The 23 players in the Dutch national football squad arrive in Switzerland this evening to take part in the Euro 2008 championships.

The Dutch squad is based in the Beau-Rivage Palace hotel in Lausanne and will have its first practice session on Swiss soil on Wednesday, ahead of Monday’s opener against Italy.
Star striker Ruud van Nistelrooij told the Volkskrant that the time was ripe for a new Dutch victory. ‘It is time for success again. People deserve it,’ the striker said. The Netherlands won the European cup in 1988, when current coach Marco van Basten was in the side.
Oranje is in a tough group C with Italy, France and Romania and many pundits do not rate the team’s chances of getting through the group stage. ‘We have to play using our intuition,’ Van Nistelrooij told the Volkskrant. ‘I cannot remember Oranje ever creating as many chances as we are doing in this phase.’
Of the opening match against Italy, Van Nistelrooij says: ‘We have to hunt the entire game. If we use up all our energy by the 80th minute, then it’s arrivederci.’