Football / Fan's Eye View: Ups and downs of the Dutch: No 37 - The Netherlands

THE FIRST time I remember watching Holland (on TV), we beat Austria 5-1. I left before the end for a kickabout with the boy next door. 'It's too easy,' I complained to my parents, 'Holland always win.' That was at the 1978 World Cup, and we reached the final. Argentina won, but at least we had liberal democracy.

It got worse from then on. Though I am English, I lived in the Netherlands from 1976, when I was six years old, until 1986. They were better years than the 1950s, when Holland used to go down in Luxembourg, and once lost 8-2 to England. We qualified for the 1980 European Championship, where we disgraced ourselves about as badly as England did, and then came the black hole. Johan Cruyff was refusing to play, most of the other players of the 1970s were too old; the young players too young.

Rijkaard, Gullit, Van Basten and Koeman had been playing for Holland for years before you ever heard of them. In 1981 Rijkaard, Gullit and Kieft all made their debuts in the same match. We lost 2-1 to Switzerland.

For a long period we made a habit of being pipped at the post in the most painful fashion. We missed the 1982 World Cup because France beat us 2-0 in the deciding qualifier. We were sure of qualifying for the 1984 European Championship, and when we had played all our qualifiers, Spain had one match left in which they had to beat Malta by 11 goals. They won 12-1 and went on to reach the Championship final.

The story gets predictable. In 1986 we played Belgium in a play-off, for a place in the World Cup. They beat us 1-0 in Brussels, and in Rotterdam we were 2-0 up, then Gerets crossed and Grun headed the ball past van Breukelen. We lost on away goals.

Despite a few uncertainties on the way, we qualified for the 1988 European Championship. Germany v Holland (21 June 1988, Hamburg) told you everything you needed to know about Germany and Holland. We got a penalty to go 1-0 up with 34 minutes left. Also, their fans were jeering our black players. When Van Basten scored in the last minute it was as though he had destroyed Nazism, single-handedly. I'm sorry, but that's how it felt. That's why nine million Dutch people (60 sixty per cent of the population) ran out on to the street on a Tuesday night to celebrate. It was the largest public gathering since the Liberation.

During that tournament, the distance between players and fans disappeared. Gullit, our captain, was the nation's spokesman. He called our useless football officials 'bobos', and the word passed into the language as a description for pompous office-bearers. People still call each other 'bobo' every day.

Then things got worse again. Sure, we made it to the 1990 World Cup, but after 1988 that was no big deal. At the World Cup, our players quarrelled non-stop, and we stopped supporting them. To compound our misery, we were knocked out by Germany.

Last summer, in Sweden, we were the best team. So why did we lose to Denmark? The short answer is Germany. As in 1988, beating Germany meant more to us than winning the tournament. So when we thrashed the Germans 3-1 the nation went dotty.

The Denmark game is history. Normally Holland play with four forwards, but that match we seemed to have 10, and Denmark ought to be ashamed that they only scored twice. We were the better team, but morally we deserved to get knocked out on penalties.

I am pessimistic about today's match. Thankfully, Taylor has not picked Waddle. I remember the whole country (Holland, not England) praying in 1988 that Robson would leave out Hoddle. Even though our players are still the best in Europe, our team is past it. Prepare yourself for a World Cup in America without Gullit, van Basten, Rijkaard, Koeman, Bergkamp, Jonk, and the others. And Waddle won't be there either.