Hopefully, Holland don't deceive once again

In them.. I trust
Courtesy of ESPN Soccernet

Once again, Holland looks one of the favourites on paper to win Euro 2008 but.. the big BUTT is whether they can pull it off as always, they have deceived me.. a huge Holland fan. However, loyal as I am I still dream of Holland win in 1988 with Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard leading the way against the Russians.

Let look at the goalkeeping area, without a doubt Man Utd's Edwin van der Sar get the nod as he would be taking part in probably his final Euro championship. Marten Stekelenburg and Henk Timmer has long been playing second fiddle to van der Sar and would be interesting to see who the new Holland coach selects as this would be van Basten's last game in charge.

My only question mark is why pick Mario Melchiot of Wigan who staved off relegation in the EPL? The rest of the cast looks decent, nothing to shout about. However, John Heitinga and Wilfred Bouma catches my eye with their defensive qualities and Heitinga's push forward whenever needed.

In the middle of the park and upfront, Holland has an embarrassing of riches and based on this, my fervent hope is for them to win. Real Madrid's trio of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben together with Hamburg's star playmaker Rafael van der Vaart is enough to make one's team balls shiver.

If all goes well, I will have a happy tournament. If not, well I have to live with another disappointment.

The main thing is, Holland needs to click - the days of racial groupings (remember Kluivert, Davids and Seedorf breaking ranks with the whites) and self destruction are hopefully in the past. As long as they don't press the self destruct button and pretend to be Spain (remember them, always go misisng in big tournaments), a semis is in the offing, of course, it does not help being in the Group of Death!

Squad:
Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

Defenders: Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Tim de Cler (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Ajax Amsterdam), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg SV), Mario Melchiot (Wigan Athletic), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers)

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Orlando Engelaar (Twente Enschede), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg SV), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar)

Forwards: Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax Amsterdam), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic).