Rijkaard quits heart broken Holland

Holland saw coach Frank Rijkaard quit immediately after the death of their Euro 2000 dream in Amsterdam last night.

The national team coach gave a press conference after the penalty shoot out defeat by Italy in which Holland missed three penalties and said he was leaving the job he had held for two years after failure to reach the Euro final on Sunday in Rotterdam. Italy are to meet France to decide the new European champions but the Dutch are reeling after a 0-0 draw with the Italians sent them into a penalty shoot. Italy had never before won a shoot out but goalkeeper Francesco Toldo saved two penalties in the deciding act of a dramatic semi final.

Holland missed two penalties during actual play before extra time came into force with captain Frank de Boer leaving his job as penalty taker after a first half save from Toldo defied him from the penalty spot.

The captain's decision left Euro 200 top scorer Patrick Kluivert to take a second half penalty which he fired against the post as Italy mounted a brave rear guard action with ten men for the entire match after the 33rd minute red card for Gianluca Zambrotta.

The move by Rijkaard to quit only confirms misgivings voiced by many when the 37 year old former AC Milan star was appointed in August 1998 after Holland had failed to reach the World Cup final following another penalty shoot calamity against Brazil.

Rijkaard had no previous experience of coaching and had retired from Ajax four years ago claiming he wanted to start up an underwear factory.

The Dutch coaching union protested at the time of Rijkaard's appointment as the new man was charged with building a team to win Euro 2000.

Four wins in earlier matches including a flattering 6-1 hammering of a dismal Yugoslavia team last weekend in the quarter finals encouraged many to see Rijkaard's team as genuine contenders for the title.

The build up to the Euro finals was a different story as Holland started the year with only two wins under the new coach but Rijkaard remained popular with the players and he definitely built a team spirit previously lacking in the argumentative Dutch outfit.

Rijkaard complained about the lack of quality in the Dutch domestic league and relied on foreign-based stars to build his team but little progress on the field was seen until good wins over Denmark, France and the hapless Yugoslav team.

The new man tried to build on the work of previous coach Guus Hiddink at the World Cup and generally favoured a fluid version of the 4-4-2 system that relied heavily on good work by Edgar Davids and Philip Cocu and in the end the Bergkamp and Kluivert partnership failed its biggest test.

Bergkamp confirmed his retirement from the international team after last night's game and he worked hard with Kluivert but both found the Italian defence too strong for them. Both had miserable spells with Milan clubs and Italy boasted accurately before the semi final that they knew how to shut down the threat of both players. Bergkamp was substituted before the end of normal time and his career with Holland has now come to a sorry end but Kluivert is unlikely to see his five goal mark passed at Euro 2000 so he is likely to be named top scorer.

Holland must now look for a new coach while Rijkaard is unlikely to accept club offers immediately unless Ajax offer work. The Dutch have 2002 World Cup qualifiers coming up in the autumn.

The KNVB wanted Rijkaard to take charge and said a contract had been agreed for the coach to stay in charge until 2002 but that agreement needed Rijkaard's approval.

Last night a short but glamorous experiment with the Dutch ended in another false dawn but Rijkaard knows his team had the chances to win the game easily from the penalty spot although they managed few shots that tested the excellent Toldo in the match itself.