Jacques Santini was appointed as the National Team Manager of France
in the summer of 2002. He had many differences with French midfielder Emmanuel
Petit that eventually led to Petit’s departure from the set-up in early 2003.
Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 103, August 1997
(Emmanuel Petit)
Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 163, August 2002
(Jacques
Santini)
2- Helmut
Schoen and three West Germn reporters, 1971
During
West Germany’s 1971 Scandinavian tour, the West Germany Manager Helmut Schoen
had a row and verbally attacked 3 journalists. The press corps stood in
solidarity with the three journalists and eventually Schoen made peace.
Photo From: World Cup 78, by Phil Soar
(Helmut Schoen)
3- Piet
Keizer and Hans Kraay, 1974
Ajax
star Piet Keizer suddenly retired from football in October 1974, shortly after
a dispute over tactics withAjax manager,Hans Kraay.
Photo From: World Soccer, July 1972
(Ajax’s Piet Keizer)
Photo
From:Panini, Holland 8283
(Hans Kraay)
4- Sadurni
and Rinus Michels, 1973
It was reported that Barcelona goalkeeper Salvador ‘Sadurni’ Urpi
once struck club Manager, the Dutchman Rinus Michels, at a nightclub in 1973.
Afterwards, him and his teammates refused to pay a fine and even
threatened a lawsuit.
Photo
From: Todo Sobre La Seleccion Espanola, Felix Martialay, 2006
(Sadurni,
May 8, 1968, European Championships, Spain 1-England 2)
Photo
From: World Soccer, April 2005
(Rinus
Michels)
5- Gianluca
Vialli and Carlo Weis/Hubert Meunier 1988
On
April 27th, 1988, Italy defeated Luxembourg (3-0) in a friendly.
Italy striker Gianluca Vialli had an altercation with a number of Luxembourg
players.
At final whistle Vialli and Hubert Meunier had to be pulled
apart.
After
the match, fighting broke out in the players tunnel. Vialli grabbed Carlo Weis
by the throat and pushed him to the ground.
On
the following day, it was reported that Weis actually considered seeking legal
advice after Vialli’s assault.
Prior to Holand’s UEFA Europan Championship qualifier vs. Greece
on November 21, 1990 (2-0 Dutch win), Dutch Manager Rinus Michels decided on a
tactical switch.
For the previous two matches the team had played ina 4-4-2 formation, however, he was convinced by
his players to use 4-3-3 for the Greece match.
The
change in formation, meant that Marco van Basten was now the sole striker,
which in turn led to Wim Kieft to lose his spot upront. On November 20, he angrily
left the squad blaming loss of motivation.
Photo From: World Soccer, August 1990
(Wim Kieft of PSV Eindhoven)
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989, Author Matty
Verkamman
(Rinus
Michels lifting the European Championship trophy, June 25, 1988, European
Championships, Holland 2-USSR 0)
2- Julio
Olarticoechea and Jean-Claude Suaudeau, 1986/87
1986 World Cup Champion, the Argentinean Julio Olarticochea joined
French club Nantes latger that summer for the 198/87 season.
However, he left after just one season after problems with Nantes
Manager Jean-Claude Suaudeau, whom he claimed did not show him any respect.
Photo From: Panini, France 1986/87
(Nantes’ Julio Olarticoechea)
Photo From: Panini, France 1986/87
(Nantes Manager Jean-Claude Suaudeau)
3- Carlos
Alberto and Michael Owen, 2005
Following England’s win (2-0) vs. Azerbaijan in a World Cup
qualifier on March 30, 2005, Azerbaijan Manager (and former Brazil Legend)
Carlos Alberto went on a tirade against England striker Michael Owen.
Carlos Alberto said: "This man,
this midget, I refuse to talk about him any more. I will talk about Beckham,
Rooney, Ferdinand or Lampard, but not this midget. This midget ought to clean
the boots of Beckham."
It later turned out that Carlos
Alberto’s outburst was due to the mistaken belief that Owen had been boasting
how many goals he would score against Azerbaijan.
This specualtion had actually been
brought up by the English Media and not Owen, many of whom were predicting a
win of eight goal margin.
