Johan Cruyff

The Hague: Soccer great Johan Cruyff has found a new scapegoat for the Dutch team’s early World Cup exit ? hardline immigration minister Rita Verdonk.

“I don’t want to say the minister is to blame for the Dutch team getting knocked out, but she is definitely partly to blame,” Cruyff wrote in his column in a Dutch newspaper.

Verdonk was not part of Dutch coach Marco van Basten’s training staff in Germany, but Cruyff said her decision not to grant talented Ivory Coast winger Salomon Kalou Dutch citizenship deprived the team of a strong attacking option.

As a result of the decision, “Holland were put in a situation that if (wingers) Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie were not playing well, there was no alternative,” Cruyff said. “Salomon Kalou would have given us one.”

Cruyff, star of the Dutch 1974 team considered one of the best sides not to win the World Cup, even went as far as accusing Verdonk ? known as Iron Rita for her strict interpretation of Dutch immigration laws ? of damaging the national interest when she refused to fast-track the Feyenoord star’s application for citizenship so he could play for The Netherlands in Germany.

“Anybody who watched the World Cup and saw the effect it had on the country can’t convince me that (granting Kalou citizenship) would not have been in the national interest,” Cruyff said.

“Despite that, Mrs Verdonk has decided to have a negative effect so it is certainly no thanks to her that there was such a great atmosphere in The Netherlands.”

The Dutch were knocked out of the tournament on Sunday night on a 1-0 second-round loss to Portugal, in a game marred by tough tackling, time wasting and a rash of yellow and red cards. Both teams finished the match with only nine players on the pitch.