Holland have rediscovered their heritage and have the chance at Wembley to underline their right to be one of the favourites at Euro 2012
Two years on from losing a World Cup final to Spain in which Holland mutated from total football to total carnage, Bert van Marwijk's squad sweep into Wembley for Wednesday's friendly against England with the Oranje philosophy restored.
Qualification for Euro 2012 featured nine consecutive wins and was booked as early as September, with Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Arjen Robben re-acquainting themselves with the heritage of Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten, the stars of the gilded Holland sides of the 1970s and 80s.
That X-rated display in Johannesburg against Spain was headed by Nigel de Jong's kung-fu kick on Xabi Alonso – studs first, causing the midfielder a broken rib – ably supported by Marc van Bommel, and is explained thus by Van der Vaart: "The problem is, when you play against Spain or Barcelona, you are running behind the ball and it's frustrating and it looks like you're not running, but you've given everything. They just tac-tac-tac-tac and they are gone again. So a few tackles were too hard and too late, which is not good because it is not our game. But when you reach the final you want to win no matter what."
How England would love the conundrum of trying to win a major tournament showpiece. Instead they start their Euro 2012 preparations in earnest against a largely settled Dutch squad that shows only a few changes from two years ago.
Those nine wins in qualification were followed by the 3-2 defeat by Sweden in the final Group E game. A total of 37 goals were scored in the campaign and eight conceded – an illustration of how the Dutch machine purred again. Van Marwijk is expected to field his strongest team as Stuart Pearce attempts to solve a striker deficit that has left him with the callow Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Fraizer Campbell, none of whom has started for England and who have only four appearances between them.
Van Marwijk's successful route to Poland and Ukraine was founded on the firepower of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (12 in eight games), Van Persie (six in six), Dirk Kuyt (six in nine), Ibrahim Afellay (three in six) and Sneijder (three in eight); and on a defence usually manned by Maarten Stekelenburg, Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen and Erik Pieters. On Wednesday Barcelona's Afellay, Ajax's Van der Wiel and Tottenham's Van der Vaart are unavailable – though Pieters has just returned from a broken toe.
Only four months after the ugly display against Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and company Holland signalled they had returned to the football founded by Rinus Michels by routing Sweden, their closest rivals in the group, 4-1 at the Amsterdam Arena with two goals each from Afellay and Huntelaar. Afterwards the latter, who will lead the line against England, said: "When we play combination football like this, it all runs so smoothly and we look really good" while Van der Vaart commented: "It was a pleasure to be on the pitch."
Two other standout displays came against Hungary, who were beaten 4-0 on their own patch before Holland won the return 5-3 a few days later. Yet Van Marwijk is still intent on sending a message to his team that, despite being among the favourites for Euro 2012, complacency is the enemy: "After our magnificent qualification we lost for the first time in a long time. You can always learn from every game you play and we are very confident for the upcoming matches."
This reference from the 59-year-old, a former Borussia Dortmund coach, to the Sweden defeat in what was a meaningless final group game and the 3-0 "friendly" defeat by Germany last November – a result never welcomed by the Dutch – indicates how determined Van Marwijk is on not wasting the talent that oozes from his band when the finals start in June.
Of their status as fancied winners Marwijk says: "You need to be able to handle it well and I also find it is part of top-level sport that you put pressure on yourself – you shouldn't shy away from it."
Holland are in Group B at the championship, which appears the toughest of the four. Denmark, Germany and Portugal are the other contenders and Van Marwijk adds: "Sometimes you have surprises but the last two matches made our vulnerability clear and that it isn't certain we will become European champions."
What seems crystal clear for his side is that at the scene of England's 4-1 win over Holland at Euro 96 there will be no repeat of that result. "Playing at Wembley is something special and for me as coach I have never been to the new Wembley. But playing against England is never a friendly, just like matches against Germany, Brazil or Uruguay. The match will be a very important game for both of us. It will be in the middle of a long season and, of course, I hope I can count on my key players," says Van Marwijk, who has also called up FC Twente's Ola John and Heerenveen's Luciano Narsingh for the first time.