Quote:
Originally Posted by Kid A
Agreed. Robben aside (if he's half the petulant child he comes across as on tv...), it seems harsh how international soccer can play out - a few games against 3 of the top 10 teams in the world leading to a total house cleaning? I mean, if it's a situation like 4 years ago with England failing to ****ing qualify for the Euros, yeah, time to reevaluate things. Or even France in the last WC, bowing out early and making total a-holes of themselves off the field.
But 2 years off a trip to the WC final for the Dutch, I think the fan and media sensationalism can make out a couple mediocre performances to equal some deep, systemic problem. That's why they had a qualifying system to even make it to this point - these are the best teams in toughest continent the sport has. You'll go out early occasionally. Unless you're Germany.
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I agree with everything you stated here, but I think there are quite a few of the Dutch fans that are still embarrassed over the way they went out of the WC final 2 years ago. That was not Dutch "Total Football" in their minds and this early exit has built on that frustration.