shot on goal that was stopped and resulted in a corner kick. However, with chances hard to come by, the Oranje became scrappy and sloppy. Oranje’s resilience to find a way did pay off when they were awarded a second penalty after the hour mark.

In the 61st minute, Iuliano brought down Davids inside the box for the Oranje’s second penalty of the match. Surprisingly, the referee did not give Iuliano a second yellow. Nonetheless, Holland had a second chance at taking the lead. This time, Kluivert was going to take the penalty. Kluivert stepped up and made Toldo guess wrong, however, the ball hit the post and bounced out and Bergkamp’s effort on the rebound was wasted. Even Pele, watching in the stands, could not hide his disbelief in the penalty miss.

Holland would struggle for the remainder of the half to get another great chance. They were either shut down or fouled by the Italian players. In the 77th minute, Rijkaard made his first substitution by taking off Zenden and bringing on van Vossen, who did well in helping the Oranje with their offense. In the 86th minute, Rijkaard took off Bergkamp and brought on Seedorf. This was a sad substitution as it meant that this would be the final time Bergkamp would represent Holland if they lost to Italy. Bergkamp, at the age of 31, had announced he was going to retire from the national team at the conclusion of this tournament. A combination of his fear of flying and the fact that the next World Cup was going to be in Japan and South Korea made this decision possible. Although, Bergkamp endured criticism in the early stages of the tournament after being accused of not being effective enough, he performed remarkably in the 6-1 thrashing of Yugoslavia to silence such talk. It was a pity that he would bow out this way.

Remarkably, it was Italy’s substitute Marco Delvecchio who nearly won the game for Italy in stoppage time as he went past Frank de Boer before unleashing a shot on goal. Fortunately, his effort was right at van der Sar, which did not trouble the keeper. Italy also brought on Gianluca Pessotto and Francesco Totti off the bench to help deal with Oranje attacks. The full-time whistle blew and Holland had 30 minutes to score a golden goal and win it on home soil or endure another penalty shootout. Five minutes into Extra time, Rijkaard made his final substitution.

With Makaay and Numan out with injuries, depth became such an issue that World Cup 94 starting keeper, Ed de Goey, who was the team’s third keeper, had a spot on the bench besides the other backup keeper, Sander Westerveld. The rest of the bench consisted of Konterman, Ronald de Boer, van Hooijdonk, and Winter. Rijkaard opted to use his final substitution by taking off Cocu and bringing on Aron Winter. Many, including myself were surprised Ronald de Boer or van Hooijdonk were not brought on instead. This substitution was historic as it allowed Winter to make his 84th appearance for the Oranje and thus becoming, at the time, their all-time capped player. Some believe Rijkaard made this substitution was not made as a tactical reason, but as a token of gratitude, in order for his former teammate Winter to break the record as he neared the end of his playing career.

Italy almost ended the match with a golden goal ten minutes into extra time. A long ball played from the Italian box fell to Delvecchio. It was like reliving Bergkamp’s Argentina winner but fortunately, van der Sar made a superb stop to keep the game scoreless. Holland’s best chances fell to Seedorf and Kluivert, who both managed to fire across the goal and out of play. Neither side could end it with a golden goal so penalties would decide the outcome.

For both teams, the penalty box was hostile territory. Neither side had won a penalty shootout before, with Italy being eliminated in the 1980 European Championship and World Cups 1990, 1994 and 1998 by a penalty shootout. For the Oranje, this was their third straight Euro penalty shootout after 1992 and 1996, with memories of crashing out to Brazil two years before still fresh in their memories.

Italians went first, with Luigi Di Biagio, the man who missed the decisive penalty against France in World Cup 1998, to take the first penalty. Even though van der Sar guessed correctly by diving to his right, Di Biagio’s effort strong was powerful and out of his reach. Frank de Boer would take Holland’s first penalty. He had taken Holland’s first penalty against Brazil and converted from the spot. Unfortunately, his earlier miss must have weighed on his mind because his weak effort was easily dealt with Toldo. Pessotto made van der Sar guess wrong as he scored from the spot. Jaap Stam was the second penalty taker and sadly, his effort flew over the bar and probably out of Amsterdam Arena.

