HOLLAND

The Coach: Bert van Marwijk (Dutch, 57). Appointed: Aug 2008. WC experience: Player: None. Coach: none.

Lambertus "Bert" van Marwijk played for the Holland. In 1982, he started his transition into coaching, retiring as a player in 1988 and becoming a full time trainer. In 2002, he won the title the UEFA Cup champion with Feyenoord.

The Country: So much gift, so little aptitude. Holland won 2-1 away to Iceland to become the first European side to qualify for next summer's championship.

Holland's World Cup record: 1934 1st rd, 1938 1st rd, 1974 RU, 1982 RU, 1990 2nd rd, 1994 QF, 1998 4th, 2006 2nd rd.

How Holland qualified for World Cup 2010: European Group 9 winners


Goals from Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel - the manager’s son-in-law - put van Marwijk's team in the driving seat before Kristjan Orn Sigurdsson pulled a goal back. Van Marwijk said: "My goal was to qualify for the finals so now we have a year to prepare. Winning six straight World Cup qualifiers deserves a compliment."

Indeed, and Holland seems to be rising again. And if Holland was not successful at recent major tournaments, it was not because of a lackness of talent. Rather, as those involved will testify, the Dutch have tended to lack the consistency and dogged determination that generally separates champions from also-rans at these intensely competitive international happenings.

As captain Giovanni van Bronkhorst, formerly of Arsenal, argued: "When you have a big tournament with all the best teams, you have to be on top form in every single match if you're going to win. We saw that at Euro 2008, when we played really well but had one bad game against the Russians and were knocked out. That's got to be a lesson for us in South Africa."