WHEN LOUIS VAN GAAL picked his Holland team to face Chile, he did something that hasn’t been done for over 18 years.
He named a team that does not include any player with ‘Van’ in his name.
‘Van’ is pretty common in Dutch names but the only man in the squad this time, Robin van Persie, is suspended this evening.
According to Dutch media, the last match where no ‘Van’ played was 221 games ago in a friendly against China on 29 May 1996. Guus Hiddink named this side:
De Goey, Reizeger, Numan, Danny Blind, Witschge, Seedorf, Winter, Hoekstra, Bergkamp, Mulder, Taument.
No ‘Vans’ came off the bench either that day; the subs used were Phillip Cocu, Edgar Davids, Ronald de Boer, Jordi Cruyff and Johan de Kock.
Without van Persie this evening, it still finished 2-0 to Holland as second-half goals from substitutes Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay ensured that they top Group B ahead of Chile.
– First published 18.51