Holland was already down 0-2 in the shootout when the young Totti stepped up to take Italy’s penalty. Totti proceeded to score from the spot with a well taken “Panenka” that offered an early glimpse of his self-confidence that he would display to this day. Kluivert took Holland’s third penalty and he blasted his penalty to the right side of the goal, freezing Toldo in the process. Paolo Maldini proceeded to miss from the spot to give the Oranje a glimmer of hope. Sadly, Holland’s fourth penalty taker was another defender, Bosvelt. Toldo guessed correct by diving to his right and stopped Bosvelt’s tame effort and the party was over for Holland.

This was the Oranje’s fourth elimination in the last five tournaments by the means of a penalty shootout. The lone exception was their 3-2 1994 World Cup Quarter-Final exit to Brazil. Losses to Denmark in 1992, France in 1996, Brazil in 1998 and now Italy in 2000 was how the Oranje would be remembered in defeat. One has to wonder, with a team full of attackers, how was it that the majority of the penalty takers were defenders. Would it have helped if Ronald de Boer or van Hooijdonk came in place of Winter as the team’s final substitution?

Ultimately, this was a painful elimination with a lot of what ifs. Just like 1992, it was a bitter elimination from a tournament that was theirs to lose. Overall, this was entertaining showing by the Oranje with memorable performances along the way before their most painful exit in memory.

The Aftermath:

This was a heart wrenching loss for many Oranje fans, including myself. Holland did everything right except get the ball into the goal. Final stats would show Holland had 65% of possession, 21 shots with 8 of them on goal. Sadly, their poor finishing and penalties caused them to miss the party that was in their back yard. Dennis Bergkamp had this to say afterwards, “Stupid. So stupid. We only have ourselves to blame. I don’t know why Holland can’t win a penalty shoot-out.”

A few days later, Italy would end up losing 2-1 to France in their own heart breaking fashion in the same stadium that they eliminated Holland. Thus, France were now World Cup and European champions. After this heart breaking exit, Rijkaard stepped down from the Oranje and Luis van Gaal would become the new Oranje manager. This would be the last time we would see Winter and Bergkamp represent the Oranje in a major tournament. The majority of these players would continue to represent the Oranje, albeit in disappointing fashion. Under van Gaal, Holland failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and miss out on the important tournament for the first time since 1986.

History does not favor Del Bosque and La Roja

Spain punched their ticket to the 2014 World Cup a few days ago where they will get to play against the best of the world for the World Cup. This also means that Vicente Del Bosque will also get the rare chance to manage his team to a second consecutive World Cup crown. However, the odds are against Del Bosque as he faces an onerous challenge to do where others have failed before him.

Del Bosque and Spain have a tall task ahead of them. The last team to repeat as World Cup champions were Brazil back in 1958 and 1962. A few teams have appeared in consecutive finals but failed to win both times. Argentina back in 1986 and 1990 along with Brazil 1994 and 1998 come to mind. Both teams failed to repeat with Argentina under the helm of the same manager while Brazil had a different manager in their second final.

Carlos Bilardo was the man who helped guide Argentina to their second World Cup title back in 1986 against Germany. He did not step down following that glorious moment for himself and his country, and four years later, his team made it to the World Cup final where they faced Germany yet again. In what was one of the most forgettable finals ever, Germany defeated Argentina to dash Argentina’s hopes of repeating as champions.

Brazil won their fourth World Cup crown back in 1994 and were back in the final four years later in 1998. Carlos Alberto Parreira was the man who steered Brazil to success in 1994 but would coach Saudi Arabia for the 1998 edition. Instead, it was Mário Zagallo, who actually was part of the 1958 and 1962 Brazil teams, that steered his side to the World Cup final before falling to the hosts, France. Parreira did get another shot at winning it with Brazil in 2006 but that team came up short.

More recently, Marcello Lippi attempted to guide the Italian national team to a second consecutive World Cup final, following their World Cup triumph in 2006. However, Lippi and Italy would also fail in repeating as champions as they could not even advance from the group stages. All three countries saw their attempts at repeating come up just short or crash and burn, and Del Bosque can afford to learn from those three managerial counterparts.

