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The Netherlands hold the record for the most appearances in the World Cup final without winning the tournament. They were defeated by the respective hosts of the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, West Germany and Argentina, while in 2010 they lost out to one of the greatest national teams in history, Spain. It takes a special team to create a ‘type’ of football, but the Netherlands team of the 1970s, led by the legendary figure of Johan Cruyff, created the ‘total football’ philosophy, one which is based on intense passing, movement, and high pressing. They lit up both the 1974 and 1978 World Cup competitions thank to the talents of Cruyff, Johnny Rep, Johan Neeskens and Arie Haan, but their failure to lift the trophy has generated the unwanted label of the best team never to win the tournament. The Netherlands did emerge victorious in the European Championship in 1988, with triple Ballon d'Or winner Marco van Basten creating a truly iconic moment with his famous volley against the USSR in the final. In the 1990s Oranje boasted stars such as Dennis Bergkamp, Frank Rijkaard, and Patrick Kluivert, and it was Brazil who denied them further progress in both the1994 and 1998 World Cups. 2010 saw the Oranje ditch passing and creativity for endeavour, relying on the skill of Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder to unlock defences, and they were to lose out only in extra time thanks to a goal from Andres Iniesta. Since then Dutch football has went into an extreme decline, failing to qualify for bothEuro 2016 and World Cup 2018, with former great Ronald Koeman given a long-term deal to turn things around. Domestically, the Eredivisie is regulary contested by Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord.

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