Everybody Loves Holland

Holland are one of those teams that have plenty of fans from other countries. The main reason for this is their tradition of “sexy football”, a tradition which goes back to the great Ajax and national sides of the 1970s who scored goals like this:



I first came across them at EURO88. I remember collecting Panini stickers and being dazzled by the bright orange shirts. I was also intrigued by the fact that they had more black players than England. Of course there was Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, but there were also lesser lights like Aaron Winter and the 2nd goalie Stanley Menzo. They destroyed England with a hat-trick the mighty Marco van Basten. Having grown up in England, I was totally ignorant of van Basten, Gullit, the Koemans and watching them was like a revolution.

And then there were the fans! A sea of bright orange was so eye-catching. It was love at first sight. The fact that they really, really seemed to hate the Germans also sat well (although more recently, Germany have turned into a multicultural, friendly, attacking team who everyone loves – until they win something!).



Since then, Holland have usually disappointed at major tournaments, though they were bloody good in France98, only going out to Brazil in the semis. Remember Dennis Bergkamp! Dennis Bergkamp!, Dennis Bergkamp!



One thing that the Oranje always bring is in-fighting between their players. This took an ugly turn in Euro96 where there were allegations of racial divisions between the players, but usually, their factionalism is pure comedy.

In truth, the Holland teams of recent years have been pretty dull to watch. In the 2010 World Cup finals, they did give us some cracking goals like this one against Uruguay



But in the final against Spain, they suddenly turned into a hideous cross between the 1980s Wimbledon and the Israeli Defence Force. Nigel de Jong’s textbook karate chop in Xabi Alonso’s chest captured their approach perfectly. I was glad Spain won, despite them being a bunch of racist MFs.



Adios Holland. I hope one day you’ll to the joyful, open free flowing style of old.