WC2010 review: Holland

The 2010 World Cup was a great success for the Holland national team despite their loss to Spain in the final.

Expected to do well by critics worldwide, the Oranje exceeded that anticipation to be runners-up for the third time in their history.

Recent tournaments have seen the Dutch be thereabouts but in South Africa they took matters into their own hands only to fall agonisingly short at the final hurdle.

Their loss to Spain was their first in 26 matches and their only result less than a win in seven World Cup matches which must be applauded by onlookers everywhere.

Of course, there is disappointment after a loss of such magnitude, but second place is certainly not a failure as was outlined by retiring captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

“We've come so close, and that’s the biggest disappointment," he told FIFA.com. "If we'd taken one of our chances, we might well have gone on to win. But I'm still proud of this team.”

Finished: Runners-up
Record: Wins – 6; Draws – 0; Losses – 1; Points – 9
Matches: Denmark (2-0), Japan (1-0), Cameroon (2-1), RO16-Slovakia (2-1), QF-Brazil (2-1), SF-Uruguay (3-2), F-Spain (0-1)
Goals: 12
Against: 6

tribalfootball.com’s Star Man
Wesley Sneijder (Was simply sublime with five goals and was one of the tournaments best)

Official statistics

Minutes played
Mark van Bommel 660
Maarten Stekelenburg 660
Wesley Sneijder 652
Johnny Heitinga 649

Top scorers
Wesley Sneijder 5
Arjen Robben 2
Dirk Kuyt 1
Robin van Persie 1
Klaas Jan Huntelaar 1
Giovanni van Bronckhorst 1

Total shots
Wesley Sneijder 27
Robin van Persie 16
Dirk Kuyt 12
Arjen Robben 11

Pass Completion Rate
Nigel de Jong 79%
Joris Mathijsen 77%
Gregory van der Wiel 76%
Johnny Heitinga 76%
Mark van Bommel 76%

Most Fouls
Mark van Bommel 17
Wesley Sneijder 15
Giovanni van Bronckhorst 13
Robin van Persie 11

Yellow cards
Gregory van der Wiel 3
Nigel de Jong 3
Arjen Robben 2
Robin van Persie 2
Giovanni van Bronckhorst 2
Mark van Bommel 2
Maarten Stekelenburg 1
Andre Ooijer 1
Khalid Boulahrouz 1
Rafael van der Vaart 1
Joris Mathijsen 1
Johnny Heitinga 1
Dirk Kuyt 1
Wesley Sneijder 1

Red cards
Johnny Heitinga 1 (2 yellow cards)

Saves
Maarten Stekelenburg 19