The Netherlands savour a new dawn

After disappointment at EURO 2000™ and a disastrous qualifying campaign for the 2002 FIFA World Cup ended the careers of two Dutch coaches, the Netherlands will be desperately hoping that the qualifying campaign for EURO 2004™ will be the dawn of a new era in Dutch football.

No competitive matches
With the Netherlands joint hosts of the 2000 UEFA European Championship, then Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard had the comfort of two years without competitive games to prime his side for the finals when he was hired after the Dutch finished fourth in the 1998 World Cup.

Intent signalled
Under the tutelage of Guus Hiddink, the Dutch began their bid for world glory in 1998 with a scoreless draw against Belgium but signalled their intent in their next match, beating the Korean Republic 5-0 – with five different players finding the target. A 2-2 draw with Mexico in their final first-round game was enough to see both nations through, Ronald de Boer and Philip Cocu both netting their second goals of the tournament.

Late goals
The Dutch were reliant on an injury-time Edgar Davids winner, and a missed penalty from Pedrag Mijatovic, to beat Yugoslavia in the second round. Then Dennis Bergkamp, who opened the scoring in the previous round, scored one of the great World Cup goals as his side overcame Argentina 2-1 in the final minute to set up a semi-final showdown with Brazil. Patrick Kluivert's 87th-minute goal cancelled out Ronaldo's opener and following a tense period of extra time the Dutch crashed out on penalties yet again, Cocu and De Boer missing.

Eleven-game winless run
Following the heartbreak, and the departure of Hiddink, Rijkaard made it his aim to rebuild a new side but his first year in charge was to prove a stressful one. While the Netherlands beat Peru 2-0 in Rijkaard's first game in charge, there then followed an eleven-game run without a win, during which they drew nine games. The spell was broken when the Netherlands beat Germany 2-1 at the Amsterdam ArenA in February 2000, and there were high hopes that their star-studded side would be ready to make a serious challenge on home soil in the finals of the tournament.

Home hopes
While their first game in the finals saw them earn a fortunate 1-0 win against the Czech Republic through an 89th-minute Frank de Boer penalty, the Netherlands showed their class as they won their remaining group stage games 3-0 against Denmark and 3-2 against eventual champions France. The 6-1 victory against Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals of the competition marked the high-point of Rijkaard's coaching career, as three goals from Patrick Kluivert and two from Marc Overmars sealed an emphatic win for the hosts.

Semi-final catastrophe
However, the semi-final against Italy was to prove disastrous as the Netherlands missed two penalties in normal time and wasted endless opportunities to break down a ten-man Italian side before losing 3-1 on spot-kicks after the game ended scoreless. Rijkaard resigned as coach soon afterwards and was replaced by Louis van Gaal for the Netherlands' World Cup qualification campaign.

New coach - old problems
Drawn against the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Estonia, Andorra and Portugal in Group Two, they were expected to qualify, but disastrous results against their only serious qualification rivals proved the Dutch's undoing. An inauspicious start at home saw them only just grab a 2-2 draw with Ireland after going two goals behind, and though they made short work of Cyprus in their next game, losing 2-0 to Portugal in Rotterdam left the Dutch with serious qualification problems. A 5-0 trouncing of Andorra in their next game was followed by a creditable 2-2 draw away to Portugal, but the Netherlands still ended 2000 with serious doubts over their consistency.

Disaster at Lansdowne Road
The following year started much better for Van Gaal with another 4-0 win against Cyprus, a 4-2 win away to Estonia and a morale-boosting 2-0 win in a friendly game with a resurgent England in London. However, disaster was just around the corner, as the Dutch missed a host of chances against a ten-man Irish side at Lansdowne Road stadium and lost 1-0 to Jason McAteer's 67th-minute goal. A 5-0 win against Estonia and a 4-0 win against Andorra followed in their final qualifying games, but those goals were not enough to earn them a place in Korea/Japan. They became the most high profile European nation to be denied a place in the finals.

Van Gaal resigns
The Netherlands ended the year with no coach following Van Gaal’s resignation and once more were haunted by their reputation as dramatic underachievers. However, with some of the most attractive and naturally gifted players in the world at their command, the Dutch will be aiming to return to form long before the 2004 finals in Portugal.