Photo
From: World Soccer, May 1998
(Eighteen year old Michael Owen in action for England)
Photo From:World
Soccer, May 2005
(Carlos Alberto)
4- George
Weah and Didier Deschamps, 1998/99
In an Interview in early 1999, George Weah attacked France Captain
Didier Deschamps for being provocative on the field. He also believed the
French Captaincy had inflated his ego and self importance. Weah particularly
attacked him for being instrumental to oust AC Milan teammate Ibrahim Ba from
France’s 1998 World Cup Finals squad (a claim made by Ba).
Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Hors Serie 30, June 1999
(Didier Deschamps, March 27, 1999, EC Qualifier,
France 0-Ukraine 0)
Photo
From: World Soccer, October 1997
(Ibrahima
Ba at AC Milan, 1997/98)
Photo From:Onze-Mondial,
Issue 121, February 1999
(George Weah)
5- Rudi
Voeller and Gunter Netzer/German Media, 2003
On
September 6, 2003, Germany earned a scoreless tie at Iceland in a UEFA European
Championship qualifier.
In
the Post match interview on German Channel ARD, Germany Manager went on a
expletive-filled tirade against the German Media and especially Gunter Netzer.
Here
are some excerpts:
"I can't stand to hear this crap any more about 'another low
point' and 'another lower point' for German football,"
"You are all talking as if we should have come here and blown
them away 5-0, I have to defend myself and the team against those who are
dragging us into the mud."
ARD commentator Gerhard Delling had been critical of the
performance and stated there was little "entertainment value" in the
broadcast.
In addition, Gunter Netzer had attacked German defender Sebastian
Kehl for saying in a post-match interview that Iceland were strong opponents.
Voeller responded: "The reporting here is not acceptable. I
can't stand this nonsense any more, It's all below the belt. Delling (ARD
commentator Gerhard Delling), talks about entertainment. If they want an
evening of television entertainment they should get a gameshow host here.
Delling , go get yourself a new job."
"I cannot accept this extremely negative reporting, I know
I'm going to get in trouble for this but I can't stand this any more.”
"We're not scoring enough goals but it's a load of crap the
way we're being criticised by the commentators here."
Afterwards with ARD studio host, Waldemar Hartmann, Voeller
attacked him as well.
He said: "Waldi, you too! You sit here relaxed in your chair
after drinking your three big wheat beers,"
Hartmann responded: "We're in Iceland and they don't have
that sort of beer here. I don't drink that beer anyhow."
Voeller later apologised. "I'm sorry about that beer stuff
but I'm not taking anything else back."
Voeller attacked Netzer for criticizing current performances even
though Germany had poor matches with Netzer as a player as well.
Netzer resonded: "It's true we also had bad matches in the
past but what worries me is the high number of poor performances now”
“Rudi should be happy about the coverage he got in the past. The
criticism so far has been very mild."
Netzer also stated that in his day, each poor performnce was
followed by ten good ones, to which Voeller responded by saying that must have
been "sometime before World War II".
Photo
From: World Soccer, Summer 2004
(Rudi Voeller)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 46, October 1979
(Gunther
Netzer)
Photo
From: Kicker Sportsmagazin Edition, 100 Jahre Deutsche Landerspiele
Holland
had failed to qualify for the Finals of a major Tournament in almost a decade when
it started its 1988 Euros qualifiers in the Fall of 1986.
They
had missed out on the two last World Cups (1982 and 1986), as well as the last
Euros (1984).
Its
last participation to any Finals had been the 1980 Euros which had signaled the
end of the 70s glorious generation.
However,
resurgence was on the horizon symbolized by two stars that many were tipping to
be future greats.
Ajax
striker Marco van Basten and PSV Eindhoven’s Ruud Gullit were the leaders of a
young generation on the rise that included the likes of Frank Rijkaard (a
childhood friend of Gullit), as well as Ronald Koeman and Gerald vanenburg.
In
the previous year, former Legend Johann Cruyff had returned to Ajax and had
instilled greater ambition on van Basten and his Ajax teammates.
Ruud
Gullit had joined PSV Eindhoven the previous year from Feyenoord and had led
them to the League Title.
The
two clubs would form the nucleus of this new Holland that was to be managed by
former 70s Manager Rinus Michels (who returned to the helm after an interim by
Leo Beenhakker following Michels’ Medical issues).
As
the season (1986/87) would progress the Gullit/van Basten duo would be linked
with Serie A’s AC Milan and would join them for the following season.
Holland’s
qualifiers started on October 15th, 1986 at Budapest. The other
teams in the Group were Hungary, Poland, Greece and Luxembourg.
