EURO 2008 INFO

The Netherlands is famous for two things on the soccer field: playing brilliantly without winning trophies, and producing world class quarrels that have dragged more than one team down.

The glorious exception is 1988, when "Oranje" won the European Championship with nary a team fight.

This time, the Dutch hope to get the quarrelling out of the way before their tournament opens against World Cup champion Italy on June 9. They had better be united and sharp from Day 1, because after the Azzurri, World Cup runner-up France is lined up.

The Dutch team closes out the toughest group against Romania, which finished qualifying ahead of the Netherlands.

"The three are world-class opponents, that much is clear," Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said.

Then again, it has a sense of deja vu because the Dutch easily survived the toughest World Cup group two years ago when it had to play Argentina, Ivory Coast and Serbia.

"This draw is still somewhat tougher," Van der Sar said.

Several Dutch players are on a roll. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder are celebrating Real Madrid's league title in Spain, and Van der Sar helped Manchester United win its second straight Premier League title.

"It always gives a boost," said Boudewijn Zenden, a former Netherlands international who plays for Marseille. "If you had a good season and you win at the end it gives you a push in the back - on a positive note."

The four could well form the backbone of the Dutch team during next month's European Championship in Austria and Switzerland.

Maybe, of course, should be stressed, simply because this is Oranje, and simply because Marco van Basten is coach.

During his four years in charge, Van Basten has done many an unpredictable thing, and none more so than sidelining Van Nistelrooy in the middle of the 2006 World Cup campaign, quickly turning success into disaster.

After cruising through the first round unbeaten with Van Nistelrooy in attack, the Dutch lost their composure when he was kept off the squad in the second-round match against Portugal. In one of the ugliest World Cup matches in history, Portugal won 1-0, with Oranje missing a plethora of chances.

It was the antithesis of what the great Johan Cruyff and Van Basten had learned to love in Dutch soccer: carefree, sparkling and joyful to the point of innocence.

And it was because of yet another row between a top player and coach.

Player scandals have followed the Dutch for years, largely since the heyday of Cruyff. High-profile quarrels with Ruud Gullit and Edgar Davids would follow as the whiff of scandal sometimes produced as many thrills as the often spectacular soccer.

Ever since losing the 1974 World Cup final to Germany, the Dutch are known as the best nation never to win the top trophy in soccer. Oranje would dazzle fans and observers, but too often end up on the losing side of a penalty shootout or close game.

Things only jelled once. In 1988, there were no fights to speak of and out of nowhere, the Dutch produced their best soccer in years to win their only international trophy at the European Championship.

"We were nowhere near being favourite," said Van Basten, who was the leading scorer with five goals. "At first we were just happy to be part of a major tournament again."

They are certainly no favourites now. They have not played beautifully for a long time and the quarrelling has started well before the kickoff.

AC Milan free spirit Clarence Seedorf didn't wait to drop his bombshell, pulling out of the squad and criticizing Van Basten for not giving him the room to fulfil his potential. Immediately, it was front page news all over.

"We have seen from the past that some negative issues with the national team and players are recurring," Seedorf said.

Overall, the team is expected to look similar to the World Cup squad of 2006, and Van Basten has always insisted that, since taking over in 2004, the Euros were his main goal.

"The players are older, more experienced, more mature. And that is positive," said Van Basten, who will be moving to Ajax after the tournament - win or lose.