Not only is the World Championship in Darts (from 15 December) just around the corner, the World Cup in football is also about to start. On Monday 21 November, the Dutch team plays its first match against Senegal.
The lost World Cup final, for instance, still appears to be well remembered by Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld. ''The biggest memory is probably the lost World Cup final against Spain. Maybe also the least fun (memory, ed.). Maybe the best World Cup memory is yet to come,'' said Van Gerwen.
In fact, for Van Barneveld it was already the third lost World Cup final he had experienced. ''In 1974 I was still small, about 7 years old, when the Netherlands lost 2-1 to Germany. Four years later I was 11 and I can still remember Rob Rensenbrink shooting at the post. Otherwise we would have become world champions in Argentina. Unfortunately, we lost that one. And the last time 2010. I went to Johannesburg (South Africa, ed.) myself and watched the semi-final and final there. An incredibly cool week. Full of excitement of course with the World Cup final. I still can't bear to see Arjen Robben run at the goalkeeper and miss. Unfortunately three finals and three losses. Let's hope it goes better in Qatar now.''
Noppert and Van Duijvenbode chose a moment during the 2014 World Cup. ''That header goal by Robin van Persie after a pass from Daley Blind. That was so perfect,'' Noppert remembers the 5-1 victory over Spain.
Partly thanks to that match against Spain, the Netherlands made it through the group stage, before facing Mexico in the last sixteen. For a long time, that match seemed to be the end game for the Netherlands. Thanks to an equaliser by Wesley Sneijder in the 88th minute and a winning goal by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in injury time, the Netherlands went through after all.
That Huntelaar goal is still well etched in Van Duijvenbode's memory. ''That penalty was nicely in the corner, and then he did a karate kick on the corner flag. I thought that was a nice moment.''
Van der Voort chose two favourite World Cup memories. ''The first was in 1998. The quarter-final against Argentina with that fantastic goal by Dennis Bergkamp. We were watching with a very large group of friends in a garden square. Top evening we had. I think it was on a Saturday night and we had quite a party afterwards. And in 2010, also a quarter-final. Against Brazil with that Wesley Sneijder header. Being completely outplayed in the first half, but beating them back in the second half and winning the match'', Van der Voort recalled.