Netherlands – J. Stam: “We have the means of putting the pressure on Brazil”

Comments made at the Vista Palace Hotel at Roquebrune (Near Monaco)

“Ronaldo (9) is a very fast player, who moves a lot and is hard to mark. The World Cup hasn’t gone the way he would have liked up until now, because he would have liked to have scored more goals. He was often marked by several defenders, so it’s been hard for him to play his own game. The NETHERLANDS won’t be dedicating two defenders to RONALDO. They’ll be playing their game as usual, without being affected by the opponents. Compared to RONALDO, Gabriel BATISTUTA (9) was moving around a lot less. He waits for openings, while RONALDO participates more in the action. In the 1994 World Cup in the USA, we lost against BRAZIL 3-2 in the quarter final. It was a painful defeat, because we’d come back to two-all after having been behind 2-0. The third BRAZILIAN goal really hurt a lot, but Tuesday 7 July, it will be our turn for revenge.

Up to now, BRAZIL hasn’t played any fantastic matches in this World Cup. They even lost a game against NORWAY. They’d been playing against relatively defensive teams. We have the means of putting the pressure on them with our offensive game, and in this way, depriving them of the ball.”

“I’m very satisfied with my performance against ARGENTINA. I hope to play from the very start of the next matches. As I didn’t play in the three preceding matches, I was physically in top shape. I like to play with Dennis BERGKAMP (8), because he’s good at finding the gaps in the opponent’s defence, and he knows where I want him to put the ball. There are few players who have this quality. With Georges WEAH, Dennis BERGKAMP is really one of the best players that I’ve ever played with. This year, I’ve learned a lot through certain deceptions, which made me work even harder in training and gave me more strength of character. At the age of 22, I think there’s still plenty of room for improvement. With no real weak points in the Brazilian defence, we’ll have to keep our eyes open and take advantage of the slightest error on their part.”

“BRAZIL is also an excellent team on a defensive level. They’re a team who score at least one goal per match. For a long time now, they have had a very successful system of play. DUNGA (8) is a very important player who is the team’s playmaker. I’m in top form and I want to put in a good match against BRAZIL. Of course, the absence of Arthur NUMAN (5) and Winston BOGARDE (15) constitute a certain handicap for the NETHERLANDS team.”