Think we have Italia 90 to thank for that one Kevin! It was a great rule introduction really!

It occurs to me that as the years go by, I develop soft spots for more and more international teams. Even the Germans won me over two years ago. Give it another decade or so and there won’t be a single team in World Football that I don’t have a sentimental fondness for.

It seemed a ridiculous idea, as will, one day, the notion that Sweden, Romania and Czech Republic were once contenders.

Speaking of Romania, it should be noted that they (along with Italy & France) are in Holland’s “Group of Death”.

Pundits have tended to see the group as a straight three-way shoot-out in which one of the “Big Three” will end up packing its bags and going home early.

The Romanians deserve more credit that that. After all, they topped a qualifying group that contained - guess who? - Holland!

Not only that, but the Romanians can make (modest) claims to being another European embracer of “Brazilian” virtues. They were one of my favourite teams during the mid 90s and I’ll be cheering ‘em on again this year.

To tie that back into the post above, the Irish team that scraped into Euro 88 was very much the tail-end of a generation of fine footballers that mostly managed to be less than the sum of their parts in the Irish jersey.

‘Tis true, but they did get agonisingly close to (partially) fulfilling their potential. The most painful near miss was probably during the qualification for the 82 World Cup.

We beat Holland & France in Dublin and only for a very harshly disallowed Frank Stapleton goal at home against Belgium (and a very generously allowed goal for the Belgians - after a blatant foul on ‘keeper Jim McDonagh) then Ireland would have been at the World Cup (as it was they missed out on goal difference).

Still, these are all ifs and buts. The more significant problems (as we mentioned in the comments of a previous post) were farcical mismanagement and disorganisation.

There’s something terribly poignant about golden generations, I always think. When I watched the 86 world cup, the first one I can remember, I listened, disbelieving as my Dad told me that the Dutch, of all people, were once a powerhouse. It seemed a ridiculous idea, as will, one day, the notion that Sweden, Romania and Czech Republic were once contenders. But without a tournament victory in the record books, those golden generations disappear into history, and kids end up asking their Dads “Hungary? Really?”

Everything you say about the Dutch seems fair enough. Although, they at least lifted that trophy in ‘88, unlike the Croatians or Portuguese, to name two other countries with recent “golden generation” teams.

The ultimate example of a “golden generation” making a balls of their potential was, surely, the Hungarian team of the 1950s.

Nearly everyone who was around at the time describes them as the best team in the world by an absolute mile - yet the World Cup somehow eluded them.

Teams on these islands are conditioned, from early age, to practice a dynamic (”get the ball forward quickly”) form of high-energy kick ‘n’ rush.

Patience, probing, and the confidence to retain possession until just the right moment (the qualities that allow you to score goals like that) have never, alas, been actively encouraged.

They also, of course, help you win major tournaments. After all, it’s just these virtues (and not Samba!) that the whole Brazilian ethos is built on.

P.S. You may have your Bosmans in a twist. The one of European ruling fame was a Belgian journeyman pro called Jean-Marc!