Netherlands

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The doubters who questioned Marco van Basten's appointment as national team coach after a brief managerial stint with the Ajax reserves have steadily fallen silent over the last 18 months. The Netherlands cruised through Group 1 incredibly leaking only a handful of goals, the last of which was scored by Finland's Teemu Tainio back in October 2004.

With Edwin van der Sar keeping nine consecutive clean sheets (a total of 887 minutes) at one end and club-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy doing the damage at the other, the Dutch saw off the tigerish challenge of the Czech Republic with a qualifying-high total of 32 points. Van Nistelrooy is the pinnacle of Van Basten's preferred three upfront strategy. The Manchester United striker - with 11 Premiership goals to his name already this season - has been variously flanked by Dirk Kuijt, Romeo Castalen and latterly Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie. With Roy Maakay as first backup to Van Nistelrooy, the coach's striking options are frightening.

And then there's there small matter of fitting Hamburg playmaker Raphael Van der Vaart - scorer of the opening goal in the Czech Republic decider - into the mix. If the Dutch can negotiate a nightmarish group, they could go all the way.

Coach: Marco van Basten (NED)
FIFA Ranking: 3

Netherlands Matches

Match #	Date & Time	Group	Teams		Result	Venue
6	Sun 11th Jun 15:00	C	SCG	NED	0 - 1	Leipzig
22	Fri 16th Jun 18:00	C	NED	CIV	2 - 1	Stuttgart
37	Wed 21st Jun 21:00	C	NED	ARG	0 - 0	Frankfurt
52	Sun 25th Jun 21:00	R2	POR	NED	1 - 0	Nuremberg

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

First Round: 1934, 1938
Second Round: 1990
Quarter Finals: 1994
Fourth Place: 1998
Runner-Up: 1974, 1978

Key Players

Ruud van Nistelrooy
Arjen Robben
Robin van Persie

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Qualified as winners of European Group 1, five points ahead of second placed Czech Republic.

Squad

						Total		World Cup 2006
#	Posn	Name	DOB	Club		Caps	Goals	Pld	Goals	OG	YC	RC
1	GK	Van Der Sar Edwin	29-10-1970	Manchester Utd.	ENG	114	0	4	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Jaliens Kew	15-09-1978	AZ Alkmaar	NED	2	0	1	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Boulahrouz Khalid	28-12-1981	Hamburger SV	GER	16	0	4	0	0	2	1
4	DF	Mathijsen Joris	05-04-1980	AZ Alkmaar	NED	12	0	3	0	0	1	0
5	DF	Van Bronckhorst Giovanni	05-02-1975	Barcelona	ESP	61	3	3	0	0	2	1
6	MF	Landzaat Denny	06-05-1976	AZ Alkmaar	NED	27	1	3	0	0	0	0
7	FW	Kuyt Dirk	22-07-1980	Feyenoord	NED	23	4	3	0	0	1	0
8	MF	Cocu Phillip	29-10-1970	PSV Eindhoven	NED	102	10	4	0	0	0	0
9	FW	Van Nistelrooij Ruud	01-07-1976	Manchester Utd.	ENG	55	28	3	1	0	0	0
10	MF	Van Der Vaart Rafael	11-02-1983	Hamburger SV	GER	38	6	3	0	0	1	0
11	FW	Robben Arjen	23-01-1984	Chelsea	ENG	24	8	3	1	0	1	0
12	DF	Kromkamp Jan	17-08-1980	Liverpool	ENG	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	DF	Ooijer Andre	11-07-1974	PSV Eindhoven	NED	24	2	4	0	0	1	0
14	DF	Heitinga John	15-11-1983	Ajax	NED	22	2	3	0	0	1	0
15	DF	De Cler Tim	08-11-1978	AZ Alkmaar	NED	4	0	1	0	0	1	0
16	MF	Maduro Hedwiges	13-02-1985	Ajax	NED	12	0	1	0	0	0	0
17	FW	Van Persie Robin	06-08-1983	Arsenal	ENG	15	2	4	1	0	0	0
18	MF	Van Bommel Mark	22-04-1977	Barcelona	ESP	41	7	3	0	0	2	0
19	FW	Vennegoor Of Hesselink Jan	07-11-1978	PSV Eindhoven	NED	8	0	1	0	0	0	0
20	MF	Sneijder Wesley	09-06-1984	Ajax	NED	28	5	4	0	0	1	0
21	FW	Babel Ryan	19-12-1986	Ajax	NED	7	3	1	0	0	0	0
22	GK	Timmer Henk	03-12-1971	AZ Alkmaar	NED	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	GK	Stekelenburg Maarten	22-09-1982	Ajax	NED	2	0	0	0	0	0	0