Brilliant Oranje

1 Johan Cruyff

And best ever European player. In those 'Best Football Player in the World' polls, he is never outside the top five.

Johan Cruyff was born in the Amsterdam's Jordaan neighbourhood, grown up in Betondorp, living in Barcelona, is by far the best Dutch soccer player ever. There is no more to so. It is all so logical (Cruijff always uses the sentence "but that is logical")

2 Marco van Basten

IN HIS heyday, Marco van Basten was simultaneously honoured as best player in Holland, best in Europe and best in the world.

At different stages, he was also top goal scorer in the Eredivisie, the Serie A and the European Championships.

'San Marco' was the only real successor of Johan Cruijff, his tutor at Ajax, who also became his coach. His goals were of a magic quality and frequently decisive. The bicycle kick against FC Den Bosch, the volley against the USSR, the lob against Feyenoord, the header against Lokomotiv Leipzig proved that, for Van Basten, scoring ugly goals was not an option. And that with two defective ankles, who stood in the way of a worthy farewell as a top player. After the dramatically Dutch failure on the World Cup 1990, Van Basten could have taken revenge on the World Cup 1994 in America. But it was not granted for him. The whole of Holland was mourning for years at the injustice.

3 Willem van Hanegem

WILLEM van Hanegem, left-footed and midfielder, was unique in his kind.

The left leg of 'De Kromme' (The Curved, because of his bowy legs and curling passes) seemed to be a magic wand, but with his head, he also showed magic.

His humour, unleashed in a mixture of Zeeuws, Utrecht and Rotterdam dialect, was like cabaret.

Van Hanegem, who really hated to lose, was able to control the whole midfield, despite a glaring lack of pace. But he had the gift to always be in the right place.

Although he also played for Velox, Xerxes, AZ'67 and FC Utrecht, he will always be associated with Feyenoord.

With the Rotterdam South club he won the double in his first season (1968/1969), and went on to achieve success domestically and internationally. At the World Cup in 1974, when Holland were fooled into the silver medal position by West Germany, he was, by common consent, the player of the tournament. Van Hanegem played 52 international matches, in which he scored 6 times.

4 Rob Rensenbrink

ROB Rensenbrink was so good that in 1974 he played Piet Keizer out of the Dutch national team.

That says a lot about the super qualities of the 'Snake man', as he was nicknamed. Later Rivaldo was compared to Rensenbrink for similarly evasive traits. He was born right after the war in Amsterdam, and through DWS he attracted interest from the Dutch national team and Belgium giants Club Brugge. After Club, he started playing for Anderlecht, his big sportive love. The classical left wing player was the start of the big Anderlecht, that won 2two Euro Cups, three national titles and four Belgium Cup in the seventies. He was Belgium Football player of the Year, Belgium top scorer and in 1976 he was voted second in the European player of the Year election, behind Franz Beckenbauer. Two years later he was third in the Euro poll behind Kevin Keegan and Hans Krankl.

His most famous international match for Holland is one that every Dutchman, and certainly Rensenbrink, who scored six World Cup goals, want to forget. In the World Cup final of 1978 against Argentina, he hit the post in the final seconds of the regular time with the match tied. Everyone knows what happened in extra time.

5. Ruud Gullit

AS A personality he is by far the most charismatic Dutch player of the past century. Ruud Gullit was born in Amsterdam, but never played at Ajax, but at rival clubs Feyenoord and PSV. Gullit, discovered at the KNVB (Dutch FA) by Ger Blok, signed for Haarlem by and made his debut with "the red pants" at 16.

With Gullit, Haarlem reached a dizzy third in the Eredivisie, their highest performance ever. Where ever he played, during his career (66 caps, 17 goals), success was guaranteed. He could play anywhere with the national team, he played in all three outfield sectors and won everything, except the World Cup. After Dutch national titles with Feyenoord and PSV he was elected European Football Player of the Year in his first season at AC Milan (1987). The Golden Ball was followed that same season with the Scudetto, the Italian title. And with Holland he would become European Champions a few months later in Munich, after a 2-0 victory over the USSR. Gullit scored the opening goal, with a pass from his new Milan team-mate Van Basten.

