'African teams can be dangerous'

Dubai: Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert believes some of the more favoured teams including his own country may find the African barrier hard to pass at this month's Fifa World Cup.

"If every player manages to stay fit in the Dutch team, then things can go as per plan," Kluivert told Gulf News here on Tuesday.

"The most important thing is to take one match at a time, rather than simply saying that we will qualify for the quarter-finals or something like that.

"And they should not also discount any of the African countries as they can be dangerous.

"But if they take one match at a time then they are capable of going really far in this tournament.

"I think the individual skills of the Dutch players are very good, very nearly the same as when I played with all those great players. But as I said before, the most important thing is to stay fit.

"A lot of players have had a long season and fitness is going to be an important factor.

"They sure have the potential to go all the way with their great individual skills. But they have to be focused and they have to be fit."

Red card

Kluivert, who was famously shown a red card in his first World Cup match in 1998 against Belgium, singled out Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder as the players who can make a difference in the Dutch side.

"Ultimately, it will be about making the smaller adjustments on the field," he said. "Robben and Sneijder love to play with two strikers where they need space. But in the Dutch team it is a different system where they play 4-3-3, so there is less space up front.

"So it all depends on how they adapt and adjust to this change and deliver."

Chokers tag

Kluivert admitted that The Netherlands have rightly been termed as chokers when it comes to the big stage.

"Yes, if you look at every tournament they have had very good players and not so good results," he said.

"They have never won any major trophy. I hope they can show what we were famous for — total football.

"I doubt any country can take it easy this time. You have a big configuration of great players and great teams out there in South Africa. There is Argentina, Spain and Brazil always. But we have to look out for the African countries as they really play with their hearts. We need to look out for these minor hurdles along the way," he added.

Life after football

Dutch greats Patrick Kluivert and Ronald de Boer led a host of former footballers in launching the "Life After Football" magazine at The Address Dubai Marina at a glittering function late on Tuesday.

"One thing that was really missing in Dubai was a classy lifestyle magazine for men, a magazine that will be a combination of sport, fashion and lifestyle. And now that we are here we will address this," Robin van Kampen, Publishing Director and Managing Partner, Life After Football told Gulf News at the launch.

"In the 1990s, football players were just football players. We are in 2010 and we realise how this synergy has changed and football today is a business. These very players are heroes and icons," he added.

The 148-page magazine has an in-depth interview with Arsenal's all-time great Dennis Bergkamp along with a special story on former UAE skipper Mohammad Omar.

Portuguese great Luis Figo and Sweden's former World Cup star Henrik Larsson have also been exclusively featured, while Miss Universe finalist Carmen Kool has posed for a stunning photo shoot in the lifestyle section.

"Our audience is classy men with a great lifestyle, who love sports and fashion. Our distribution will be quarterly with a print run of 30,000," he added.