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Dutch take S. Korea to their hearts

Korea is basking in its victory

AMSTERDAM, Holland (Reuters) -- Dutch soccer fans, saddened by their star-studded team's failure to qualify for the World Cup, have taken plucky semi-finalists South Korea, coached by a Dutchman, to their hearts as they face Germany.

The Dutch, famed in the 1970s and 80s for the artistry and pace of their "Total Football," will cheer on Guus Hiddink's "Red Devils" when they take on a German team derided by some Dutch soccer commentators as dull, predictable and uninspiring.

"The Netherlands has adopted Hiddink's 11. Who would not wish to believe that South Korea can destroy Germany's anti-football tomorrow?" the Algemeen Dagblad daily newspaper said on Monday.

With Dutch dreams of World Cup glory on hold for another four years after their side failed to qualify for the tournament for the first time since 1986, the country has been enthused and bemused in equal measure by Hiddink's success.

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Hiddink, who coached PSV Eindhoven, Turkey's Fenerbahce, Valencia and Real Madrid in Spain and the Dutch national side, has generated enthusiam back home for a tournament many regarded as an unwelcome reminder of the Dutch team's failure.

The Dutch, European champions in 1988 and World Cup finalists in Germany in 1974 and Argentina in 1978, failed to qualify this time, finishing behind Portugal and Ireland. They are hoping to rebuild under new coach Dick Advocaat for Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Many Dutch soccer experts have been scathing in their criticism of traditional arch-rivals Germany and full of praise for South Korea's go-getting style ahead of Tuesday's semi-final in Seoul.

Former European Footballer of the Year Johan Cruyff, who shone for Ajax Amsterdam and the Netherlands in the 1960s and 70s, said too many teams in the tournament had played football which was pragmatic but lacked creativity.

Top-selling Dutch daily De Telegraaf threw its weight behind Hiddink on Monday, praising him for encouraging South Korea to play attractive football. "Hiddink's South Korea has shown an offensive face which has worldwide admiration," the paper said.

Viewing increase

While Dutch World Cup interest was initally slack due to the absence of a national side packed with talented players such as Barcelona's Patrick Kluivert and Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, television viewing figures have risen steadily.

More than two million Dutch television viewers tuned in for South Korea's nail-biting penalty shoot-out win over Spain in Saturday's quarter-final.

Germany's success in reaching the semi-finals, however, has been hard for many Dutch soccer commentators to stomach.

"I find the football of Torsten Frings, Christoph Metzelder, Carsten Ramelow, Frank Baumann, Dietmar Hamann, Jens Jeremies and Christian Ziege unbearable to watch," columnist Kees Jansma said in Dutch soccer magazine Voetbal International.

"Too dull, too calculating, too predictable. I have experienced them as a blemish on a nice tournament," he said.

But the Dutch, who lost the 1974 World Cup final 2-1 against Germany in Munich with a brilliant side including Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, need no reminding that Germany -- unlike the Netherlands -- stand on the brink of their seventh final.

For Dutch soccer it is time to forget the past and look to the future.

"The 2001-2002 season will be remembered most of all for Holland's failure to qualify for the World Cup. For the Orange (team) it was dubbed the annus horribilis," the KNVB Dutch soccer association said.

"Let's face the facts. Holland's young stars will have to dig deep to qualify for the next major tourament, Euro 2004."

The Dutch open their qualification campaign against Belarus at home on September 7.

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