Hungary
were still shell-shocked from the (0-6) drubbing at the hands of the Soviet
Union during the World Cup and would struggle for decades.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland squad, October 15, 1986, EC Qualifier,
Hungary 0-Holland 1)
In
the end the Dutch won through a van Basten strike in the second half after a
combination play by Jan Wouters and Gullit had drawn the goalkeeper out for van
Basten to tap into an empty net.
Photo
From: Футбол-Хоккей, №42, 19.10.86
(Marco van Basten, October 15, 1986, EC
Qualifier, Hungary 0-Holland 1)
The
score could have been higher as Holland were clearly dominant. Another goal by
van Basten was ruled out due to an infraction.
Holland
had started well winning away from home and looked forward for its next match
at home vs. a declining Poland side that included veteran Zbigniew Boniek.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland
squad, November 19, 1986, EC Qualifier, Holland 0-Poland 0)
Photo From: Foot Magazine , Issue 63, December 1986
(Ruud
Gullit and Pawlak, November 19, 1986, EC Qualifier, Holland 0-Poland 0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 133, January 1987
(Ruud
Gullit, November 19, 1986, EC Qualifier, Holland 0-Poland 0)
Leading
up to the match, Ajax Manager Cruyff had been critical of Michels for using so
many of his players for National Team duty to the detriment of his own club’s
interests. Ajax were the team on the rise with many technical players and it
made sense that most would be selected from there as opposed to PSV that relied
on foreign players such as Belgium’s Eric Gerets and Denmark’s Ivan Nielsen and
Frank Arnesen.
Photo From: Foot Magazine , Issue 63, December 1986
(November 19, 1986, EC Qualifier, Holland
0-Poland 0)
Photo From: Foot Magazine , Issue 63, December 1986
(Marco
van Basten, November 19, 1986, EC Qualifier, Holland 0-Poland 0)
In
any case, the Dutch failed to capitalize on their dominance against the Poles
and came away dissatisfied with a scoreless tie at home.
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 139, July 1987
(Ruud Gullit, November 19, 1986, EC Qualifier,
Holland 0-Poland 0)
Photo From: Foot Magazine , Issue 63, December 1986
(November
19, 1986, EC Qualifier, Holland 0-Poland 0)
Photo From: Foot Magazine , Issue 63, December 1986
(November
19, 1986, EC Qualifier, Holland 0-Poland 0)
The
next match, on December 21st, was away at Cyprus and nothing less
than a victory was expected.
Michels
recalled Ajax veteran Arnold Muhren to the National Team and he would remain a
vital element of the team. The former Ipswich and Manchester United midfielder,
now in his late 30s, had found a new lease on life at Cruyff’s Ajax. He was the
experienced member in an otherwise young Ajax side.
Gullit
gave the Dutch the lead, heading in a free kick taken by Adri van Tiggelen.
Ajax striker Johnny Bosman, who was deputizing for the injured clubmate van
Basten, scored the second with another header from a cross by Gullit from the
right side.
This
match was veteran Simon Tahamta’s last match for Holland.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland squad, December 21, 1986, EC Qualifier,
Cyprus 0-Holland 2)
Holland’s
next qualifier was in the new year (1987) on March 25th vs. Greece
at Rotterdam.
By
now Gullit and van Basten’s impending transfers to AC Milan had been
confirmed. Gullit’s transfer was
especially a topic of discussion due to its record fee.
The
Ajax and PSV dominance was exemplified in Holland’s starting lineup that
featured players from the two teams only (7 Ajax+4 PSV).
The
Dutch were heavily favored at home vs. the Greeks. However, the Greeks came
away with a point. They scored early in the game after Dimitris Saravakos had
lobbed over van Breukelen from outside of the box after being sent clear.
Photo
From: Футбол - Футбол-Хоккей,
№13---29.03.87
(Ruud Gullit, March 25, 1987, EC Qualifier,
Holland 1-Greece 1)
Marco
van Basten tied up the score in the second half by volleying from close range
after a corner by Muhren from the right had been headed across by Spelbos.
This
match also marked Aron Winter’s debut for Holland who came in the closing
stages of the match. Despite never really being a full starter, he would remain
a feature in the Dutch National Team for over a decade.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland squad, March 25, 1987, EC Qualifier,
Holland 1-Greece 1)
The
other noteworthy feature of this match was Michels’ positioning of Ronald
Koeman who was developing into one of Europe’s best players. This was the first
qualifier that he was positioned as sweeper (switching from the midfield). He
would become one of the best Liberos of the game.
