The Low Countries: Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg. Surrounded by some of the world’s football giants, these three small countries have a long football history and a population that’s passionate about the sport, but very little honorary metal to show for it.
But perhaps the times are changing. In each of these countries, a generation of football talent is emerging. They’re still young and inexperienced, and some way off world class level, but the potential is there. Can they give their countries enough of a boost to break into the top of international football and win trophies?
Each country will have 11 players added to the database (a full 4-4-2 lineup). Mysteriously, all are born in June 1989, making them 17 at the start of the game. They’ll have a PA of -10 and a CA of 110. Most everything else will be left random. (More details below.)
Holland – almost-top
For a nation of its size, Holland has had a remarkable depth of football talent. Still, the sentiment exists that they have rarely used this talent to its full potential, and they could (and should) have won more trophies over the years.
The height of the nation’s success was in the ‘70s, when they reached two consecutive World Cup finals, but lost both. A fourth place in 1998 is as close as they got since then.
They won the European Championship in 1988, giving them one major trophy, at least. They haven’t been able to repeat that success, the semi-finals being their most common point of exit.
Belgium - mediocracy
Like Holland, Belgium has done reasonably well for a nation of its size, but they never quite reached the level of success and talent of their northern neighbours. Unlike Holland, Belgium has never been favorites to win anything, but their sturdy, well-organized play coupled with an underdog-mentality that frequently made them rise above themselves against big teams, often made them tricky opponents in major tournaments. Past tense, since this reputation has been on the decline in recent years.
Belgium qualified for six consecutive World Cups between 1982 and 2002, surviving the group stage five of those six times, but the early knock out rounds is generally where it ended. A fourth place in the 1986 World Cup was the nation’s most glorious football summer to date.
Their European Championship record is rather poor, with a 3rd place in 1972 and a 2nd place in 1980, and a string of failures to qualify since then.
Luxembourg – also-ran
Well, there’s small, and then there’s small, and for a nation of its size, Luxembourg has performed pretty much as can be expected. Found in the lower regions of the FIFA World Ranking, the best Luxembourg can hope for is an occasional single match upset in a qualifying campaign or friendly. They recently ended a no-win streak that had been running for almost twelve years.
Luxembourg has not qualified for any World Cup or European Championship.
Holland is ranked a fine 6th at the start of the game, and they already have the potential to win tournaments, on a good day. Will a generation of potential supertalents give them the small boost they need to break into the absolute top of world football? Perhaps even give them a decade of dominance?
It seems quite possible. So if you want to be part of a trophy-winning national team, this seems like the best bet. Do keep in mind, however, that the game already has/generates a fair dose of Dutch talent, so breaking into and staying in the national team will be a little bit harder than for the other nations.
Belgium is ranked 55th at the start of the game, plummeted out of the top 20 after a serious slump in recent years. Can a generation of talent push them back up the ranks, and if so, how high? Can they win a trophy, perhaps?
There’s a fair dose of decent Belgian players available in the game, but not all that many – if any - absolute top players. So provided they evolve well, the edited eleven should grow into the core of the Belgian national squad in a few years. Combined with the naturally generated not-quite-top Belgians to provide squad depth, it seems like the Red Devils could be challenging for a trophy soon. Or not?
Luxembourg is ranked 196th at the start of the game. ‘Nuff said.
They have no talent to speak of, so breaking into the national team should be quite easy as one of the edited eleven, and might happen quite fast. A reasonably impressive surge up the rankings can be expected, but just how high can Luxembourg go? Will eleven talents be enough to make them challenge for trophies, or will the lack of squad depth hold them back?
Sign-up rules
For the sake of keeping things a bit random and interesting, I will need very little info for the edited players. Pretty much everything will be left to fate. This way, you could be lucky and get the perfect stats for your position, or you could end up lacking a few key attributes and never reach your full potential.
Age, PA and CA will be the same for everybody, so the only info you need to provide is name, nation, position, and the club you start at.
Please keep your name reasonably sensible. For nation, pick Holland, Belgium or Luxembourg – no second nationalities.
Club you start at: you can pick any team in your home nation’s non-top-league. So if you’re Dutch, you can start at any team in the Dutch First Division. If you’re Belgian, you can start at any team in the Belgian Second or Third Division. And if you’re Luxembourgian, you can start in Belgium or Holland.
Eligible teams:
Dutch First Div. Belgian Second Div. Belgian Third A Belgian Third B
I’m not gonna put restrictions on starting at a club that someone else has already picked, but please try to go for a bit of diversity. If more than a few people pick the same club to start at, I might step in and ask someone to switch.
I will be running the game with a Large database (edited based on 7.0.2), with obviously all Belgian and Dutch leagues running, and all Luxembourg players retained. Other than that, I’ll be running the top leagues of Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, both to widen the range of top teams available for the players to transfer to, and so the top nations of the world will be able to field a full strength squad and not be crippled by the database.
I will not be managing any of the teams or nations, and just observe with an unemployed manager. I’ll be holidaying chunks of the regular season, keeping regular updates on domestic and personal progress, but not in the greatest detail. National team matches and especially major tournaments will of course be reported on with more detail.
Hoping for a fun and (relatively) fast-running game.
Cheers.
Data card:
Nation:
Name:
Position:
Club:
Positions:
GK
DR
DL
DC
DC
AMR
AML
DM/MC
MC/AMC
ST
ST
Rise of the Low Countries – Holiday/Sign-up 
Linear Mode
