"World Cup Classic": Gullit's Biggest Mistake

French stars Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin missed the 1994 World Cup because Emil Kostadinov famously denied them qualification. Ruud Gullit, however, voluntarily withdrew from the finals in the USA, a decision he later called the biggest mistake of his career. This was all due to a disagreement with then-Netherlands coach Dick Advocaat, just three weeks before the tournament began. Let's take a brief look back in time.

In 1986, the "Oranje" watched the Mexico World Cup from home. Four years later, as reigning European champions, they entered the tournament in Italy as one of the main favorites for the gold. However, Gullit had missed almost the entire club season with AC Milan due to a knee injury, and ultimately, medical assurances that he would be ready to lead his teammates to World Cup glory proved unfounded. The Dutch were eliminated ingloriously, without a single win, knocked out by eventual champions West Germany – an epic match at San Siro, remembered for Klinsmann's sprints and Rijkaard's infamous spitting incident on Völler's hair.

After the European Championship in Sweden, Rudi Dil, as his birth name is, found himself sidelined at Milan. Several disputes with Fabio Capello, including his exclusion from the Champions League final squad against Marseille, led to a move to Sampdoria. During the 1993/1994 season, the Dutch ace revitalized his career at "Marassi," where he won the Coppa Italia. The "Blucerchiati" were truly a formidable team: Gullit, Mancini, Platt, Jugović, Lombardo, Evani, Pagliuca, and others. "Ruud is like a deer leaping out of the forest," said former Sampdoria coach Vujadin Boškov about him.

While things were going well in Genoa, the Dutch captain's national team career was stagnant. For over a year, the versatile footballer was out of the squad following a disagreement over coaching decisions during a match against England at Wembley – a game, incidentally, broadcast live in Bulgaria, which was a significant event at the time. Eventually, the hatchet was buried, and the superstar returned to the national team for a friendly in the spring of 1994. But once again, issues arose. Where should he play – on the left, as a central striker, or as a midfielder? Meanwhile, Johan Cruyff almost took over the Netherlands coaching role, but only almost.

Thus, on the penultimate day of May, it was announced worldwide that Gullit was retiring from the national team. The 1987 Ballon d'Or winner declared his decision wearing a denim jacket at a press conference, seated next to Advocaat himself. This was Ruud's second memorable briefing, after his presentation as a new AC Milan player in Milan – where he was shown a photo of Gianni Rivera, and the Dutch international candidly replied, "Who is that?" Italian journalists were stunned. "I hear there are three sports dailies here that love to fill their pages with nonsense," Gullit continued. "He's a very honest boy and always speaks his mind," Adriano Galliani tried to smooth things over. But let's return to 1994. On the same day (May 30), legendary Roma midfielder Agostino Di Bartolomei tragically took his own life at his villa – exactly ten years after the lost European Cup final against Liverpool.

So, the Netherlands were left without their great leader just before the World Cup. The captain's armband went to Ronald Koeman. In America, the "Oranje" reached the quarter-finals, where they were torpedoed by Brazil. That crazy match in Dallas ended 3-2 for the Brazilians. At 2-2, left-back Branco fired a free-kick past Ed de Goey – and that was the end for the Dutch in the USA, where Dennis Bergkamp's aerophobia reportedly began. Incidentally, this match could have had a different outcome if, seconds before the foul that allowed Branco to cut down the "Oranje," a clear foul against Marc Overmars had been called.