Edwin van der Sar feels that the Netherlands lack the
overall quality to make an impact at next month's FIFA World Cup.
The Netherlands reached the final four years ago, only to
lose 1-0 to Spain after extra time.
Louis van Gaal's men will meet Spain again in the group
stages of the 2014 tournament after being drawn alongside the holders as well
as Chile and Australia.
The Dutch squad is much changed from the one that reached
the showpiece in South Africa, with Van Gaal - set to leave the post after the
World Cup to take over at Manchester United - opting to select an array of
youngsters.
A total of 13 players aged 23 or under were included in
Van Gaal's provisional 30-man group and Van der Sar, who featured in two World
Cups for the Netherlands, is not expecting the Dutch to catch the eye in
Brazil.
"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."
Van Gaal's main selection dilemma surrounds who to pick
as the first-choice goalkeeper, with Newcastle United's Tim Krul, Swansea
City's Michel Vorm, Jeroen Zoet of PSV and Ajax shot-stopper Jasper Cillessen
all vying for the spot.
And Van der Sar, now a marketing director at Ajax, has
backed Cillessen to win the battle.
"I think Jasper Cillessen. He plays for Ajax and
came into the team this year and has played three or four times for the
national team," Van der Sar added.
"He's looked good as a young goalkeeper, he's very
good with his feet, that's something that Ajax and the Dutch team need as we
always try to involve the goalkeeper in keeping possession.
"He has the ability, I think, to retain the position
for the World Cup finals."
Culled from Soccerway
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