If there is anything you can criticize Del Bosque for, it could be on his reliance on the old guard. Many thought he should have dropped Fernando Torres after World Cup 2010 but there he was scoring in another European final two years later and participating in last summer’s Confederations Cup as well. Many believed that Del Bosque should have used the Confederations Cup to test his younger players and not subject his veterans to another busy summer.  Surely that was the downfall of Lippi when his faith in the old guard, while disregarding young talent, did not pan out four years after winning their  World Cup.

Thus, Del Bosque will have to think hard about which players he will take to Brazil this summer. Does he stick with David Villa and Torres, or move on and put his hopes on the likes of Negredo and Michu? Will he use Cesc more often than Xavi and will he start César Azpilicueta over Arbeloa? It is a fine line between depending on veterans and over relying on them. Many believe Parreira made a grave mistake after he opted to go with the veterans in World Cup 2006 and not with the young players that participated and won the Confederations Cup the previous summer.

Furthermore, Del Bosque also has to be worried about fatigue and compliance. For some of his men, this will be their second World Cup, and sixth tournament if you count Confederations Cups as major tournaments. That is a lot of wear and tear on those players who have been representing club and country in over 70 matches a year. Will they have the energy to compete for another World Cup title?

Better yet, are they still hungry for another World Cup crown? Bilardo’s Argentina  were lively and threatening in 1986 but appeared bloated and lethargic four years later. We saw recently how Real Madrid came out flat after winning the league title under Mourinho while Barça fans still recall how their team under Rijkaard became complacent after winning the Champions League. The feeling of working hard and finally achieving the goal you have long strived for is rather unique and irreplaceable. It is also much more difficult to duplicate that motivation after you had already tasted success. Can Del Bosque take some comfort that the sting from Spain’s 3-0 loss to Brazil in the Confederation Cup Final could provide him with players hell bent on revenge?

The World Cup is 236 days away. That’s plenty of time for Del Bosque to decide on what path will he take. Will he avoid making the same mistakes that other managers have made in the past and select younger players who have not featured for Spain and are hungry to duplicate the same success that their idols have attained? Many envy to be in the position of Del Bosque however, I see it as a daunting position to be given the task that many have failed to overcome. History is against him but perhaps Del Bosque can learn from where others have failed and perhaps make Spain can surprise us once again.

Euro 2012 to be the final great Euro Cup.

Get ready folks. Euro 2012 is coming up this summer and following yesterday’s draw, this will be another exciting tournament. Sadly, it will also be the final Euro Cup that will be considered great. In my opinion, UEFA’s decision to expand it from 16 teams to 24 teams for the 2016 edition will extinguish the flame that made this tournament great.

The draw for this summer Euro 2012 group stages took place last week and once again, the draw reminded me why this is my favorite tournament in football. Where else can you get a group with three European champions? Where else can you get arch rivals meet at the group stage? World Cup? Rarely. Copa America? Not that often. The Champions League does come close in terms of providing us a sort of the Best of the Best in Europe competition. However, nothing can top the Euro Cup.

My first ever football memories were that of Euro 88 when Holland finally won their first ever tournament and put to rest the despairs of their shortcomings in the past. Since then, I have been following them as they continued to break my heart in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Euro cups. In my opinion, this summer presents the final time that the Euro cup will be special. UEFA’s president, and former winner of the Euro cup, Platini will be expanding the Euro cup from the current 16 teams to 24 for the 2016 edition. I hope that somehow that will never be implemented but I don’t the chances of that happening any more than the chances of FIFA switching venues for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

I have always gotten grief about my belief that the Euro Cup is harder to win than the World Cup. I still stand by that statement. In the past, it was hard just to qualify for the Euro cup. Before 1996, only 8 countries qualified for the tournament. 8. Defending champions Spain failed to qualify in 1992 and even the Italian national team failed to qualify in 1992 along with three other times after winning the tournament in 1968. Can you imagine a World Cup or Euro Cup now where Italy and Spain are not present? For some reason, this one tournament that did not have its usual teams until it expanded to 16 for the 1996 Euro Cup. The change was needed after UEFA expanded from 33 countries to 47 teams after 1994.

16 teams did double the number of participants but it did not dilute the competition. Unlike the World Cup or the Champions League where more is not better, doubling the number of nations fighting for the Euro Cup was a boost. The big factor that differentiated between the Euro Cup and the World Cup were the group stages. The World Cup now might have one group of death but most of the time, we know which teams will advance from their groups along with the odd surprise such as France and Italy’s elimination from this past World Cup group stage or France and Argentina’s shock elimination back in 2002.

