So a good start to the qualification campaign, not everyone in Holland is convinced by the score line but I thought it was a good result. Like I said before, Macedonia is no longer a team that hands out six points every qualification campaign. They have some respectable players and came off an inspiring win against Scotland, so to come away with three points was a good achievement.

A combination of bad referring, a lively home crowd and a total of 28 fouls can sum up that this was a true battle of points.  Holland made life difficult for themselves by wasting several opportunities, the first coming from Arjen Robben who cheekily tried to cheep the keeper followed by a few wasted chances by Huntelaar. About 30 minutes into the game Blackburn Rovers Andre Ooijer took a nasty challenge forcing him to leave the field and replaced by Boulahrouz. After several missed opportunities by the Oranje, it was only natural in the laws of football for Macedonia to catch Holland sleeping and net a goal through Goran Pandev. Pandev had just managed to beat the offside trap with an intelligent run and coolly slotted home an impressive goal. However, thanks to some bad referring by Grzegorz Gilewski the goal was ruled offside and we could breathe easy.

Van Marwijk must have said some stern words to the side because the team came out guns blazing and pressed the Macedonian defence with some skilful passing. It only took two minutes after the restart for Robben to whip in a cross and for defender Heitinga to power in a header that Macedonia goalkeeper Petar Milosevski could not prevent from going in. Goran Pandev kept threating the Dutch defence but after a clever pass by Marc van Bommel to Rafael Van der Vaart who pumped in a sweet shot, you would be forgiven for thinking the match was over and done with. However the proud Macedonians playing in front of 11,000 home fans refused to give up and continued to find a way back into the game. After Hunterlaar clumsily brought down Naumoski inside the box, Pandev finally got his name on the score sheet with a low driven penalty.

As the last minutes ticked away, Macedonia pushed hard for an equaliser but found a brick wall in Heitinga and Boulahrouz who swept away anything that came at them. A vital three points were gained as the Netherlands shot up to the top of the table only after one game. We play Iceland next month in our first home game of the campaign and will be looking to add a further three points to the scoreboard.

Weekend Overview of the Starting 11

GK: Maarten Stekelenburg: kept a clean sheet for Ajax Amsterdam as they beat Roda JC 1-0

DF: Giovanni van Bronckhorst: played very well in a 5-0 drubbing against FC Voldendam

DF: Johnny Heitinga: was also involved in keeping a clean sheet for Ajax Amsterdam

DF: Joris Mathijsen: did not play and was missed as his side AZ were humbled by ADO Den Haag

DF: Andre Ooijer: who was injured on international duty, was ruled out of Blackburn Rovers defeat to Arsenal.

MF: Rafael Van der Vaart: played in a exciting match for Real Madrid who defeated Numancia 4-3, Van der Vaart scored the third goal of the game.

MF: Arjen Robben: also played in the Real Madrid gameMF: Mark van Bommel: There was little van Bommel could do to help Barcelona FC as he was left out of the squad who drew against Racing Santander.

MF: Nigel De Jong: was involved in Hamburg’s 3-2 win against Bayer Leverkusen. The win sees his team go to the top of the table after 4 games.

ST: Robin Van Persie: scored a good goal against Blackburn Rovers to help Arsenal beat them 4-0.

ST: Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar: was also involved in Ajax’s 1-0 win over Roda JC.

PSV Eindhoven is the only Dutch team participating in the Champions League tonight. They will be playing Atletico Madrid

This is where it all begins.  The road to Johannesburg will be a long and tricky one.  With surprises around every corner which will demand the utmost effort and commitment from their players. However, Bert van Marwijk has a squad at his disposal to reach that very destination the South African’s call the “Soccer City” stadium.

Bert van Marwijk has inherited an attacking side that is balanced well with a rock hard defence. He himself, a preacher of attacking football which helped him clinch the UEFA Cup in 2002 with Feyenoord will make the best use of the current side. The Royal Netherlands Football Association was obviously impressed by the attacking football that Van Basten brought to the national team, they must have felt that a continuation of this type of football by a more experienced manager can take them to the next level. So after Bert van Marwijk Feyernoord won the KNVB Cup last season by scoring a total of 16 goals and only conceding 2 goals, he became the natural successor to Marco Van Basten.

The Dutch go into their qualification campaign boasting some of the most impressive attacking talents that the world has to offer. The attacking flair and creativity of Rafael van der Vaart, Arjen Robben, Ryan Babel and the currently injured Wesley Sneijder will provide enough opportunities for the likes of Robin Van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar a chance to score for goals. In the forwards we have a potential to have a classic Target Man and Striker partnership in Robin Van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, with the possibility to add the work-horse Dirk Kuyt or the speedier Ryan Babel when the team needs a different dimension.

Fortunately for Holland this is not where the talent ends. Unlike most attacking teams, the Netherlands have good foundations in defence with the likes of Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel being able to patrol outside the defense efficiently. Newly made captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst will continue in his role as an attacking full-back, while Khalid Boulahrouz and John Heitinga are rock hard defenders that will take only the craftiest of strikers to open up.  However, like the great Achilles whoes weakness was his heal, we have problems in the goal-keeper department. The loss of our fearless leader Edwin has been a major blow and I am not fully convinced with our new number one Maarten Stekelenburg. I thought he had a torrid time last season with Ajax conceding 45 goals while Jelle Rouwelaar from NAC Breda had a better record! I think a change is in order after Stekelenburg claimed the record for the first Dutch Goalkeeper to pick up a red card in the match against Australia.

The first game of the campaign is against the Republic of Macedonia, an interesting clash. Most people in the Netherlands are calling for score lines such as 5-0 but i think it will be trickier than most suspect. After their victory against Scotland which was no fluke, we could be witnessing an emerging nation. A player that van Marwijk should watch out for is the attacking threat of Goran Pandev, who can cause havoc with his speed and strength.

Let’s hope for a good start.