Frank de Boer - International Career

International Career

Having represented his national team 112 times, he was the most capped player in the history of the Netherlands national team, until Edwin van der Sar surpassed him. de Boer made his debut for the Netherlands in September 1990 against Italy. De Boer also played for the Netherlands in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, Euro 92, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, but missed Euro 96 through injury. He is well-remembered for the arching 60-yard pass which allowed Dennis Bergkamp to score the last-minute goal that knocked out Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup. During Euro 2000, hosted in his home country and Belgium, de Boer reached another semi-final with the Dutch team. de Boer missed an important penalty kick in the penalty shootout in the semi-finals, which led to defeat against Italy. He also missed a penalty during the match. He ended his international career after an injury forced him to be replaced in a quarter-final game with Sweden at Euro 2004. The injury ruled him out from the semi-final match against Portugal, which the Netherlands lost 1–2.