All Time World Cup!
Holland were, until the 1960s, among the weakest teams in Europe, with a record on a par with Luxembourg. Then, Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (better known simply as Johan Cruyff to non-Dutchmen) emerged and everything changed. The impact of the greatest ever European player cannot be overstated. One measure is the fact that almost every other player in Holland’s all-time squad either played with Cruyff or was coached by him. Indeed, Abe Lenstra, who pre-Cruyff was regarded as Holland’s best ever player, only just made it into the squad.
Blessed with innate skill and balletic grace, Cruyff was also one of the game’s great analytical minds, always thinking, always looking for ways to find space where there had seemed to be none. Along with coach Rinus Michels, Cruyff developed the theory of so-called ‘Total Football’ –the concept that every player should be able to both attack and defend, and that if, say, a defender pushed forward, a midfielder would automatically drop back to cover.
A prerequisite was of course to have a team full of world class, intelligent players. There would be no problem there, with elements of three great Dutch sides to the fore –the 1970s Cruyff side, the 1988 European Champions, and the 1990s side who came within penalty shootouts of reaching the final of the 1998 World Cup and the European Championships two years later. If the Dutch could avoid penalty shootouts and avoid the internal bickering that has so often dogged them, then the opposition had reason to be fearful, and fans had reason to be buoyant.
| Number | Position | Player | Era |
| 1 | GK | Van der Sar | 1990's-00's |
| 2 | RB | Suurbiee | 1970's |
| 3 | LB/DM | Krol | 1970's |
| 4 | CB/DM | R.Koeman | 1980's-90's |
| 5 | CB/DM | Rijkaard | 1990's-00's |
| 6 | DM | Neeskens | 1970's |
| 7 | DM | Davids | 1990's-00's |
| 8 | AM | W. Van Hanegem | 1970's |
| 9 | CF | Van Basten | 1980's-90's |
| 10 | AM/SW | Gullit | 1980's-90's |
| 11 | CF | Bergkamp | 1980's-00's |
| 12 | CB | Hulshoff | 1970's |
| 13 | LW/CF | Rensenbrink | 1970's |
| 14 | CF/AM | Cruyff | 1960's-70's |
| 15 | CB/DM | Haan | 1970's |
| 16 | CB/SW | F de Boer | 1990's-00's |
| 17 | RM/AM | R de Boer | 1990's-00's |
| 18 | LW/RW | Overmars | 1990's-00's |
| 19 | CF | Wilkes | 1940's-50's |
| 20 | CF | Lenstra | 1940's-50's |
| 21 | LW | Keizer | 1960's-70's |
| 22 | GK | Van Beveren | 1960's-70's |
| Coach | Michels |
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