Netherlands Arguably The Best Never To Win A World Cup? Reminders Are Everywhere

The road leading into the practice facility that the Netherlands is using for its World Cup base camp was supposed to be welcoming, what with those "welkom" signs in Dutch making one of the world's top teams feel right at home.

Even the street name Teal Rising Way — an homage to the Kansas City Current, the National Women's Soccer League franchise whose facility the Dutch are using — has been temporarily changed to "Oranje Rising Way" for the next six weeks in honor of the team's orange colors.

But perhaps someone should have reconsidered the white signs denoting important World Cup milestones for the Netherlands.

Every one of them is a reminder that the country still has never won the tournament.

"How far can we go? Yeah, hopefully all the way," said defender Virgil van Dijk, who will be appearing in his second World Cup, and who will once again captain the Dutch team when it begins group play against Japan on Sunday in Dallas.

"We know how difficult it will be," the Liverpool player acknowledged after a recent training session held under an unrelenting Midwestern sun, which pushed the heat index toward triple digits. "But our full focus will be on Japan, first and foremost. That will get all our attention. We won't look too far ahead. But we all have big dreams, and we'll give all we have."

The Dutch have long held the unwelcome moniker of best nation never to have won the World Cup trophy. In fact, they are the only nation to have reached three finals without a triumph.

In 1974, the Netherlands had returned to the World Cup after a nearly four-decade drought, and the dazzling play of Johan Cruyff had led it all the way to the final. There, the Dutch faced host West Germany and its star player, Franz Beckenbauer. The