Van Marwijk quits as Dutch national team coach

 THE HAGUE, June 27 (Xinhua) -- 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 evaluation¹ meetings after which he decided² to quit. He started as Dutch national team coach in 2008 and had a contract until 2016.

"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 ousted³ 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 relatively⁴ 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 squad⁵ 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.

1 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。