Champs Holland hope to break KL jinx

13/01/2002

WORLD Cup and Olympic champions Holland arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday
armed with their key players for the World Cup.
But coach Joost Bellaart fears the Kuala Lumpur jinx might hit them
again next month.
For one, Holland are rebuilding and secondly, Malaysia has not been a
happy hunting ground for them.
Holland, who are here for the Six-Nation that starts on Friday, are
counting on the tournament to help prepare them in the defence of the
title they won in Utrecht but fear that what happened in 1975 could happen
again.
"Malaysia is not our favourite hunting ground because we were defending
champions coming into the 1975 World Cup but ended up ninth. We will be
back again in Kuala Lumpur as champions and we hope to break the jinx this
time," said Bellaart.
A stumbling block for Holland though could be the conditions back home.
"Back home, the temperatures are below freezing so we only assembled one
week ago as we could do nothing in the cold. That is why we came early to
Malaysia and have brought along 20 players to get acclimatised with the
conditions here before the Six-Nation," added Bellaart.
Bellaart has yet to finalise his 18 players for the Six-Nation and he
will do his selection on Wednesday after the friendly match against Japan.
"I have brought two extra players to Malaysia and after Wednesday, I
will send them back home. The idea is to get all my players a feel of the
National Hockey Stadium (in Bukit Jalil) turf and also the weather," he
said.
Holland finished third in the recent Champions Trophy but according to
the coach that is not their true strength as four of their main players
were injured during the tournament.
"Bram Lomans, Erik Jazet, Peter Windt and Jaap Derk Buma (all vital cogs
in the Dutch side) were injured during the Campions Trophy and that is why
we finished third. But now all four have recoverd and we are ready to
defend the title," said Bellaart.
Holland have retained 10 players who won the World Cup in Utrecht and
will be blooding goalkeeper Josef Kramner, 24, who only has one
international cap to his credit.
When asked about Kramer, Bellaart said: "He does not have the experience
but is the best goalkeeper behind our No 1 Guus Vogels. If Vogels in not
available for any reason in the Six-Nation, I have full confidence in
Kramer."
Holland squad: Guus Vogels (GK, played in '98 Utrecth World Cup and
Sydney Olympics), Bram Lomans (Utrecht, Sydney), Diederik van Weel
(Sydney), Erik Jazet (Utrecht, Sydney), Peter Windt (Utrecht, Sydney),
Marc van Wijk, Sander van Weide (Utrecht, Sydney), Ronald Brouwer, Piet
Hein Geeris (Utrecht, Sydney), Marten Eikelboom (Sydney), Jeroen Delmee
(Utrecht, Sydney), Josef Kramer (gk), Teun De Nooijer (Utrecht, Sydney),
Remco Van Wijk (Utrecht, Sydney), Jaap Derk Buma (Utrecht, Sydney),
Matthijs Brouwer, Karel Klaver, Rob Derikx, Taeke Taekema, Menno Booij.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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