World Cup 2010: Florentino Perez Is To Thank For Dutch Success

Last summer was the summer of the new Galaticos era at Real Madrid with the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xavi Alonso, Karim Benzema, Raul Albiol, Alvaro Arbeloa and a couple other big names.

But, the biggest transfers were the two that sent Wesley Sneijder to Inter Milan and Arjen Robben to Bayern Munich.

Both Holland stars were not wanted at the Bernabeu anymore, basically forced out to fund moves for their replacements.

Whether the two midfielders were motivated to prove Real Madrid wrong, or were just happy to have a consistent starting role for a major European club, both had outstanding seasons for club and now country.

In two years at the Bernabeu, Robben featured 63 times in all competitions with 13 goals. At Bayern this season, he scored 23 goals combined in the Bundesliga, German Cup and UEFA Champions League.

Sneijder had almost the exact statistics as Robben at Real Madrid, playing in 64 games and scoring only 11 times. Compare that to his stellar season winning the treble at Inter Milan where he appeared in 41 games in three competitions. Although he only scored eight goals, he was a midfield maestro for Jose Mourinho.

Now, look at the impact both have had so far in South Africa for Holland.

Sneijder is in contention for the Golden Boot with five goals, while Robben has contributed two for the Dutch.  However, the goals alone do not speak to how influential both Sneijder and Robben have been for the whole 90 minutes.

Just imagine if both players were stuck in Madrid on the bench and had not had solid playing time in preparation for the World Cup.

Some people might say that because they are world-class talents, no matter what their club situation, they would be fine.  

I wouldn't.  Not everyone is Miroslav Klose.

Who knows what the outcome would have been had both Sneijder and Robben stayed at the Bernabeu.