THE VITALS:

Team: Holland (the Netherlands)

Brand: Nike

Era: 2012-13 (Used for the 2012 UEFA European Championships and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Campaign)

Name/Number: V. Persie #10

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

The material of the shirt is in very good condition and while the vinyl applications on the front of the shirt are in mostly great condition, there is sadly significant wear and fading to the name and numbering on the back particularly the number 10; and the sum of these defects have been reflected in the price.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19.5 inches

Shirt Length: 29 inches

Made in Nike’s ‘Dri-Fit’ mould that they introduced ahead of the 2012-13 season; this shirt provides excellent dimensions for a size medium football shirt and may in fact also be suitable for a size small.

DESCRIPTION: 

After the very ‘nuts and bolts’ shirt Nike made for Holland’s home shirt between 2010-11; they would craft a very modern and stylish shirt for their next cycle in 2012-13! The first stand-out feature is the use of all vinyl applications including the Nike swoosh and KNVB crest. Speaking of the crest, for the first since the 2004-05 home shirt, the shield has been dropped entirely! This would be the last home shirt to bear the various iterations of the crest first introduced when Nike began kit supplying for the Netherlands in 1996. Black would be retained as the secondary colour to supplement the classic ‘Oranje’ synonymous with the nation, with the: Nike swoosh, crest, band on the sleeves, hem and name and numbering all coloured black. The canvas of the shirt is a bright and vibrant shade of orange, and however the main body is broken up by two blocks of darker orange to create a dynamic and stunning home shirt! Please note, the number on the front has been misplaced; it should sit in the centre of the shirt, however, it has been mistakenly placed under the Nike swoosh like the away shirt.  

THE SEASON(S):

After a spectacular Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, the year of 2011 would end on a disappointing note as Holland would fail to win in each of their last 3 games of the year, ending with a 3-0 defeat to Germany in a dress rehearsal of their Euro 2012 Group Stage clash on June 13^th. They would begin the first of 4 preparation games before the tournament against a familiar adversary on the friendly circuit: England. An incredible 2^nd half at Wembley Stadium on February 29^th saw Holland win 3-2, but only after surrendering a 2-0 lead! Arjen Robben would score a 92^nd minute winner after Ashley Young had equalised just a moment prior!

The national side would not reunite again until May 26^th; just 14 days before their Group B opener against Denmark in Kharkiv. Squandering the lead would be the story again as the 2010 FIFA World Cup runners-up were beaten 2-1 by Bulgaria. 4 days later, they would make no mistake this time as they saw off Slovakia 2-0 in Rotterdam. Back at the Amsterdam ArenA on June 2^nd, the Netherlands would punish Northern Ireland 6-0!

While their runners-up finish at the World Cup in 2010 was almost somewhat of a surprise, the Netherlands were amongst the favourites to win Euro 2012 and it was no surprise why. 16 of the 23 men selected were a part of the team that came reached the final of the World Cup 24 months earlier, and in Robin Van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar they had the Premier League and the Bundesliga’s top goal-scorers with 30 and 29 league goals respectively, meanwhile, Arjen Robben was a beaten UEFA Champions League finalist with Bayern Munich.

Drawn in Group B alongside: Denmark, Portugal and Germany; this was the competition’s ‘Group of Death’, and Bert van Marwijk’s side had the chance to take the initiative in the group as they kicked off against Denmark, with Portugal and Germany battling it out later in the evening. In a stunning turn of events; Michael Krohn-Dehli would rip up the script as his 24^th minute strike earnt the winners of Euro 1992 an upset 1-0 win!

Germany would defeat Portugal later that day, and Germany would be the Dutch’s next opponents on June 13^th again at the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv. Portugal would edge past Denmark 3-2 to keep Holland’s qualification firmly in their own hands ahead of the night time kick-off, however, Mario Gomez would net a first half brace to have Germany ahead 2-0 up at the break. Robin van Persie would score a 73^rd minute goal, but it wasn’t enough as Germany secured a 2-1 win.

