text: Netherlands tired of being soccer bridesmaids | CBC Sports
  Netherlands tired of being soccer bridesmaids
  After losing to Spain two years ago in the World Cup final, Amsterdam has let it be known that the players shouldn't count on any official celebration unless they come home with the European Championship trophy.
  Dutch captain Mark von Bommel says the national team is motivated by their runner-up finish in the 2010 World Cup. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
  Second-best just isn't good enough for the Netherlands anymore.
  "Losing that final is now the motivation to win Euro 2012," Netherlands captain Mark van Bommel said, still remembering the bittersweet taste of the big homecoming celebrations two years ago on the canals of the capital.
  "Last time we set up festivities when they came in second," Sara Gradstein, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said Thursday. "[This time] they'll only get one if they come in first."
  "We realize this is perhaps our last chance to win a tournament," said Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt, one of the core of players that reached the 2010 final that will start against Denmark on Saturday.
  If their skills are beyond doubt, their cockiness and pluck mayhide a mental fragility when it counts. So often so cool, yet they have too often floundered under pressure.
  Especially missing five penalty kicks in regulation time and during the shootout against Italy in the Euro 2000 semifinals hashaunted the nation and players for years.
  This time around, that fear centres on Robben. He missed a penalty kick in the Champions League final against Chelsea and another in a vital late Bundesliga match for Bayern Munich against Borussia Dortmund.
  "You have to turn the page," Robben said. "I have a new goal and that is the European Championship.'