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Hiddink approves of Dutch
Guus Hiddink gave his stamp of approval to the
Netherlands as it prepares to face favourite Spain in the World Cup final,
even if compatriot Johan Cruyff is yet to be fully converted to the cause.
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High praise ... Guus Hiddink approves of
World Cup finalist, the Netherlands (Getty)
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The former Dutch coach is among the most sought after football
handlers in the world with his name inevitably on the short list when
a vacancy occurs at national team or club level.
And his comments to Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad ahead of the first World
Cup clash between the countries can only lift morale in the 'Oranje' camp
before a Soccer City showdown set to draw a sell-out 90,000 crowd.
"The Dutch have become a little like the Germans of yesteryear -
realism has replaced beautiful football," said the coach recently
hired by Turkey for the Euro 2012 qualifying competition.
"It is not always pretty to the eye and I would like more time spent
playing nice football, but what coach Bert van Marwijk and his players
have succeeded in doing is extraordinary," said the 63-year-old.
Hiddink refused to join Dutch legend Cruyff in criticising the style of
football that has overcome Denmark, Japan, Cameroon, Slovakia, Brazil
and Uruguay for a 100 percent record in South Africa that even Spain cannot
match.
"Who am I to criticise when I have never coached a team that reached
the World Cup final?," asked the man who guided Netherlands to the
1998 semi-finals and repeated the feat with South Korea four years later.
"Van Marwijk has given the team a lot of assurance. We could see
against Brazil how difficult it is to play against the Dutch," he
said referring to a come-from-behind 2-1 quarter-final triumph.
Hiddink-coached Russia eliminated Netherlands in the quarter-finals of
Euro 2008 - the last major national team football tournament before the
first World Cup staged by Africa.
Cruyff, a superstar of the 1970s when the Dutch finished runner-up to
host West Germany and Argentina in consecutive World Cup finals, has reservations
about the class of 2010 and will not be in Johannesburg for the final.
"Half the players in the team are very good and the other half have
still to show that they are," the three-time European Footballer
of the Year told De Telegraaf.
He had special praise for Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg
and wide Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt, saying the duo surpassed expectations
and were among the main reasons whey the Dutch had reached the final.
Cruyff had cast aside patriotic sentiments in a midweek interview with
Spanish newspaper El Periodico de Catalunya and said he was backing Spain
against his countrymen.
"Spain, a replica of Barca, are the best publicity for football.
Who am I supporting? I am Dutch but I support the football that Spain
is playing," he admitted.
Theworldgame.sbs.com.au,
11 July 2010
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