Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Surnamese-DutchNorth Holland, South Holand.
The rest of Netherlands excluding North and South Holland
Netherlands All-Time Team After Johan Cruyff
Dutch Players' surnames starting with "Van"
Netherlands 2002
Patrick Kluivert and Ruud van Nistelrooy were born on the same day. Their careers were very different. Kluivert earned his cap as a 18 years old. He became the Golden Boy of Dutch football when he scored the winning goal for Ajax at the 1995 Champions' League Final at the age of 18. He moved to Milan two years later and then, Barcelona in 1998. However, his career started to fade away quickly. He left Barcelona in 2004. Meanwhile, Ruud van Nistelrooy was a late bloomer. He started his career at the lower division and worked his way up. In the modern world, it is getting rare for anyone who was not discovered at a younger age. He never played for any Dutch youth national team. He joined PSV in 1998 Katy the age of 22, which was not too old. But by then, Kluivert was among the top striker in the world. He started to become well-known in Europe, but a dream move to Manchester United was delayed for a year due to his knee problems. Van Nistelrooy did not play in a big tournament until Euro 2004. Coincidentally, it was the same summer that Kluivert left Barcelona for Newcastle United. One player's career went up and the other went downward.
Some of the best posts from this blog have been turned into a two-volume book: The Multiverse of the Beautiful Game: National Teams of Pure Fantasy.
Volume 1 takes you back in time and asks the questions every football fan has dreamed about. What if Brazil had a more beautiful team in 1982 — would they have cruised to the title? What if the United Kingdom could send its team to the 1970 World Cup? I believe they would have been the strongest side on earth. What if Argentina had fielded both Omar Sivori and Alfredo Di Stéfano together in 1958? What if Johan Cruyff had lined up alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard? What if Eusébio had played for Brazil? And that's only scratching the surface — Volume 1 is packed with legendary "what ifs" that will keep you turning pages.
Volume 2 brings the fantasy closer to home. What if England had Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and others in 2026 — could they go all the way? What if Yugoslavia had gone to the World Cup in 2018? What if the United States could select more players in 2010? It would be the greatest American side ever. And what if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had actually played for the same national team in 2006? It could have happened — if the soccer gods had smiled on us.
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