Despite back to back losses, the Netherlands could still qualify for the quarter final but they would need to beat Portugal and hope Germany beat Denmark. A top-heavy line up would be vindicated as Rafael Van der Vaart gave his country an 11^th minute lead, however, Cristiano Ronaldo would score a brace to seal a 2-1 win for Portugal and resign Holland a first ever Group Stage exit at the European Championship since the 1980 tournament.

Bert van Marwijk would resign in light of the tournament disaster and in his place came Louis van Gaal. Van Gaal last managed the national side back in 2001 when he oversaw the country’s failure to reach the World Cup in 2002, and his second tenure began with a 4-2 defeat away against Belgium in a friendly in Brussels on August 15^th.

The quest to reach the World Cup in 2014 began at home to Turkey on September 7^th in Amsterdam. The Netherlands would win their first international since the win over Northern Ireland in early June, as they secured a 2-0 win to get their qualifying campaign off to a winning start. 4 days later, they made it 2 wins out of 2 as they put Hungary to the sword in a 4-1 win away from home.

Back on home soil, their momentum only continued as Andorra were beaten 3-0 on October 12^th and then in their final qualifier of 2012, they would beat Romania 4-1 in Bucharest. Their final clash of the year took place on November 14^th in Amsterdam against Germany in a friendly. Almost a year to the day they were beaten 3-0 by Germany in Hamburg; the two countries would play out a goalless draw to further illustrate the strides the team were making under ‘LVG’s stewardship.

In their first match of 2013, they met the beaten finalists at Euro 2012 – Italy in a friendly on February 6^th and came within minutes of securing a victory before Marco Verratti’s 91^st minute equaliser. They would return to the World Cup qualifying circuit on March 22^nd for the visit of Estonia. They would maintain their 100% record as they beat the visitors 3-0, before Romania came to town, only to beaten 4-0 by the rampaging group leaders!

Louis van Gaal’s side would enjoy a pair of friendlies in the Far-East in the early summer beating Indonesia and China 3-0 and 2-0 respectively. Up next was the challenge of Portugal in Faro on August 14^th; once again they would come within minutes of victory only to be pegged back late on; in this instance, it was perennial thorn in the side Ronaldo, who levelled for Portugal in the 1-1 draw.

On September 6^th, Estonia became the first side to take points from Holland in World Cup qualifying when the two sides played out a 2-2 draw in Tallinn. Robin Van Persie would score a brace against Andorra four days later in their 2-0 win in Andorra. The win would ensure Holland of 1^st place and the mission achieved of reaching the 2014 World Cup Finals!

That didn’t perturb them by one smidgen however, as Hungary found out on October 11^th when Holland inflicted an 8-1 destruction job! They would lead 4-0 by half time, and Robin van Persie would help himself to a hat-trick in a fine showing in what was their biggest win since beating San Marino 11-0 in 2011. Holland would then break Turkish hearts as their 2-0 win in Istanbul enabled Romania to finish 2^nd place. That mattered not to the group winners as they ended qualification undefeated with an excellent 28 points taken from an available 30.

2013 would end with a pair of draws in their November round of friendlies. Surrendering a lead would still be a feature of the team and the weakness would rear its head on November 16^th when they dropped a 2-0 lead against Japan to eventually draw 2-2. Their final game would be a goalless draw with Colombia to end a fine year of 2013 going unbeaten in all 12 games played and took their overall streak to 17 without loss!

The notable players that season(s) were:

Robin van Persie, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel, Luuk De Jong, Rafael van der Vaart, Arjen Robben, Ibrahim Afellay, Jermain Lens, Luciano Narsingh, Dirk Kuyt, Rueben Schaken, Wesley Sneijder, Kevin Strootman, Nigel De Jong, Mark van Bommel, Bruno Martins Indi, Joris Mathijsen, Gregory van der Wiel, Khalid Boulahrouz, Wilfred Bouma, Ron Vlaar, Jetro Willems, Stijin Schaars, Maarten Stekelenburg, Tim Krul, Michel Vorm