Dutch in disarray as Ruud sticks the boot into gutless team-mates
First Published: Nov 18, 2003
Ruud van Nistelrooy has launched a scathing attack on his Holland team-mates and bluntly admitted he fears their lack of guts could cost him the chance to play in the finals of a major tournament.
In an outburst ahead of Wednesday's Euro 2004 play-off second leg, van Nistelrooy blamed a lack of passion for the 1-0 first leg defeat which has left Holland on the brink of another humiliating international failure.
"What really annoyed me is that we didn't show the passion of the Scots," van Nistelrooy fumed Tuesday.
"I have always said that the Scots because of their nature, play the game with fire inside them and it all came out at Hampden Park.
"But that passion is lacking so much from the Dutch team. In our team we have too many people who are not prepared to go the extra yard -- people who want to win at all costs."
The Manchester United star went on to reveal that he had made his feelings plain in the dressing room after Saturday's defeat in Glasgow.
"I told them I wanted them to be as unified as the Scots. I know they will never be the same but I want them to go out there and play with venom."
Holland's rich collection of talent means they remain favourites to overturn the single goal deficit and avoid a repeat of their failure to reach last year's World Cup.
But there are clear signs that the pressure is beginning to get to both the players and coach Dick Advocaat, who will quit if his side fail in Ajax's Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday night.
The former Rangers manager has been savaged in the Dutch press for his tactics on Saturday, particularly the decision to play Patrick Kluivert alongside van Nistelrooy despite their well-established inability to forge an effective partnership.
Advocaat responded to the criticism with a tirade that can have done little to inspire a sense of common purpose between him and his squad.
"There was nothing wrong with my tactics, it was the players who did not carry out my instructions," he fumed.
Van Nistelrooy is currently playing the best football of his life for the English champions but he admits he is haunted by the fear that he could miss out on the chance to play in a major finals at the peak of his career.
"This could be a nightmare," he confessed. "I'll be 30 by the time the next World Cup comes around and I've yet to play in a major championships.
"If we don't win on Wednesday then what does that tell you about me as a footballer or as a person?
"I still believe in myself too much to think this will happen but it is very important that we do not concede a goal.
"If we do then we have to score three and that is going to be very hard."
Advocaat refused to divulge his thinking about how he would reshape his team but van Nistelrooy is widely expected to get the nod over Kluivert, who was anonymous at Hampden, with Ajax playmaker Rafael van der Vaart deployed just behind him.
With centreback Jaap Stam suspended, Advocaat is expected to bring in Wilfred Bouma of PSV Eindhoven to plug the gap in defence.
Bouma's team-mate Arjen Robben could also start as Marc Overmars, who was almost as ineffective as Kluivert in the first leg, is doubtful with a knee injury.