By Andrew Warshaw in Cape Town
December 3 – Holland and Belgium will resist all pressure to pull out of the running to stage the 2018 World Cup and insist they have just as strong a case as their European rivals.
On the eve of the most important landmark to date in the bid to land the tournament in nine years time, a spokesman for the joint Dutch and Belgian campaign said they would not be pushed into giving up their candidature.
All 10 bidders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups - the hosts will be selected simultaneously in December next year - gather in a Government building on the outskirts of Cape Town tomorrow to present their credentials to the media.
The occasion marks the first time all 10 have come together under the same roof and while most of the emphasis is focussing on the likes of England, Spain and Russia, Europe’s rank underdogs say they are in it for the long term.
“There are always underdogs in football and sometimes underdogs win,” said spokesman Francois Colin.
“We are not intending to pull out because we have nothing to lose.”
There are growing fears that the European vote might be split and the continent could lose out unless one of their four candidates throws in the towel.
But Colin said it would not be them.
“We are both founder members of FIFA,” he said.
“Of course we are not the favourites but people are under-estimating our resolve to get the World Cup for the first time.”
“Four years ago at the under-20 World Cup FIFA president Sepp Blatter told our federation president, ‘Why don’t you go for the real thing?’
“Now we are.
“We are determined to stay the course.
“It would be stupid to spend all this money and give up in a few months.”
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