Despite being a regular in the latter stages of international tournaments, the Netherlands are one of the few bigger nations who know the feeling of mi sing out on a major tournament after failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Crucial defeats to Portugal and the Republic of Ireland that year saw them eliminated before the tournament in Japan and South Korea got under way.In recent times, the Dutch have Bryn Forbes Jersey set alight the international tournaments with their brand of total football. However, much like Arsenal, they have struggled to turn these performances into major trophies as they quite often seem to peak too early.The Netherlands were drawn into the final qualification group which contained a team le s than all the others. Their opponents were Scotland, Norway, Macedonia and Iceland. This looked like one of the easier groups around although they would need to beware for a recently resurgant Scotland side and some of Norways danger men.Even so, the Dutch kicked off their campaign in scrappy style with a 2-1 away victory over Macedonia. Johnny Moore Jersey Two goals in the first half from Johnny Heitinga and Rafael Van der Vaart were enough to secure a tricky win. This was followed up with a comfortable 2-0 home victory against Luka Samanic Jersey Iceland that didnt raise any eyebrows. At this point, it looked as if the Netherlands were crusing to top spot as Scotland and Norway were dropping points whilst nearest rivals Macedonia were never going to continue their early run. The next two matches were fairly significant in the group as victories would basically confirm their place at the tournament after only four games in the eight match group. The double header got off to the best po sible start with a vital 1-0 victory in Norway. Three days later Scotland visited Amsterdam in a match that the Tartan Army really needed three points from. However, the Dutch proved too strong with their best performance of the campaign in a 3-0 victory.Four wins from four and Holland had pretty much unofficially booked their place on the plane to South Africa. Qualification was guaranteed after a simple 4-0 victory against Macedonia Keldon Johnson Jersey and a comfortable 2-1 victory away to Iceland. The Dutch kept Trey Lyles Jersey their perfect record intact with a 2-0 home victory over Norway giving them 21 points from 21.The final match of the group saw them pitted away to Scotland. The Scots needed a victory to earn a play off spot whilst the Netherlands were looking for that rare perfect 100% qualification record. Scotland were very unfortunate not to take the lead on several occasions. However, the Dutch showed their cutting instinct with an 82nd minute goal to secure a 100% record and a place on the plane to South Africa next summer.