Coach unhappy with Ruud

2006-06-22 21:11

Freiburg - Dutch coach Marco van Basten says he's "unhappy" with Ruud van Nistelrooy's performance at the World Cup and was considering dropping him from the Dutch team that will face Portugal in the round of 16.

"I'm not satisfied with him at all. He must make a bigger contribution to the game," van Basten said after a training session.

Van Basten said Dirk Kuyt had a "big chance" of replacing the Manchester United striker in Sunday's match against Portugal.

Van Nistelrooy, who turns 30 on July 1 next year, is playing in his first and possibly last World Cup.

He was substituted in all three of Holland's Group C matches, failing to live up to his name every time.

He has scored just one goal in Germany.

Van Nistelrooy said he was aware that he had disappointed his coach.

"Sometimes when you are taken out during a match it's for tactical reasons, other times it's because you didn't play well. I know I was substituted in our match against Serbia and Montenegro because I wasn't playing well," he said.

Speaking of his performance in Wednesday's scoreless draw against Argentina, when he was substituted by Ryan Babel in the 56th minute, Van Nistelrooy said: "It was a difficult match for us strikers. I only a had a few good balls to play and there was a lot of pressure on us from the Argentinian defenders."

Van Nistelrooy has also fallen out of favour with his Manchester United coach, Alex Ferguson, and is said to have been placed on the transfer market.

Germany's Bayern Munich are among Europe's top clubs to have expressed an interest in the player, who has so far scored 28 goals in 54 appearances for the Dutch national side.-Sapa-DPA

- SAPA