Netherlands national under-21 football team

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Netherlands U21

Nickname(s)

Jong Oranje (Young Orange)

Association

Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond

Head coach

Foppe de Haan

Captain

Gianni Zuiverloon

Most caps

Arnold Bruggink (31)

Top scorer

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (18)





First kit





Second kit

First International
U-23: Bulgaria 3-1 Netherlands
Sofia, April 17, 1968
U-21: East Germany 2-0 Netherlands
Rostock, November 14, 1978

Biggest win
San Marino 0-7 Netherlands
San Marino, April 29, 1997

Biggest defeat
3-0 defeats on five occasions
Records for competitive
matches only.

UEFA U-21 Championship

Appearances

6 (First in 1988)

Best result

Winner, 2006, 2007

The Netherlands national football team is the national under-21 team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Championship, held every two years.

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the Dutch Under-21 team was formed. The team did not have a very good record, failing to qualify for nine of the fifteen tournaments. The team did not enter for the 1978 competition, but since then has reached the semi-finals twice, and qualified for the last eight on three other occasions.

Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, the Netherlands' record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown. The first competitive match was in the "Under-23 Challenge", a match which they lost. The team qualified for the last eight of each of the three U23 tournaments.

In 2006 the Netherlands national under-21 football team of coach Foppe de Haan won the 2006 European Under-21 Championship. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar became top scorer and player of the tournament with 4 goals and also broke the 15-goals record of Roy Makaay and Arnold Jan Bruggink, in his last match in the Netherlands national under-21 football team he pushed this record to 18. The following year, Netherlands national under-21 football team successfully defended their title by winning the 2007 European Under-21 Championship in the final against Serbia with 4-1. Maceo Rigters was the top scorer of the competition with four goals and Royston Drenthe was the Player of the Tournament. The win means that the Netherlands were qualified to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

1 UEFA U-23 Championship Record
2 UEFA U-21 Championship Record
3 Notable Players
4 Current squad for 2009 European U-21 Championship qualifier
5 Other players
6 See also
7 Sources/External links

[edit] UEFA U-23 Championship Record

The Netherlands were randomly chosen to play holders Bulgaria for the title in a one-off match in Sofia, which the Netherlands lost.

April 17, 1968: Bulgaria 3-1 Netherlands.
1972: Losing quarter-finalists.
1974: Losing quarter-finalists.
1976: Losing semi-finalists.

[edit] UEFA U-21 Championship Record

Serbia and the Netherlands enter on to the field for the final of the 2007 tournament.

1978: Did not enter.
1980: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 3 in qualification group.
1982: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
1984: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
1986: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 4 in qualification group.
1988: Losing semi-finalists.
1990: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 4 in qualification group.
1992: Losing quarter-finalists.
1994: Did not qualify. Finished 5th of 6 in qualification group.
1996: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
1998: Fourth.
2000: Finished 3rd of 4 in finals group. Joint fifth.
2002: Losing quarter-finalists.
2004: Did not qualify. Finished 4th of 5 in qualification group.
2006: Winners
2007: Winners

[edit] Notable Players

[edit] Current squad for 2009 European U-21 Championship qualifier

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Wesley de Ruiter	January 13, 1986, age 22	1		FC Utrecht
13	GK	Kenneth Vermeer	January 10, 1986, age 22			Willem II
2	DF	Gianni Zuiverloon	January 30, 1986, age 22			SC Heerenveen
17	DF	Tom Hiariej	July 15, 1988, age 19			FC Groningen
4	DF	Ryan Donk	March 30, 1986, age 21			AZ
5	DF	Dirk Marcellis	April 13, 1988, age 19			PSV
15	DF	Calvin Jong-a-Pin	July 18, 1986, age 21	8	0	SC Heerenveen
3	DF	Erik Pieters	August 7, 1988, age 19			FC Utrecht
6	MF	Ismaïl Aissati	August 16, 1988, age 19			PSV
16	MF	Wout Brama	August 21, 1986, age 21	8	1	FC Twente
12	MF	Luigi Bruins	March 9, 1987, age 21	1	1	Feyenoord
10	MF	Jonathan de Guzmán	September 13, 1987, age 20			Feyenoord
18	MF	Siem de Jong	January 28, 1989, age 19			Ajax
14	MF	Kees Luijckx	February 11, 1986, age 22			Excelsior (on loan from AZ)
11	FW	Nordin Amrabat	March 31, 1987, age 20			VVV-Venlo
8	FW	Roy Beerens	December 22, 1987, age 20	8	0	SC Heerenveen
7	MF	Royston Drenthe	April 8, 1987, age 20			Real Madrid
9	MF	Evander Sno	April 9, 1987, age 20			Celtic

[edit] Other players

Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
GK	Agil Etemadi	1987-04-23			SC Heerenveen
GK	Job Bulters	1986-03-22			AZ
GK	Piet Velthuizen	1986-11-03	0	0	Vitesse
DF	Kees van Buuren	1986-07-27	1	0	FC Utrecht
DF	Urby Emanuelson	1986-06-16			Ajax
DF	Jeffrey Hoogervorst	1984-10-23			FC Barcelona B
DF	Jens Janse	1986-07-01	1	0	Willem II
DF	Milano Koenders	1986-07-31			AZ
DF	Dwight Tiendalli	1985-10-21			Sparta Rotterdam
MF	Kemy Agustien	1986-08-20			AZ
MF	Geert Arend Roorda	1987-03-02			SC Heerenveen
MF	Evander Sno	1987-04-09	2	0	Celtic
FW	Collins John	1985-10-17			Fulham
FW	Jeremain Lens	1987-11-24	2	0	NEC
FW	Sherjill MacDonald	1984-11-20			West Bromwich Albion
FW	Tim Vincken	1986-09-12			Feyenoord