Former Manchester United shot-stopper Edwin van der Sar believes 2014 FIFA World Cup might come too soon for the current crop of Dutch youngsters to take up the mantle
Edwin van der Sar
London: Former Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar believes Oranje lack the quality to go far at this summer's World Cup.
Edwin van der Sar
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Holland reached the final four years ago - only to lose 1-0 to Spain after extra time - but the Dutch squad is much changed from the one that reached the showpiece in South Africa, with Louis van Gaal opting to select an array of youngsters for the tournament in Brazil. A total of 13 players aged 23 or under were included in Van Gaal's provisional 30-man group and Van der Sar believes this summer will not be the right time for the younger group to make a mark.
"We are in a little bit more of a difficult time now, we don't have the 10 or 11 world-class players in our team – we have maybe three or four and they are getting older," Van der Sar told fifa.com. "So it's about time that the young Dutch generation pick up the laurels from the older ones and hopefully can achieve, first with their clubs and then the national team, a little more success than over the last three or four years. No, three years, as four years ago we were in the final."
Netherlands meet Spain, Australia and Chile in the group stages, opening their tournament against the reigning world and European champions.
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