The Japan Times - Orange wave: Dutch World Cup dream gathers pace

Ronald Koeman's team beat Tunisia 3-1 in Kansas City on Thursday to top Group F with seven points, ahead of Japan and Sweden, who both also qualified for the knockout rounds.

Next, the Dutch face Morocco in the Mexican city of Monterrey on Monday, with the winners of that last-32 match going on to face South Africa or Canada.

It was put to Koeman after Thursday's game in the stormy American Midwest that they had done the hard part by topping their group, thus avoiding Brazil.

But the head coach, who captained the Netherlands the last time the World Cup was held in the United States, in 1994, warned against thinking too far ahead.

"We need to prepare for Morocco first because it will be a big game," he said.

"It's a good team with a lot of quality, and they can score easily."

The Netherlands, followed everywhere by their legions of orange-clad fans, are World Cup royalty but have never been crowned, finishing as runners-up in 1974, 1978 and 2010.

Often cited as the best nation never to have won the tournament, they are unbeaten in 15 World Cup matches since losing the final in 2010, if penalty shootouts are excluded.

The team did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

It is difficult to argue that the Dutch do not punch above their weight for a country with a population of about 18 million.

On the other hand, they have boasted richly talented squads for generation after generation, none of whom have managed to get over the line.

Koeman's squad lacks the superstar names of the past such as Johann Cruyff, Marco van Basten and Arjen Robben but he still has great quality and depth, particularly in midfield and defence.

Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk is the undisputed leader of the pack, marshalling a powerful back line that includes Denzel Dumfries and Micky van de Ven.

The midfield is also elite, with Frenkie de Jong pulling the strings alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Tijjani Reijnders.

If there is a weaker area of the team, it is in attack, where the Dutch can no longer call on world-class forwards such as Robin van Persie and Robben, who hung up their boots nearly a decade ago.

- Brobbey goals -

But they managed 10 goals in their three group games, with Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo, who has a knack of scoring at major tournaments, sharing five goals between them.

Sunderland's Brobbey was only given a few minutes at the end of the Netherlands' opening game -- a 2-2 draw against Japan -- but he has since proved his worth, netting three times.

Van Dijk said the powerful forward was a great outlet.

"Brian's quality is so strong," he said. "We've seen it obviously throughout the whole year in the Premier League. If he has you pinned up, you can't get the ball."

Former Germany and US coach Jurgen Klinsmann believes the Dutch deserve to be considered as World Cup contenders alongside the usual suspects.

"It's a team that definitely you've got to have on the plate for going far, going maybe to the semi-finals, being able to compete with Spain, France that we all mentioned as the top favourites alongside obviously Argentina and Brazil," he said on ESPN.

"They seem to be a group now that sticks together. We have a coach, Ronald Koeman, who's very, very experienced.

"If they gel, the Dutch -- because often they had in the past problems on the inner side of things and not towards the opponents -- then it's definitely a team that is very dangerous and difficult to beat."

K.Hashimoto--JT