Amsterdam: The new Netherlands coach, Spaniard Xavi Hernandez, pledged to restore the attacking philosophy for which the “Oranje” were famous, expressing his confidence that this would pull the team out of its slump of disappointing results. The 46-year-old former midfielder said in his first press conference since being appointed as Ronald Koeman’s successor: “If we play good football… take the initiative, control the game, play an attacking style… then we will be closer to winning and achieving results.”

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the Dutch national team, runners-up in the World Cup in 1974, 1978, and 2010, delivered a disappointing performance in this summer’s World Cup, topping their group unconvincingly before being eliminated in the round of 32 by Morocco on penalties.

The former Barcelona star said: “When I watched the Netherlands as a child, we saw beautiful football. And that is my goal, to play good football so that we can feel proud.”