We've got that negative feeling – and that is just fine

Why Poland/Ukraine could be a repeat of Italia 90 for England

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In all the moaning after England's defeat by Holland, let me begin with a bit of cheery news. It is that Holland, the team we all loved during the 70s and 80s, may at last be shaking off that horrible image they presented to the world during the South African World Cup. The 2010 World Cup final will always be the remembered as the occasion where the Dutch did immense damage to their great football traditions.

This is the country whose football has long captivated the world, the one most of us neutrals wanted to win the 1974 and 1978 finals as a fitting tribute to the footballing nation of Johan Cruyff. But on that dreadful night in Johannesburg, they went, as one Dutch critic said, from advocates of total football, to that of total thuggery. How, we wondered, can a nation that can play such breathtaking football, and whose fans with their demeanour and songs make you feel this is indeed the beautiful game, be quite so false to everything they have stood for?