Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng has beaten off competition from Edgar Davids to earn a place in Marco van Basten's 28-man preliminary squad for the World Cup finals.

Holland coach van Basten had reportedly been mulling over whether to take Tottenham star Davids to Germany, but has opted to plump for Boro powerhouse Boateng for the holding-midfield role.

There are few surprises among the 28, although Aston Villa man Wilfred Bouma has missed out.

Rising star Klaas Jan Huntelaar has earned a place ahead of Bayern Munich striker Roy Makaay.

Milan star Clarence Seedorf is another notable absentee, with van Basten set to whittle down his selection to 23 before the May 15 deadline.

Nigel de Jong, Rafael van der Vaart and Hedwiges Maduro are included even though the trio are currently on the sidelines.

Holland's 28-man pre-World Cup squad:

Keepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Henk Timmer (AZ Alkmaar).

Defenders: Khalid Boulahrouz (Hamburg SV), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona), Tim de Cler (AZ Alkmaar), Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Jan Kromkamp (Liverpool), Joris Mathijsen (AZ Alkmaar), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), Johnny Heitinga (Ajax) and Barry Opdam (AZ Alkmaar).

Midfielders: George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Mark van Bommel (Barcelona), Phillip Cocu (PSV Eindhoven), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg SV), Denny Landzaat (AZ Alkmaar), Hedwiges Maduro (Ajax), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV).

Strikers: Ryan Babel (Ajax), Romeo Castelen (Feyenoord), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Dirk Kuyt (Feyenoord), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (PSV Eindhoven).


Young Squad but really talented. I like Hunteelar against Van Nistelrooy as the starting striker, the guy its freaking hot...did you see yesterdays game?

Looks like a good squad

Aren't Davids, Seedorf known as the "trouble-makers" of the national team?


This team can really go far. Looking forward to see play. Hopefully they won't bottle it this time.

un-lucky Van Basten

8 Class Forwards and probably half of them won't go...

We're not gonna get anywhere this summer. Van Basten's back four are far too shaky for a serious attempt to even reach the quarterfinals. Quality enough up front, but that's not gonna outweigh our defensive frailties.

Can Cocu play center-back? it might help having a experienced player at the back

or perhaps Boateng

i believe cocu and boateng have both played in defense before. the abundance of forwards is embarrassing. and that doesn't even include makaay and kluivert. well, ok, not kluivert.

Remember the Kluivert who played for Newcastle? past it.

The only missing man that I would like to see in the squad is Edje Davids. That's mostly because of personal reason but also because I think he can give the squad a big boost with his enthusiasm.

I can understand Seedorf's absence because despite his football talents he always f*cks it up in the national team.

Makaay would've made it to any other national team but as we have so many talented strikers he was the one that was the least on form so it's pretty clear why he's left out.

well, holland are getting a fresh-load of new players (a.k.a. ajax and psv are working again) and so it's a very good squad...although if it's true Makaay is not in there, it's a pitty..

Makaay has always been and always will be a pile of **** for the national team. That guy doesnt even deserve to be mentioned.

Would've wanted to see Makaay upfront with Ruud but, it's true that there are too many talented strikers to pick from.

Makaay is too lazy regarding defense. It gives him an edge switching from defensive to attacking, but we need a better defense.

Cocu should play defensive mid. Boulahrouz, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Opdam, and Heitinga are all very talented, and pretty experienced too. I think all of them are better as a center back. Our midfield is poor enough when defending as it is.

it's understandable for Makaay not to be included, there's already a natural target man like RVN there. I'm relishing the prospect of seeing the exciting young forwards like KJH and Kuijt display their talent.

That strike force is unbelievable. I do see what everyones on about, although I'm not into much Dutch football, I've still only heard of 3 of those defenders

shame Seedorf isn't in there. been fantastic this season

Seedorf atleast deserves a chance to prove himself, Marco already had his opinion about Clarence, Patrick and Edgar even before the whole campaign, we could use a player like Davids during the WC, his mentality could be of a good use for the rest of the squad, Seedorf is pure class, one of the best in Italy and Marco thinks Hofs is a better teamplayer then Clarence, he should give Seedorf a chance before saying that, our defence is shaky, but with Heitinga in his current form and Boulahrouz next to him they could prove to be a strong partnership, Ooijer on the right and Gio on the left would be my ideal backline or Edgar as a left-back would be an option too

Seedorf got plenty chances before. At Milan he has players like Gatusso or Pirlo behind him to control in the case he let his man go (which happens a lot of time). In Holland we play 4-3-3 rather than 4-4-2 and if he lets his man go in this system it can be fatal. That's why he is from lesser value for Holland than he is for Milan.
The defence looks the weakest part of the team, but in the qualification matches Holland got very few goals against (zero in both home and away matches against Romania and Chech Rep), so it may be not too weak.

shouldn't Makaay be there ahead of Hesselink?

not only he scored more goals this season in a harder league but he's also a better player overall.

Will Van Persie get in the final Squad?

shouldn't Makaay be there ahead of Hesselink?

not only he scored more goals this season in a harder league but he's also a better player overall.

(Y)

haha I wonder what'll happen if Marco turns out to coach Milan next season :D

Wow, I'm pretty shocked with the squad he chose?

I hope Pekerman doesn't choose like Eriksson and van Basten. :nape:

shouldn't Makaay be there ahead of Hesselink?

not only he scored more goals this season in a harder league but he's also a better player overall.

Marco chose Vennegoor, because he needed a pinch-hitter. it is either Vennegoor or Huntelaar.

I think Van Persie will go to the WC.

Seedorf got his chance with the other coaches not with Marco, that's why I think that Marco should try him first, and say something about it based on his own experience with him and not with what he saw in the past,

i think that davids should have got in the team, he can provide a cutting edge in midfeild. is he on the back up list?

Yes he's on the back-up list, but I think he is not in the squad because of his many yellow/red cards. He got a lot of them because he was too late with his tackling. He always used his speed, technique en aggression. His speed is not what it was before, causing late tackles, which cost him a lot of cards. The last thing you want on the World Cup is a red card in an important match...

Cards or not, Davids is important for us, with his experience he can add something to the squad

I understand Davids decision, but Seedorf and Maakay are still playing in first level clubs.

man the striking department looks very good indeed. BUt im worried about defence ...

I'm not woried about our defence. Because vd Sar is a great gk and Mathijsen and Boulahrouz(their form isn't that great) but I think its a good solid defence. Not as good as Englands thought. Davids brings hart into the game and that is what we need.

I think van Basten's options are fine. A new generation needed to get the breakthrough and establish themselves without the 90's generation. Davids, Seedorf and Kluivert have a great history with the Dutch shirt, but there are times when you need to have something new.

Until van Basten arrived, I thought those guys were going to be called even when they dipped at their clubs, and only be called up because of what they did in the past. Fortunately for Holland, a new team has been successfully built.