There will be blood when old mate Rino is around

Jun 8 2008 Arthur Numan

MY old Rangers pal Rino Gattuso has a saying he repeats over and over: "I want to spill blood for my club and my country."

These are the words every teammate and manager wants to hear.

You know Rino means what he says - and often carries out his threat. He is a winner who plays with passion.

The Italian star was just a kid when we are at Ibrox together but he had a strong mentality and a willingness to work hard, listen and learn.

He has developed into a world-class central midfielder, the type of player you must have if you are to be successful at the highest level.

Gattuso reads the game well, breaks up attacks and gives the ball to the men in front of him to let them do their stuff.

When Holland won Euro 1988 they had Jan Wouters and Erwin Koeman in the central midfield area.

They were brilliant. Our version of Gattuso, if you like.

The current Dutch side does not have a Gattuso, a Wouters or a Koeman.

We are inexperienced in that area and lack leadership.

We have no-one to control the tempo of the game, when to kill the ball and take the sting out of play or who knows when to speed up and take your opponents by surprise.

That is why I have my doubts about Holland getting a victory tomorrow night in our opener with Italy.

We are good going forward and Marco Van Basten has many excellent options to choose from for the attacking midfielders and strikers.

But the same cannot be said for the holding midfield area.

At this moment I would settle for a draw and I'm sure van Basten would as well. But we are long overdue a win against the Italians.

It has been 30 years since Holland beat Italy - a stat I find hard to believe.

Our last win came in the 1978 World Cup when we won 2-1 with Arie Haan and Ernie Brandts scoring.

I remember watching the match at home with my dad.

The thing I recall most about the game is that Dino Zoff played in goal for Italy - I've no idea why that sticks in my mind so much.

The last time the countries met was in the Euro 2000 semi-final and we lost to Italy on penalties.

I was in the squad for that tournament but had to withdraw after we beat Yugoslavia 6-1 in the opening game.

I tore a foot tendon during the match and our medical staff ruled me out. I was distraught but Frank Rijkaardwas good enough to let me stay with the squad.

I was in the Amsterdam ArenA for the semi-final and thought we were going to succeed when Italy were reduced to 10 men after half an hour.

But we just couldn't score.

We missed two penalties, Frank De Boer and Patrick Kluivert the sinners.

We could have played for 10 HOURS and not scored.

Italy had two great opportunities but couldn't take their chances, either.

When it went to a penalty shoot-out I knew we were going to lose. And we did.

Frank missed again. Jaap Stam and Paul Bosvelt also failed to score.

A lot of pride is at stake then for the Group C match tomorrow and if our attackers hit formthen we can end our 30-year wait.

Robin van Persie (left) has been injured a lot this season andVan Basten only allowed him to join a full training session with the players on Thursday.

Van Persie took no prisoners and had a clumsy tackle on Wesley Sneijder that landed his opponent in hospital.

I'm also told there has been unrest at Italy's training because of Giorgio Chiellini's over-the-top tackling on Fabio Cannavaro and Antonio Cassano.

It's clear both camps are up for it.

I would probably leave van Persie on the bench, keep him hungry and let him make an impact in the second half.

The winger was asked if he feels fit enough to play and whether he should be selected for the starting line-up.

He replied: "If I had to step into the coach's shoes then I would choose myself nine times out of 10 for this game."

Clearly, the boy lacks confidence! I hope his talking is as good on the pitch.