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"1974 was actually very painful to us all," says Dutch psychoanalyst Anna Enquist. "We can't admit to ourselves that something can be so important. But it matters very much. There is still a deep, unresolved trauma about 1974. It's a very living pain, like an unresolved crime."
En Vincent zag het koren
En Einstein het getal
En Zeppelin de Zeppelin
En Johan zag de bal(And Vincent saw the corn
And Einstein the number
And Zeppelin the Zeppelin
And Johan saw the ball)
--Dutch cabaret song
The intellectualisation of football has always foundered on a simple problem--the players. Doing all your most rewarding thinking with your feet seems to dull the philosophical impulse. Unless, of course, you are Dutch. According to legend, Europeans played a moronic, muscular version of the world's game, until Holland proclaimed its vision of total football in the 1974 World Cup, and enlightenment dawned.
In Brilliant Orange--the neurotic genius of Dutch football, journalist David Winner explores his personal fascination with the land that gave the world Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Johan Cruyff--searching for reasons why such a tiny country has produced some of football's most intelligent, enigmatic and unfulfilled teams.
Winter talks with the players, past and present--including Johnny Rep and Ruud Krol from the losing World Cup Final sides of 1974 and 1978--uncovering their personal experience of the public triumphs and disasters. But it is the breadth of his enquiry into what it may mean to be Dutch--reconciling a colonial past with a multi-cultural present; living with the memories of wartime occupation and collaboration; the tensions between a fiercely individualistic, libertarian spirit and the principles of communality--that makes this such an extraordinary and wonderful book. --Alex Hankin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Winner manages to explain the Dutch flair, their inventiveness, their spatial awareness, their internal wranglings and their inevitable defeat at the hands of lesser opponents. (take their losing to the Italians in last night's semi-final as a perfect example) There's something of the grace of the Dutch footballing style in Winner's writing too; a light anecdotal touch by turns endearing, personal and very funny, which enables him to really engage the reader. Even if you're not a Dutch loving football-aficionado, this is a must read!
One thing's for sure though...the day they finally win the World Cup, it won't be just the Dutch fans who would be cheering....it would mark the fulfilment of one of the greatest footballing phenomenons.
in a long time. This is a book with brains spilling out over the edge. It is much
more than a story about Dutch Soccer. It is an inquiry into how ideas and philosophies
present in Dutch society underpinned some of the greatest teams and players to
have ever played the game. While it is an entertaining and stimulating read, it
also manages to be instructive technically and tactically. Coaches and players
will find this book very useful in terms of identifying what it takes to play
the game at its highest level. And what fascinated me the most was Winner's study
of beauty and the idea of the Beautiful Game. If you want to best understand what
the Beautiful Game is about, you may want to read this book before any others
on the subject, including Pele's My Life and the Beautiful Game.
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