After another season of triumph with AC Milan, Gullit left, through Sampdoria and again Milan, for England, where Chelsea was his final club.

6. Faas Wilkes

IN an era when football pitches were not congested by packed midfields and diamond formations, Wilkes was the consummate dribbler. As a Valencia player, in 1956 Wilkes was player of the year in Spain, the strongest League in Europe. He left names like Alfredo di Stefano, Paco Gento, Ladislao Kubala and Sandor Kocsis behind him. Wilkes, who had become a professional player in 1949 at Internazionale, leading to a ban by the Dutch FA until 1955, was the idol of the young Johan Cruijff. The Rotterdam born player, educated at Xerxes, was an elegant player who would rather keep the ball than pass to a team-mate. He was the original "world class" Dutch man and was the first from the country to be selected for a World XI. With 35 goals in 38 matches, Wilkes held the all-time Dutch national team scoring records for 40 years, having claimed nine goals in his first three internationals.

7. Ruud Krol

KROL played 83 times for Holland, a record that has stood for almost 20 years. He was Dutch captain 39 times, lost two World Cup finals and wore the orange for a total of 15 years.

Possessed of a famously accurate back to front long ball, only a broken calf bone in 1971 prevented him from a hat-trick of European Cup successes with Ajax in the early seventies. However he also won several other trophies - five Dutch championships, two Super Cups and a World Cup runner's up medal twice. He left Amsterdam in 1980 to go to Vancouver Whitecaps, after which he landed in the Italian Serie A. He immediately was elected Italian Football Player of the Year as a super libero at Napoli. He cruised into retirement with the French club, Cannes.

8. Frank Rijkaard

THE longer time passes, the more nostalgic Dutch fans become for Frank Rijkaard. The dark Amsterdam born player was one of the most beautiful players ever who to grace the Dutch midfield and defence. Rijkaard had his downsides and was always controversial, but above all he could play soccer extremely well. After he had won three national titles and a Euro Cup in this first period at Ajax, he left Ajax in the winter of 1987, after a conflict with coach Johan Cruijff. Through Real Zaragoza he landed at AC Milan, before returning Ajax six years later, with two Euro Cups, World Cups and Super Cups and three Scudettos in his pocket. By winning two national titles and the Champions League, it was the most beautiful Dutch come back ever. Almost as beautiful as the victory on the Euro 1988 tournament. After the World Cup 1994 in America, Rijkaard said farewell to the national team, having played 73 matches (10 goals).

He is now manager of Barcelona.

9. Dennis Bergkamp

DENNIS Bergkamp played for three top clubs in his career, but only succeeded with two of them. Although the Amsterdam born player won the UEFA Cup with Internazionale, his period in Italy from 1993 until 1995 was by far the least memorable of his career.

Ajax (1982-1993) and Arsenal (1995-now) brought more highlights to adorn an already spectacular international career, where he became the career Dutch top scorer (36 goals in 70 matches).

His star shined in Ajax's Stadium De Meer, where the artistic lobs of the shadow striker were loved and feared. He helped to win his club a Euro Cup double, a national title and two national Cups and led the domestic scoring charts three times. With Arsenal he has won the double twice and was elected Premier League Football player of the year in 1998. He was suspected of having three feet at one point, after a November 97 BBC goal of the month competition when he filled all three places. Between 1990 and 2000, he played three European Championship tournaments and two World Cups with Holland.

10. Johan Neeskens

IN his four season with Ajax, Johan Neeskens won three Euro Cups, two Super Cups, two national titles and two Cups. Not bad for a kid born from Heemstede, bought for 225 Dutch guilders (£70) by Ajax from Racing Club Heemstede.

He could open cans with his right foot, and was the most assured penalty taker of his generation. He was also the never-say-die element of the Dutch midfield, and was virtually irreplaceable for a dedace at international level.

He played in two World Cup finals and scored the memorable first minute penalty in the World Cup final of 1974 in and against West Germany.

At Barcelona all doors still are open to him. In the 5 years he played in the Catalan capital, he was extremely popular with the socios. In 1979 he won a Euro Cup with Barca, right before he left for America, where his career ended with a MLS title with New York Cosmos.