10 Famous World Cup Moments Involving Newcastle Players
9. Patrick Kluiverts Dutch Redemption (1998)
Kluivert was blessed that head coach Guus Hiddink was in such a forgiving mood during the 1998 tournament in France after he was sent off by Pierluigi Collina in Holland's opening Group E game against Belgium for swinging an elbow at midfielder Lorenzo Staelens with eight minutes left on the clock. Despite his naive indiscretion Kluivert was handed an olive branch by Hiddink that he grasped with both hands when restored to the team for the quarter-final showdown against Argentina. It was an inspired decision that paid instant dividends as the 22-year-old forward pounced to score within 12 minutes, cooly slotting home Dennis Bergkamp's cushioned header from inside the penalty for the opening goal and led the Dutch line impressively on the way to a 2-1 victory. Kluivert would score again when he rescued Holland with a late header in the semi-final with Brazil, although his efforts were ultimately in vain as Oranje crashed out after a penalty shootout with the eventual runners-up. It would be another six years before the Dutchman would pull on a Black and White shirt at the point of his career when he should have been approaching his peak but arrived at St James' Park with his powers fading. 13 goals in a disjointed season was admirable but not good enough to justify triggering the option of extending his contract for another year.