The
Dutch bounced back for their next qualifier at home vs. Hungary on April 29th.
The Dutch produced a positive display to erase the disappointment of the Greece
match. By this point, Dutch Football was very much in trend with Ajax having
qualified for the Cup Winners Cup Final (they would defeat Lokomotiv Leipzig in
May to lift the trophy).
Starting
goalkeeper Hans van Breuekelen was dropped for this match in favor of Joop
Hiele, perhaps as a warning to shape up.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland squad, April 29, 1987, EC Qualifier,
Holland 2-Hungary 0)
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2143, May 5, 1987
(April
29, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 2-Hungary 0)
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2143, May 5, 1987
(April 29, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 2-Hungary
0)
Ruud
Gullit gave Holland the lead in the 37th minute by heading in a
cross from John van’t Schip from the left side.
Just
a few minutes later, Ajax veteran Arnold Muhren doubled the lead by with a
volley from the edge of the box after the Hungarian defense had cleared a
Gerald vanenburg cross. The Dutch had been absolutely dominant with Gullit, van
Basten and Frank Rijkaard at the top of their game.
Photo
From: World Soccer, October 1989
(Holland
squad, April 29, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 2-Hungary 0)
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, Issue 88, July 1987
(April
29, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 2-Hungary 0)
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 2143, May 5, 1987
(Gerald
Vanenburg, April 29, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 2-Hungary 0)
Holland’s
next qualifier was almost six months later on October 14, 1987, away at Poland,
A
number of developments had taken place in the intervening months.
Ruud
Gullit had taken to the Serie A with delight and had adapted better than most
would have imagined.
In
contrast, Frank Rijkaard had a tumultuous summer, which would force him to miss
the Fall qualifiers. He was in a contract dispute with Ajax and had even signed
two valid contracts with both Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. In the end, the
authorities ruled that he had to stay at Ajax, but the club would have to pay
PSV compensation. This affected his season and he quarreled with Manager Johann
Cruyff (Rijkaard eventually left the club by midseason).
PSV
Eindhoven were in irresistible form in the Dutch League and abroad and Berry
van Aerle benefited from the team’s fortunes to earn his first cap vs. Poland
(and remain as a starter).
Strangely
Gullit started with a jersey numbered 8 (he usually played as number 10) with
Muhren taking the number 10 jersey.
Ruud
Gullit, in excellent form, scored two near identical goals minutes apart to
enhance his growing stature (His excellent from would earn him the Ballon d’Or
on December).
Both
goals came from crosses from the right side. For the first one, Gullit scored
with a diving header from vanenburg’s cross. For the second, Debutant van Aerle
supplied the cross from the right and this time Gullit scored with his feet.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland squad, October 14, 1987, EC Qualifier,
Poland 0-Holland 2)
Photo
from: Bialo Czerwoni 1921-2001, Author Andrzej Gowarzewski
(Poland squad, October 14, 1987, EC Qualifier,
Poland 0-Holland 2)
Two
weeks later, the Dutch took on Cyprus; in a match that was seen as nothing more
than a formality but events took a dramatic turn that could have derailed
Holland’s qualification prospects.
First
Holland had to deal with the long-term injury of Marco van Basten. He would
miss the majority of the season. This gave an opportunity to his former Ajax
teammate Johnny Bosman to step into the breach.
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 144, December 1987
(October
28, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 8-Cyprus 0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 144, December 1987
(October 28, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland
8-Cyprus 0)
Then
in the match itself, a flare from the stands struck Cypriot goalkeeper Andros
Charitou in the early stages of the match. Antonis Kleftis substituted him in
the third minute.
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 150, June 1988
(Ronald Koeman, October 28, 1987, EC
Qualifier, Holland 8-Cyprus 0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 150, June 1988
(Johnny Bosman, October 28, 1987, EC
Qualifier, Holland 8-Cyprus 0)
The
Cyprus squad left the field in protest and returned only after the Dutch and
UEFA Officials convinced them.
The
Dutch unsurprisingly won (8-0) with Johnny Bosman scoring five goals in the
process.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland
squad, October 28, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 8-Cyprus 0)
On
November 12th, 1987, UEFA awarded Cyprus 3-0 win over Holland due to
the incident. After the Dutch appealed, it was decided to replay the match in
an empty stadium.
