Finally, it was real to dream

IF PAUL Gascoigne’s ‘dentist’s chair’ celebration against Scotland had been fun, the emphatic win against Holland was when things turned serious.

Not in the sense of ‘not enjoyable’ serious.

But it was a match that sparked belief that England could outclass the continent’s best.

A match that had the nation believing Euro 96 might just be the one.

Critics may point to the fact that an average Dutch side, albeit one including Dennis Bergkamp, missed a host of chances.

They might also rightly point out it was pretty even apart from a blistering 11 minutes at the start of the second half when England raced from 1-0 to 4-0 up.

But as the Lightning Seeds belted out at Wembley and the nation sang along it felt like a turning point. Terry Venables had sat his players down for an hour and a half for his pre-match team talk and gone through the line-ups man by man.

Captain Tony Adams said: “Every player left that meeting convinced he was better than his counterpart and that the Dutch were simply there for the taking.”

The result was stunning. Gascoigne was at his untouchable best, Paul Ince a driving force and Sheringham and Alan Shearer, who scored two each, poetry in motion.

The moment of the night was a sublime combination for England’s third, Gascoigne dribbling, cutting back to Sheringham, who feigned to shoot but, instead, delicately angled it to Shearer who slotted home. It was perfect.