Van Bronckhorst looking for golden goodbye

Giovanni van Bronckhorst could not have written the script better, bowing out of football by captaining his country in a World Cup final.

Now he wants the fairytale ending by beating Spain on Sunday.

The 35-year-old Feyenoord star believes the time has come for the Dutch, twice runners-up, to win the World Cup for the first time, even though their opponents are the European champions

“I couldn’t dream of better farewells,” said van Bronckhorst, the former Rangers, Arsenal and Barcelona star who scored a stunning goal in the 3-2 victory over Uruguay in the semi-final.

“It is our tournament. I have sometimes had the feeling that we cannot lose. We have not always played very well, but we have scored at pivotal moments.”

Van Bronckhorst, who is to be assistant coach for the Under-21 side from next season, says he did not have the same feeling even when the Dutch were impressing during the group stage of Euro 2008.

“I have not yet had the same feeling these past weeks that I had two years ago during the fantastic matches against France (4-1) and Italy (3-0).

“I really thought that that team would go all the way and then we played Russia and we were running on empty.

“It would be beautiful if we produced that sort of form (the group form from Euro 2008) in the final, because to become world champions in your final ever match, is something rare.”

Van Bronckhorst, who will win his 106th cap, putting him behind only Edwin Van der Sar (130) and Frank de Boer (112) in the list of most-capped Dutch players, said he had seen how the ‘Oranje’ success had lit up the country back home.

“I saw on television the joyous scenes that swept the country when I scored that goal (against Uruguay),” said van Bronckhorst, who is playing at left-back in his swansong tournament having started out as a winger and also played as a defensive midfielder.

“It was crazy. That made me really emotional to have made so many people so happy. And I wouldn’t dare to imagine what will happen back home if we win on Sunday.”

Van Bronckhorst is desperate, though, that he avoids the disappointment he felt in previous forays such as being a non-playing member of the 1998 World Cup side that lost to Brazil on penalties in the semi-finals and then two years later at home lost at the same stage to Italy in Euro 2000.

“We have so often gone so close to a title that it would be nice to finish with a smile one day,” he said.