Gio: "Scotland away is a good indicator for Oranje"
Wednesday 09 September 2009
The qualification campaign for
the 2010 World Cup in South Africa ends tonight for
Holland against Scotland.
Nothing is at stake for the Dutch
at Hampden Park, but the Scots have everything to gain
from the game as they badly need points to keep their
chances for qualification alive.
Yet that doesn't mean that Scotland
should be looking forward to presents tonight.
The current Dutch squad contains
two players who know the Scottish league well.
New arrival Glenn Loovens plays
his football for Celtic, while captain Giovanni van
Bronckhorst played for Glasgow Rangers from 1998 until
2001 .
Van Bronckhorst is looking forward
to playing in Scotland again.
"I have been back there with
FC Barcelona, Arsenal and the national team, but it's
always nice to go there. I have some beautiful memories
of the time I spent there and I still know a lot of
people there. I'm still in touch with Kenny Miller,
who now plays for the national team."
"This game will be a good
indicator for us. Glasgow always guarantees a fantastic
atmosphere. There will be 50,000 people in the stands,
shouting on top of their lungs for 90 minutes. It will
not be easy to beat the Scots there."
"The situation compares to
2003 when we were there for the first leg of the play-offs
for a ticket for Euro 2004. Although I think there's
even more at stake for the Scots now. Then we still
had a second chance with the return match in Amsterdam.
Now they have only one chance. If they don't beat us
it's over for them. A draw will secure second place
in the group for them, but they probably will not have
enough points to be among the best numbers 2 for the
play-offs. It's all or nothing for them."
Van Bronckhorst is one of the few
who were there in 2003, and remembers it was a tough
game for them.
"We fell behind early in the
game and they wanted to hang on to that lead with all
they could throw at us. With the fierce backing of their
fans it was impossible for us to get through. Fortunately
we played very well in the second leg and qualified.
But that game in Glasgow proves that it is key to not
concede an early goal. Then you're making it hard on
yourself."
"Fortunately we have been
qualified for a few months now while other countries
are still suffering to gain a ticket. Look at Portugal
and Sweden, or even France. It seems sure the French
will not win their group. And in the group of Germany
and Russia nothing has been decided yet. I keep track
of the results, of course, but it's not that I hope
that Portugal and France don't qualify. Surely they
will be tough competitors during the finals, but we
mustn't be looking at other teams. We did well during
our qualification campaign, that is most important.
What other countries do is not of great importance."
"We want to find a fitting
ending to our campaign, also because a good result will
improve our rating and that rating is important for
the draw for the finals. Beating Scotland will increase
our chances to be group leader and that is what we want."
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