Football United

Having faced the Czech Republic three times in the previous 18 months without success, the Netherlands needed something special to overcome Karel Brückner's side in their opening FIFA World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. However, it was to be the old head amid Marco van Basten's new-look squad who did the damage.

Both goals
The 34-year-old Pierre van Hooijdonk scored both of the goals in a 2-0 win at the Amsterdam ArenA to go some way to erasing the memories of a draw and a defeat in UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying and a 3-2 defeat in the finals of the tournament. A tap-in after good work from Dirk Kuijt and Rafael van der Vaart gave the Fenerbahçe SK man his first goal after 33 minutes and he added a second six minutes from time with a header.

Eternal substitute
Previous Dutch coaches Guus Hiddink, Louis van Gaal and Dick Advocaat preferred to use van Hooijdonk as a substitute - before the Czech Republic game he had been in the starting lineup for just three of his 43 Dutch appearances - but Van Basten broke with tradition. "He really deserved to start in the match," said Van Basten. "He trained very well in the past week and has now shown his worth."

Rare honour
"I've not been in the starting lineup many times before, so when you are then able to repay the faith that has been put in you by scoring two goals, it feels really great," said Van Hooijdonk. "As a team it is very important to win the first match and of course for me personally it is also brilliant."

New tactics
In his first competitive game as national team coach, Van Basten - a European champion with the Netherlands in 1988 - adopted an experimental 3-4-3 formation with a team featuring an unusually large Dutch-based contingent. Eight players were from PSV Eindhoven, AFC Ajax and Feyenoord.

Old stagers
However, on a night that seemed to provide a perfect opportunity for the young bucks to perform, it was the two oldest players - Van Hooijdonk and Fulham FC goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar that caught the eye. The striker certainly appreciated the custodian's efforts.

Great goalkeeping
"We have had some luck, but you can also says that when you play as aggressively as we do, then you can force luck to turn in your favour," said Van Hooijdonk. "And of course we have an excellent goalkeeper, who kept us alive a couple of times. We've delivered a real blow to our main rivals in this group."

Golden generation
The duo have also delivered a major blow to those who believe that the older generation of Dutch players can no longer cut it. With the De Boer brothers, Marc Overmars, Jaap Stam and Michael Reiziger all retiring from international football after EURO 2004™, Van Hooijdonk's decision to carry on had seemed a strange one.

No let-up
However, the striker who counts Feyenoord, SL Benfica, Nottingham Forest FC and Celtic FC among his former clubs, is not prepared to hang up his boots yet. "For me it's still a great honour to be picked for the national team and I wouldn't take the decision to stand down myself," he told uefa.com.

Continued brilliance
Van Hooijdonk will turn 35 in November but, as that statement confirmed, he is showing no sign of slowing down. He is gearing up to play UEFA Champions League football after leading Fenerbahçe SK to last season's Turkish title and not for the first time is proving that he is nowhere near finished in football.

Source: Uefa.com