Dutch start with Kluivert and van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Kluivert have been named in the Holland starting line-up for their crucial Euro 2004 qualifier clash with Scotland today.

There had been much pre-match speculation about the starting line-ups of Scotland and Holland as the managers engaged in the phoney war of words that preceded this Euro 2004 play-off first leg.

Scotland manager Berti Vogts had to decide on the right blend of youth and experience and in the end opted to hand a first start to 19-year-old Darren Fletcher in midfield, with the Manchester United man having come off the bench to fire his side into the play-offs with the only goal of the game in the final qualifier against Lithuania.

Lee Wilkie, the Dundee defender, was a late addition to the heart of the defence as Andy Webster was laid low with ’flu.

That allowed Christian Dailly to perform a holding role in midfield and Vogts also recalled Paul Dickov up front, with Stevie Crawford and Kenny Miller having to make do with places on the bench.

The thoughts of Holland manager Dick Advocaat, the former Rangers boss, were centred around which of his superstar strikers to leave on the bench and his final decision saw Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Kluivert named as the starting duo.

That was despite a series of public statements by Advocaat that the pair could not play together and that van Nistelrooy was still in his bad books after a bust-up during a defeat in the Czech Republic.