DUTCH AND SCOTS BOTH PLAN TO ATTACK
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Scottish dreams and Dutch pride will be on the line when the two meet again Wednesday to decide which will qualify for the 2004 European Championship finals in Portugal.
Both the Dutch and the Scots have vowed to play spirited, aggressive games, and with key defenders missing on each side, their confrontation promises a fast-paced, entertaining match.
The Dutch -- once favorites to contend for the continental championship -- are reeling from a 1-0 loss in the first leg of the playoffs in Glasgow and must score at least twice Wednesday to ensure qualification.
The Scots can advance with a draw, or a one-goal loss if they score a crucial away goal. Scotland manager Berti Vogts has said his side will attack, rather than playing for a goalless draw.
"We have to score here, we must score here," Vogts said. "Then we will have a big, big chance."
Netherlands coach Dick Advocaat said the technically correct, patient play of the Dutch in the first leg will be replaced by relentless pressure on Scotland to force mistakes.
"The Scots have more fire and passion by nature than the Dutch, who are more sober," Advocaat said. "I've told the group that we'll have to play with poison Wednesday night to eliminate Scotland."
The game will be broadcast in more than 20 countries, including Germany, Russia, Japan, Australia, China, Indonesia, Portugal, as well as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Defenders on each side are missing with suspensions, Jaap Stam for the Dutch and Christian Dailly for Scotland.
Vogts has said there are several candidates to fill Dailly's spot, including Maurice Ross, Andy Webster, Steven Caldwell and Gavin Rae.
But it is the Dutch side that is more likely to undergo a dramatic transformation.
The Netherlands has recalled PSV's speedy defender Wilfred Bouma to replace Stam, and together with Andre Ooijer and Michael Reiziger, the Dutch defense will be capable of shifting quickly to the attack. It appears that Total Football will return tonight in Amsterdam.
The Dutch team, full of individual star players, is a chronic underachiever. It missed the 2002 World Cup, and Wednesday is the last chance for veteran stars Frank de Boer, Phillip Cocu, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Marc Overmars and Stam to make it to a major tournament. It could also be the last chance for Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids and FC Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert. Legendary Dutch striker Johan Cruyff said the group was in danger of becoming a "lost generation."
But Dutch newspapers said Tuesday that the veterans have already had their day, and predicted Advocaat will replace Overmars with PSV's 19-year-old Arjen Robben, Kluivert with Ajax's Rafael van der Vaart, 20, and Edgar Davids with Wesley Sneijder, 19.
Van der Vaart himself said he expected to play behind Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on Wednesday, but that he didn't think Advocaat will start more than a pair of younger players.
"You'd want to have tested this out before trying it in a match like this," he said. "If we win, after a hell of a game, then all the whining about the Dutch team will stop."
AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf also said wasn't ready to write the old guard off.
"Something needs to come loose in the current team, something spectacular," Seedorf said. "It will, we're all convinced. It has to."
Seedorf said that the team will "play more directly, more opportunistically. In the end, it's all about getting a ball in. In any case we're going to go hard in against Scotland."
He said he wasn't even thinking about the chance the Dutch might lose.
"We're playing at home and with the public behind us, we'll do it."
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