The Netherlands
Football is not only the most popular sport in the Netherlands. The Dutch people are also pretty good at it.
Football is not only the most popular sport in the Netherlands. The Dutch people are also pretty good at it.
The most popular leagues in the Netherlands are the Eredivisie, Keuken Kampioen Divisie, KNVB Cup and the Johan Cruijff Shield. The last league is a match between the KNVB Cup and Eredivisie winner. Other countries have this format as well, there it is known as the Super Cup or Community Shield for example.
The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) was founded on the 8th of December in 1889 and joined the FIFA in 1904. The KNVB is responsible for football and all variants of football. It is the institute that is making decisions around the Dutch National Team.
This team represents the Netherlands in all international country competitions. The Netherlands’ national team is also known as the Orange. This is the colour of the shirts and of all the people supporting the team.
The European Championship of 1988 was won by the Netherlands. Another interesting fact is that no single country has been in a World Cup final as many times as the Netherlands without winning it a single time. At the Olympics, Orange became third three times and came in second at the first edition of the UEFA Nations League. In August 2011 the Netherlands were number one in the FIFA World Rankings. In August 2017 they had sunk to their all-time low and came in 36th.
The first match of the Netherlands was in 1905 on the 30th of April. Belgium was the opponent. Belgium was playing home, the Red Devils were beaten by the Orange Lions 1-4. The biggest win of the Netherlands was an 11-0 victory over San Marino on the second of September in 2011. In 1907 the Dutch team suffered their biggest defeat. On the 21st of December, the Netherlands lost 12-2 in a match against England.
Johan Cruijff might be the Dutch player that has meant the most for football. He was one of the greatest players the National Team of The Netherlands has ever had and changed football as a coach later. However, he is not the player with the most appearances or goals scored.
Robin van Persie is the record goal scorer for the Netherlands with his 50 goals in 102 caps. That is an average of 0.49 goals per game. Memphis Depay is the only player in the top 10 goal scorers that is still active. He has scored 42 goals in 80 appearances which is an average of 0.52 goals per match.
Wesley Sneijder is the player with the most appearances with 134 matches played. Edwin van der Sar is closest to him with 130 caps. The goalie had the most clean sheets of all keepers ever played for the Netherlands. He was able to keep the opponents away in 72 games out of his 130 appearances.
Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt, Georginio Wijnaldum, Frenkie de Jong, Ryan Gravenberch, Memphis Depay, Steven Bergwijn, Wout Weghorst, Arnaut Danjuma, Donny van de Beek, Stefan de Vrij and Donyell Malen are some of the players the Dutch National Team.
The Netherlands is a small country, but once they join in on the battle for the title you are in for some excitement.