Van Marwijk quits as Dutch national team coach

THE HAGUE - Bert van Marwijk has left his job as national team coach of the Netherlands, following the disappointing early departure at Euro 2012, the Dutch football association KNVB announced on Wednesday.

After the exit Van Marwijk and the Dutch football association had two evaluation meetings after which he decided to quit. He started as Dutch national team coach in 2008 and had a contract until 2016.

Netherlands' coach Bert van Marwijk gestures during his team's Group B Euro 2012 soccer match against Portugal at Metalist stadium in Kharkiv, June 17, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

"The KNVB is grateful to Van Marwijk," said director Bert van Oostveen of the KNVB in a statement. "He has performed exceptionally well at the World Cup and brought us to the first place in the FIFA ranking. Of course it is sad to leave early, but we must be realistic."

The Netherlands were ousted in the group phase of the European Championship after defeats against Denmark (0-1), Germany (1-2) and Portugal (1-2). Van Marwijk was heavily criticized in Dutch media for his tactics and choices during the tournament.

The 60-year-old Van Marwijk took over from Marco van Basten after Euro 2008. When he took office in 2008 he promised to make 'Oranje' more stable and he did with a very conservative approach. He gave confidence to a select group of players and kept that trust for a long time.

The conservative style of play led to criticism, but thanks to the excellent results the critics remained relatively limited. He even led Holland to the World Cup final in 2010. These European Championships proved the formula did not work anymore. On top of that substitutes like Rafael van der Vaart and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar did no longer hide their discontent and the atmosphere in the squad was not good.

Under guidance of Van Marwijk 'Oranje' played 52 matches, of which they won 34, drew 10 and lost 8. The KNVB will start looking for a new coach immediately. The next match is a friendly against Belgium on August 15.