Ten reasons I want the Netherlands to win the World Cup
1. More than almost any nation since the Phoenicians, the Dutch
traded rather than plundered their way to prosperity in their
Golden Age.
2. They were cheated out of winning (hosting?) the industrial
revolution by invasions and attacks from jealous neighbours,
especially Louis XIV.
3. When thwarted at home they took their trade model to Britain
by taking over the monarchy in the Glorious Revolution and
installing merchant-friendly policies.
4. Their trade created some of the most sublime works of art of
all time. Rembrandt and Verneer would not have happened without
trade and prosperity.
5. They founded New York.
6. Despite having one of the highest population densities in the
world, they are encouraging biodiversity. They may even manage
to recreate the aurochs.
7. They suffered terribly in the Hunger Winter for standing up
the Nazis.
8. They are living proof to climate pessimists that dwelling
below sea level is no problem if you are prosperous.
9. They discovered Spitsbergen, the last land mass in the
Northern hemisphere to be discovered by human beings
10. They have yet to win the World Cup.