PSV
Eindhoven’s Hans Gillhaus earned his first cap in this match (that was
nullified). Ajax defender Ronald Spelbos also played his last match for Holland
(that was nullified, so his last ‘Official’ match was the previous encounter
vs. Poland).
Photo From: Onze, Issue 150, June 1988
(Ruud
Gullit, December 9, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 4-Cyprus 0)
Photo From: Foot Magazine , Issue 79, May 1988
(Ruud
Gullit, December 9, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 4-Cyprus 0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 145, January 1988
(December 9, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland
4-Cyprus 0)
The
replay vs. Cyprus took place on December 9th behind closed doors at
De Meer at Amsterdam. This time Bosman scored three goals on their route for a comfortable
(4-0) win.
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland
squad, December 9, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 4-Cyprus 0)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 150, June 1988
(Holland
squad, December 9, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 4-Cyprus 0)
Photo
From: Foot Magazine, Issue 76, February 1988
(December
9, 1987, EC Qualifier, Holland 4-Cyprus 0)
Photo From: Mondial, new series, issue 94,
January 1988
(Gerald Vanenburg, December 9, 1987, EC
Qualifier, Holland 4-Cyprus 0)
The
Dutch already qualified took the opportunity to experiment for their Final
qualifier vs. Greece on the following week.
Joop
Lankhaar and Hendrie Krüzen earned their first caps as did John de Wolf in the
second half. Feyenoord defender Sjaak Troost also earned a rare start in this
experimental squad, where the recently capped PSV striker Hans Gillhaus scored
twice in Holland’s (3-0) away win.
Photo
From: de Internationals, de Historie van Oranje, Authors Matty Verkamman, Henri
van der Steen, John Volkers
(Joop
Lankhaar, December 16, 1987, EC Qualifier, Greece 0-Holland 3)
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, De Histoire van Oranje, 1905-1989
(Holland
squad, December 16, 1987, EC Qualifier, Greece 0-Holland 3)
The
Dutch qualified from their Group unbeaten having won six matches and drawn two
with one of the best records of the qualifiers.
By
the time of the 1988 Euros, Ronald Koeman’s brother Erwin would also make a
return for the National Team after a solid season with Belgian side Mechelen,
as would striker Wim Kieft who was in sensational form with PSV Eindhoven after
returning from the Serie A.
More
importantly Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten would also make their return to
the National Team and the rest is history.
1988
UEFA European Chanpionship Qualifiers- Group 5
October
15, 1986
Hungary
0-Holland 1
Venue: Budapest - Nepstadion
Attendance:20,000
Referee: Yury Savchenko (USSR)
Goalscorers:
(Hungary):
None
(Holland):
Marco van Basten 68
Lineups:
Hungary:
1-Joszef
Szendrei (Újpesti
Dózsa Sport Club- Budapest)
2-Sandor Sallai(Budapesti Honvéd Sport Egyesület)
3-Attila
Pinter (Ferencvárosi
Torna Club- Budapest)
4-Tamas
Preszeller(Raba Eto Gyor)
5-Jozsef Kardos (Újpesti Dózsa Sport Club- Budapest)
6-Imre
Garaba (captain)
(Budapesti Honvéd Sport Egyesület)
7-Kalman
Kovacs (Budapesti
Honvéd Sport Egyesület)
8-Antal
Roth (Pécsi Munkás Sport Club) (12-Joszef Keller (Ferencvárosi Torna Club- Budapest) 46th)
11-Johannes
Nicolaas ‘John’ van't Schip (Amsterdamse Football Club Ajax-Amsterdam)
10-Rudi
Dil ‘Ruud’ Gullit (captain) (Associazione Calcio Milan / Italy) (14-Johannes Paulus ‘Hans’ Gillhaus (Philips
Sports Vereniging Eindhoven) 74th)
9-Johannes
Jacobus ’John’ Bosman (Amsterdamse Football Club
Ajax-Amsterdam)
Coach:
Marinus Jacobus Hendricus ‘Rinus’ Michels
Other
Substitutes:
Johannes
Frederik ‘Joop’ Hiele (Feyenoord Rotterdam)
Hennie
Ingemar Meijer (Amsterdamse
Football Club Ajax)
Jacob
‘Sjaak’ Troost (Feyenoord Rotterdam)
Aron
Mohamed Winter (Amsterdamse
Football Club Ajax-Amsterdam)