However, most group stages never pack a punch like the Euro Cup. Euro 88 gave us a Germany, Spain and Italy group.  Euro 96 gave us a group consisting of France, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania, 3 of which were in the knockout stages of the previous World Cup that France failed to qualify for.  Euro 2000 gave us a group consisting of then defending World Cup champions with Holland and Denmark while England was grouped with Germany and Portugal and Romania. Euro 2004 gave us a group consisting of Holland, Germany and Czech Republic while the last edition of Euro 2008 gave us a group consisting of Holland, Italy and France. How often do you get those types of group stages where the previous World Cup finalists are grouped together?

On top of that, how often do you get to see arch rivals such as Holland and Germany, or England and Germany get grouped together? Brazil and Argentina? Only during the World Cup qualifiers and that started this past decade when Conmebol scrapped the two group stages to keep Brazil and Argentina separated. As a fan of the Oranje, getting to see Holland face Germany in the group stages is something to get ready for. Holland’s group this year will pit them once again against Germany and also against Portugal, the side that knocked them out of Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006.

Those group stages are a killer to get out of and if you do advance, you still have other teams that are no pushovers. When France won it all in 2000, they had to defeat Denmark and Euro 96 finalists Czech’s before losing to Holland in the final group stage match. They then had to face Spain, Portugal and Italy to win the Euro Cup for the second time. Spain had to defeat Russia, Sweden and then Greece before having to beat Italy, Russia and Germany for the cup. Denmark’s amazing story in 1992 saw them get invited at the last second to replace Yugoslavia and they survived a group that featured England, France and Sweden before defeating Holland and Germany.

As much as we all love the World Cup for what it is, it does not generate that much excitement till the final group stage match or the knockout rounds. It is diluted with teams that some would consider minnows that are out of their league. Even then, sometimes the knocks out stages fail to deliver us big games. Looking back at the 2002 World Cup, Germany made it all the way to the final without defeating a single European country. They tied with Ireland in the group stage and defeated Saudi Arabia and Cameroon before knocking out Paraguay, USA and South Korea before falling to Brazil in the final. Heck, even Brazil made it to the final by playing Turkey twice, Costa Rica, China, Wilmots’s inspired Belgium, and England. France did have its work cut out for it in 2006 when they had to go through Spain, Brazil and Portugal while Italy had to go through Ghana, USA, Czech Republic, Australia, Ukraine, and Germany before defeating the French.

I know the World Cup is no easy task and I expect some rebuttals in that if the Euro Cup is harder to win than the World Cup, then how come Denmark, Holland and Greece never won the World Cup. That’s not the point. Comparing the two tournaments in terms of level of difficulty is what I’m getting at. We will never see a World Cup group stage with Germany and Holland or Spain with Brazil, or Italy with Argentina as often as we would like. World Cup keeps its mega powers away from each other whereas the Euro Cup didn’t care. Can you recall the last time Germany was eliminated from a World Cup group? I recall Germany crashing out in 2000 and 2004. Prior to World Cup 2010, you had to go back to World Cup 1974 to see Italy crash out of a World Cup group stage while it happened to them twice in recent tournaments, Euro 96 and Euro 2004. Will we ever see a country win the World Cup playing a group with Holland and Italy before taking on the likes of Spain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina in the knock out stages? I highly doubt it. That’s the type of strength that the Euro Cup provides us with.

This summer, we are going to see England and France meet again like they in 2004. Holland and Germany meet again after recently being grouped together in Euro 2004 and also back in Euro 92. Sadly, this will probably be the last time we will get to enjoy a tournament with such group stages. Euro 2016 will see the teams expand from 16 to 24. This will lead to the introduction of two additional groups which will spread out the big teams and thus lessen the chances of seeing the same sort of groups we are accustomed to seeing. However, why mess with a good thing? 16 teams were more than enough and in a time where we are complaining of too many matches for players for both club and country, how does expanding lessen that dilemma?

So sit back and enjoy this great tournament one final time. The next one might be only exciting when it comes to the final group stage or the knock out stages, which is what we have right now with the World Cup and to a lesser extent, the Champions League. Here’s to the last toughest international football tournament.