The Fiver | Oh Enzo! Vittorio! Ferruccio! Marcello! How has it come to this?

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The national team of the Netherlands finally seem to be getting their act together. It’s been a hell of a struggle for them over the years, as a quick flick through history illustrates: an 8-2 loss to England in 1946, a 4-0 loss to France last year, while roughly in between times they lost a World Cup finals match against Scotland, a result which leads The Fiver to assume they couldn’t have been any good in the seventies either. But on Monday they swatted aside Portugal 3-0 in Geneva. Wow! That result also puts England in a good light, because having beaten the Dutch last Friday, simple playground logic dictates that Gareth Southgate’s side must be at least four times better than the reigning European champions. At least. Stands to reason, don’t it. The World Cup’s pretty much in the bag. England! Give us your bike.

Related: What next for Italy after their failure to qualify for the World Cup?

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