UEFA EURO 2008 PATCHES PATCH

However, the same could not be said regarding Marco and Mark van Bommel who stated he would not play for the Oranje as long as Marco was in charge, thereby ensuring he was not going to be a member of this team.

UEFA EURO 2008 PATCHES PATCH

There had been a falling out between Marco and Ruud during World Cup 2006, but they were able to patch things up in time for Euro 2008. Group D consisted of Spain, Russia, coached by former Oranje manager Guus Hiddink, Sweden and defending European champions, Greece.Įuro 2008 saw the return of the familiar faces from the past such as Edwin van der Sar and Giovanni van Bronckhorst along with the new faces from Euro 2004 such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart, John Heitinga, and Wilfred Bouma. Group B consisted of Germany, Croatia, Austria and Poland. Group A consisted of Portugal, the side who eliminated Holland in Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006, Turkey, Czech Republic and Switzerland. Holland were grouped in Group C with the defending World Cup champions, Italy, the other World Cup finalists, France, and the team that topped their qualifying group, Romania. Could fate repeat itself with the star of that 1988 tournament now managing the side?Īustria and Switzerland were co-hosts for the 2008 edition. That summer also marked the twenty year anniversary of the 88 Euro Oranje team winning their first and only European Championship. This also meant that the Oranje were going to be playing in their sixth consecutive UEFA European Championship. Holland had assured qualification with a game in hand, thanks to their victory over Bulgaria, so their loss against Belarus in the final qualifying match did not impact them. Thus, Romania finished in first place with 29 points, while the Oranje finished second with 26, just one point ahead of Bulgaria. They also failed to beat Romania in both matches, a draw and a loss, but did draw in Bulgaria before defeating them 2-0 in Amsterdam. Holland had been grouped with Belarus and Luxembourg in 1996 and once again, the Oranje would up losing a game in Belarus. Their other opponents in the group featured Belarus, Albania, Slovenia and Luxembourg. Holland battled Romania and Bulgaria for a top two finish that saw them come in second place. For this tournament, UEFA decided to change the qualifying format by having seven groups, with the top two teams automatically qualifying for Euro 2008. Holland qualified after finishing second in their group. Marco van Basten was the manager of the 2006 team and this was his chance to redeem himself following a forgettable showing by the Orange at the World Cup. It was a truly awful game that saw more fouls than beautiful football. This was their second consecutive elimination by Portugal in four years after losing to them in the Semi-Finals of Euro 2004.

Two years after losing to Portugal in the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup, the Oranje were back in the UEFA European Championship. With the Oranje not being part of the 24 teams playing this summer in France for the European Championship, let’s revisit their previous disappointments in this tournament since 1988. Ever since I witnessed Holland win their first ever international title in 1988, being a fan of the Oranje has been nothing but heartbreaks and bitter disappointments.

Uefa euro 2008 patches