Dutch head to Germany looking to repeat old glories

AMSTERDAM, May 24: The Netherlands qualified for the World Cup finals in superb fashion with a bright new team under dynamic, young manager Marco van Basten, who took the helm after the Dutch crashed out of the semi-finals of Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Whereas Van Basten's predecessor Dick Advocaat was criticised for failing to make choices, the former World Player of the Year displayed inspired leadership from the start and promptly dropped players who he believed thought they were more important than the squad.

Only seven players from the 2004 side have survived under Van Basten, who wants his men to dominate with attacking, attractive football, in the spirit of past Dutch teams.

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, midfielder Philip Cocu and central striker Ruud van Nistelrooy form the backbone of the new squad, who won 10 and drew two of their 12 qualifiers to top European Group One which included Romania and the Czech Republic.

Those performances have made the Dutch one of the favourites to win the title.

The most remarkable aspect of the qualifying campaign proved to be the Dutch defence, which conceded only three goals in 12 matches, with Barcelona's Giovanni van Bronckhorst the only experienced international among them at the start.

Van Basten has built a completely new defence -- also capable of moving forward swiftly as a unit -- and opted for defenders used to playing that style together at AZ Alkmaar: Joris Mathijsen, Kew Jaliens and Tim de Cler, although Jaliens and de Cler are likely to start on the bench.

However ''The Cannibal'' from SV Hamburg, Khalid Boulahrouz, should add some steel to the back line which could be a formidable barrier to cross in Germany.

The Dutch will no doubt continue their trademark 4-3-3 line up as they meet Serbia and Montenegro, Ivory Coast and Argentina in the group phase -- a logical move given that they have wingers available who could also provide the key to success.

With Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, Van Basten has enough choice up front as to which two players will support central striker Van Nistelrooy.

However the Manchester United target man must be feeling Dirk Kuijt closing in. So far Van Basten has used Kuijt on the right wing but during the friendly international match against Ecuador in March, Kuijt replaced Van Nistelrooy in the centre.

Considering their qualifying results, the resilience of their defenders and individual skills of the midfielders and strikers, the Dutch will be looking to at least emulate their performances of the past.

They have reached the final of the two major competitions held on German soil, losing to West Germany in the 1974 World Cup final and winning the European Championship in 1988 when Van Basten scored one of the greatest goals ever seen in their 2-0 defeat of the Soviet Union in the final to claim the sole Dutch international trophy so far.

REUTERS