Total Football is back, and how!

By Chris Wright

Paris

June 10: A fortnight prior to Euro 2008 Holland had seen off a Ukraine side not good enough to make it to the finals in a warm-up match by three clear goals.

In true Dutch fashion that result only presaged waves of self-doubt, internal bickering and a newspaper poll showing that 48 percent of fans of the Oranje would fail to make it out of the Group of Death containing world champions Italy, runners-up France and a hugely-talented, if unpredictable, Romania.

After all, had the Italians not conceded just two goals at the World Cup and the Dutch scored just 15 in 12 Euro qualifiers, one of which resulted in defeat to Belarus and had not the media spoken fearfully of "orange gloom" beforehand?

Undeterred, the rampant Dutch pulled out another 3-0 scoreline which had been beyond their fans’ wildest dreams as they buried a 30-year-hoodoo against their rivals, against whom national coach Marco van Basten never managed to score or win against as a player, finishing on the losing side three times and drawing once.

In an age where the tactical talk is increasingly of the death of strikers van Basten struck a blow for northern Europe’s great entertainers, turning back the clock to the days of Total Football, patented by Rinus Michels and his playing lieutenant Johan Cruyff.

The ever hard-to-please Cruyff had offered barbs beforehand, seeing the Dutch as lacking width and panache.

But after Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder and Gio van Bronckhorst — whose goal must have been sweet as he was one of only two survivors from the side that lost to the same opponents in the Euro 2000 semi-finals on penalties — send the Italians packing with goals that oozed pure class, the critics’ silence was deafening. "I’m proud that we won against the world champions and of the way we played football tonight. Until the last minute we tried to play proper football," beamed van Basten, who saluted his men’s team spirit, so often an Achilles heel for the Dutch, whose media saluted a famous triumph.

"Historic. The Netherlands emphatically announced themselves back on the international podium," enthused the daily Algemeen Dagblad.

For van Basten, "It was an historic result because in the past we have never beaten Italy 3-0. This was a serious performance. The players responded in a wonderful way and played like a team, showing amazing spirit. If we play with this quality we can have nice dreams." — AFP

"We cannot talk of a new era, we have won one game, the first in our pool. I’m very happy to beat a big opponent but we have only taken one step."

Italy won the last World Cup playing the cagey, score-then-smother-your rivals, game they have perfected over decades, albeit one from which they departed to a degree on the way to winning the world title in 1982 with an attacking vintage that revelled in knocking three goals past Brazil, then Germany.

The Dutch, 1988 aside when van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard were in their pomp, have always flattered to deceive and even the Cruyff era only had losers’ medals to show for their international careers, even if they were the purists’ dream.

In reviving Total Football on Monday, van Basten and company appear ready to make a stand against the so-called 4-6-0 formation which Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira suggested was the game’s strikerless future at the turn of the century.

At a time when Fifa president Sepp Blatter dreams of six-plus five in terms of finding a balance between foreign and home-grown stars, the Dutch are bent on throwing off the modern catenaccio chains of the vanquished Italians and their six-plus-five sounds more like a paean to attacking football.

It used to be said of Pele-era Brazil that at least some players had to ‘carry the piano’ to enable the top maestros to play it, but on Monday all of the Dutch turned in a collective showing which was music to their fans’ ears.

Now, all van Basten has to do is test the courage of his convictions on Friday against the French, who were utterly devoid of the invention and cutting edge the Dutch showed in spades during Les Bleus’ dire goalless draw with Romania, who actually beat the Dutch to top spot in their qualifying group.

"We cannot talk of a new era; we have only won one game," warned van Basten, while Sneijder echoed that, saying "it’s not in the bag yet".

If the Dutch can maintain the form they showed against Italy, van Basten need not talk of a new era because this team are harking back to an old one.

The one which began with Michels and Cruyff and reached its apogee with the current manager’s stunning volley which helped to secure victory in 1988.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of that achievement would be quite a sendoff for the former Ajax and AC Milan striker as he winds down his four-year tenure.

Even Cruyff could not criticise a Dutchman who returned with winners’ medals as player and coach jangling in his pocket.