Exclusive! Dutch legend Johan Neeskens opens up on Netherlands' recent struggles and World Cup chances

Netherlands are one of the most successful teams in world football and have a rich history in the FIFA World Cups having made ten appearances in the premier competition. Widely recognised as one of the best national teams of all time, Netherlands have played three World Cup finals but are yet to clinch their maiden title.

Netherland made their last final appearance at the FIFA World Cup in 2010 before securing a third-place finish at the showpiece event in 2014. However, the team struggled in its transitional phase from 2014 onwards and eventually ended up missing out on a spot in the FIFA World Cup 2018.

After failing to qualify for the Euros in 2016, Netherlands' poor run continued during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers where they finished third behind France and Sweden in Group A and failed to make the cut for the tournament in what was a huge disappointment for the Oranje.

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Dutch legend and a World Cup hero for his country,Johan Neeskens, who played two World Cup finals for Netherlands in 1974 and 1978opened up about the country's struggles in an exclusive interaction with WION. Neeskens put it down to the team losing a host of senior players following their retirements and the younger players being introduced steadily.

Neeskens, who holds the record for scoring the fastest goal in a World Cup final, believes Netherlands are not the only major football nation to have undergone a transition and that many teams face similar situations. However, he believes the country now has a great team ready to challenge for titles again with some brilliant young players.

"Of course, there is always a situation that you don't like. Thet you don't want to see. But I think that is not only the case with Holland, I think there were more countries over the past who were really successful and then comes a time when the players age and they are not there anymore," Neeskens said when asked about Netherlands' recent struggles.

"But maybe in one time 5-6 of those players (are not there) and that makes a huge difference. Then younger players have to come in but they don't have the same experience and the same level as the players who left. And that needs time, so give younger players the time to get this experience. And maybe they were also not playing in the biggest teams in the biggest leagues so you cannot expect them that they are standing right away.

Over 6-7 years, these players had the quality and then all of a sudden you have to build a new team with 5-6 younger players. Don't expect that they are standing and are responsible on the field. That needs time. This period between 2016-2020 that was the case with Holland. Now you have fantastic young players who are already playing on the higher level so I think now things have changed. But you don't see that only with Holland but a lot of other teams," he explained.

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After failing to qualify in 2018, Netherlands made no mistakes as they dominated World Cup 2022 qualifiers and secured their return to the tournament by topping their qualification group on the final day with a 2-0 win over Norway. Netherlands have been placed in Group A alongside Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar for the FIFA World Cup 2022.

With some of the top talents like Virgil Van Dijk, Frenkie De Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, and Donny Van de Beek among others in their ranks, Netherlands remain favourites to top their group. However, Neeskens has warned topping the group won't mean they can reach the final comfortably.

"That's statistics but if you say I am on a roll, and you win three in a row and everybody is expecting this team to go straight to the final. Then no because you also have other opponents who analyse you. Every time you play, you have to be 100 per cent as a team, as an individual to reach these goals. But of course, you have opponents also," said the former Netherlands star.

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Rich clubs getting bigger and bigger not good for football:Neeskens

Neeskens also spoke about the shift of power in European football and how the Dutch league - Eredivisie has been undermined by the likes of Premier League and La Liga when it comes to financial strength. While top English clubs and a handful in Spain and Italy have been dominant in the transfer market, thanks to their rich influential owners, even the best clubs in the Dutch league have struggled to keep a hold of good players.

Ajax, who are the most decorated Dutch club having won the European title five times, are currently seen as a 'selling club' among the European elites and find it difficult to keep hold of their best players despite enjoying success on the pitch.

Neeskens believes not just Ajax, but a lot of other Dutch clubs too struggle to keep hold of their top players as they eventually have to bow down to the financial might of the big clubs from England, Spain and Italy, who can offer player lucrative salaries and attract them comfortably. Neeskens believes richer clubs getting bigger is not a good sign for football.

"There is not only Ajax but a lot of teams. If you see what they pay in salary to these players in this country, maybe Italy, Spain and England but the rest cannot afford it. If you have a good team like Ajax, and you have a couple of English teams who offer a player a salary 4-5 times or sometimes even ten times higher than you are then you cannot hold the players," said the two-time World Cup finalist.

"So you are more of an institution that brings talented players and in the future, when they have played 1-2 years in the team they will say bye because clubs with a lot of money are going to buy them. So only the rich clubs can go on and get bigger and bigger and that is not good for football," he added.