The Netherlands are among the Euro 2024 dark horses as the Oranje look to go further than their round of 16 exit three years ago.
The Dutch have proved a renewed force under Ronald Koeman having qualified second in their group behind France.
Virgil van Dijk and co. have come a long way in the three years since their shock last-16 defeat to the Czech Republic at Euro 2020.
The Netherlands will renew hostilities with Kylian Mbappe’s France in Group D in what will be one of the ties of this summer’s group stages.
Fans should get prepared for the fact that the team will be referred to by various different names across the continent.
The country itself remains named the Netherlands yet their national team have picked up the monikers Holland and the Oranje.
Both North and South Holland are provinces in the west of the Netherlands, with the former being where the country’s capital Amsterdam is located.
In history, seven provinces that comprised the area that is now the Netherlands – Holland, Groningen, Frisia, Overijssel, Guelders, Utrecht, and Zeeland – formed an alliance against Spain in the late 1500s.
This alliance became known as the Republic of Seven United Netherlands for almost 200 years between 1579 and 1795.
Holland served as the most dominant part due to it being the largest contributor to the overall economy and wealth of the Netherlands.
In 1806, Napoleon forced the Dutch government to accept his brother Louis Bonaparte as monarch who set up the Kingdom of Holland.
The kingdom of the Netherlands later emerged out of Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
However, those still dealing with trade to the country remained often dealing with the province of Holland.
That led Holland to be commonly used as a nickname for the entire country thereafter.
Fast forward to 2019 and the Dutch government publicly decided to stop describing itself as Holland.
Their real name the Netherlands has been solely used in any official setting since as part of an attempt to update its global image.
News Summary:
- Why is the Dutch football team often called Holland when the country is the Netherlands? Virgil van Dijk leads Oranje at Euro 2024
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