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Wales show England how to be special

Wales are more than Gareth Bale but they don’t need to be

Gareth Bale has been at the heart of the famous Welsh victories in the Euro qualifiers. He is the very best man from Britain in many respects, not least at football. He is faster than almost anyone in football. He is taller. He has one of the hardest, most ridiculously accurate shot of anyone who gets to play in Europe. Bale is one of the greatest players in the world and turned down the chance to play for Manchester United in preference of pursuing his own excellence at Real Madrid.

He might not achieve it at Real - Barcelona have Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Neymar and a ridiculous amount of other players who are the difference between being exceptional and simply qualifying for the Champions League - but he can be the first Welshman in decades to prove it on the international stage.

Bale has dragged his side to European qualification, but it is no fluke. They have played with focus, determination and organisation. They have Aaron Ramsey and a defence made of lower-table Premier League fodder, at best. Yet they are still an object lesson in how to defeat everything that needs to be defeated.

Of course, it helps that they have Bale. He contributes goals, but he also offers more than that. If you know that you have one of the very best players in the world alongside you, you have a degree of freedom. Defensive solidity is paramount, but Bale can always claw one back. One point is great if you can hold on, but cutting in from the wing and whacking one into the top corner can turn it into three points. Playing from the sidelines maximises the percentages and cuts risks, but Bale thundering in a header from the penalty spot is inspirational in a way not seen since Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United.

Wales deserve their qualification not just because of Bale, but because of everything the squad has given. Their defenders, midfielders and attackers might not have matched his talent, but they have certainly raised their game so as to stay within the requisite touching distance. In the past, Wales have had player like Mark Hughes, Gary Speed and Ryan Giggs, but none of them have been enough. For all their talent, they were not inspirational. Finally they have a man who is, and finally they have a squad who can keep up with him. Wales are one of the most exciting teams to feature in Euro 2016.

England go into the Euros without their traditional talisman

And while Wales look forward to the Euros, so England must be approaching it with reservation, if not outright pessimism that they are no more capable than at the World Cup in Brazil. They have lost Steven Gerrard, but generally it is the same nonsense that occupied the thoughts of Roy Hodgson before then.

Wayne Rooney continues to seem like one of the most pleasant men in football at the moment - past his indiscretions and with no more distractions off the pitch - but he also seems totally unable to play football on any level. Wales have Bale, England have Rooney, but they might as well have a bag of sand with a smiley face drawn on it.

England have a perfect record, with 10 wins from 10 games in Group E’s qualification round, but there’s nothing there to show that they can achieve anything special. A defence of Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill is made of two mediocre and clearly lacking Premier League central defence. The defensive midfield is both crocked and out of form, and Rooney continues to occupy the thoughts of Roy Hodgson out of habit and cowardice rather than any compelling, plausible reason.

Dutch failure is as old as time itself

The Dutch are famous for rowing. They are famous for falling out with one another and they are famous for putting this behind them and producing some of the best football in the world. The problem is, like England, their sides are lacking the quality needed to carry them through. Unlike England, things are worse than that, with their senior players stinking out the squad. We’ve all seen Robin van Persie barely bother to lift a toenail in a warm up for Fenerbahce, and we’ve all heard the rumour that Wesley Sneijder is no fun to be around if you don’t earn as much as he does. So far, so Dutch.

the problem is that since the World Cup, the Netherlands have underperformed rather than overperformed as they did under Louis van Gaal. There are rows between players, including Memphis and Van Persie, and also between Sneijder and less prominent members of the squad. It is depressing and unnecessary, but it is not unexpected.

Nevertheless, perhaps it will do what is required. From the front to the back, the side has veterans that need to be expunged, and the manager doesn’t need to fail on a wider scale to show what he isn’t capable of. He needs sacking, the old guard need to be replaced. The world is better for a strong Netherlands in the same way England is better for a strong Arsenal. When neither of them appear, we have been cheated of one of the great spectacles of world football. England is no sympathetic side, and neither are the Dutch reality, but watching their approach to the game is an essential part of any tournament.

Old European powers in alarming slump

Just as it is inevitable that the Dutch fall out with one another, so it is to be expected that the Italians will qualify. Despite their miserable performance at the World Cup - where they were still obviously much better than England - they still needed an overhaul. They’ve not really got that, and the new players are nothing special. However, like England, they’ve qualified without fuss. For Italy, they are 30 unbeaten qualifying games in a row. However, like England and the Netherlands they have shown that many of the traditional footballing powers are falling apart. Better to look to Spain, Germany and France for the best sides in 2016.