SEEDORF: DUTCH SENIOR TEAM CAREER PROBED

Clarence Seedorf scored eleven goals in 87 appearances for the Dutch senior national team over the course of a 14-year period. He was in the Dutch team from 1994 to 2008.

A young Clarence Seedorf was handed his Dutch senior team call-up on December 14, 1994. He played his first game for the team against Luxembourg at the age of 18 and he went on to score during the match as he helped the Dutch team to a 5-0 victory over lowly Luxembourg in what was a qualifier ahead of the 1996 European Championship.

 

Clarence Seedorf was in the Dutch squad for the 1996 European Championship, but his tournament ended on a sad note after his penalty miss proved decisive during the shootout defeat to France at the quarterfinal stage. The midfielder was also prominent as the Dutch team reached the semifinals at threemajor tournaments namely the 1998 FIFA World Cup tournament in France, the 2000 European Championship on home soil and the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.

Seedorf was recalled to the Dutch senior team for the first time in over two years on November 12, 2006. His last invitation was in June 2004. He returned to the team in place of the injured Wesley Sneijder. Clarence Seedorf played the whole game as the Dutch team played out a 1-1 draw with England. His last cap for the Netherlands was in 2007 during the qualifying games against Romania and Slovenia. The midfielder featured in the goalless draw at home to the Romanians and during the 1-0 away win over Slovenia. He was given four minutes against Romania and six minutes against Slovenia. At the time, Dutch manager Marco Van Basten favorited the young players ahead of veterans like Seedorf. In the summer of 2008, Clarence Seedorf announced that he won’t be going to the 2008 European Championship due to his feud with Van Basten.