Former Orange players look back on Van Hanegem’s comments: “Leave them to rot”

Arjen Robben took part in the European Championship in Portugal in 2004 with the Dutch national team as a PSV player. It hadn’t taken much more for Robben not to have been fit in time for the European Championship because the former winger tore his hamstring while playing for PSV.

Ultimately Robben became fit in time and then the former national team coach Dick Advocaat, former trainer of PSV, took the native Bedumer with him to the final tournament in Portugal. Where the winger sat out the entire match on the bench in the first group match on 15 June 2004 against Germany (1-1), the former PSV man was in the starting lineup in the second group match against the Czech Republic on 19 June and proved to be of great value to Oranje.

Within twenty minutes, the Netherlands were already leading 2-0 thanks to goals by Wilfred Bouma and Ruud van Nistelrooij. In both goals, Robben provided an assist and the Czechs had no answer for the former PSV player.

In the 59th minute, with the score at 2-1 in favor of the Netherlands, national coach Advocaat decided to take Robben off the field, bringing on midfielder Paul Bosvelt in the hope of gaining more control in midfield. This substitution proved fatal and, partly due to a red card for John Heitinga, Oranje lost 2-3 and thus found themselves on the brink of elimination.

A few days after this defeat, there was a press conference with Willem van Hanegem, at the time assistant national team coach to Dick Advocaat. Van Hanegem was asked by a journalist what he would do if Advocaat were to substitute Robben again in the final group match against Latvia while leading 2-1.

Van Hanegem replied: ''Then I’ll knock him down.'' Where Rafael van der Vaart can see the humor in it, these words—more than 22 years later—fall badly with Wesley Sneijder.

This tells the record international in the podcast Wes & Raf from Ziggo Sport that he makes together with Van der Vaart. Both former footballers, just like Robben, were included in the squad for the 2004 European Championship, where the Netherlands would ultimately reach the semi-finals and had to bow 2-1 to the host nation Portugal.

''Yes, you don’t find it that bad. I don’t find it funny. It says enough about what the relationship is like. Then he should have hit him at that moment, when he brought Bosvelt up for Robben. Later he suddenly didn’t agree with it. Then he should have given his opinion at the moment itself. I always find that easy—talking tough afterwards. A bit of chatting along with everyone'', said Sneijder.

According to the former midfielder, Van Hanegem acted uncollegially back then toward Advocaat. ''He left Dick out there to get it. The moment is being mentioned now, with that little press moment. I didn’t think that was collegial'', says the former Ajax player.

Van der Vaart looks at the situation differently than Sneijder. ''I get the itches from standard answers. Someone decides that he has to sit there, and we all know what Willem is like. Then you get a question like that and you can give a very correct answer, but he said this. I think that’s humor at a moment like that. Only Advocaat was already treated that way in the media. Willem didn’t mean it the wrong way either. It did break the ice a bit,'' Van der Vaart said.