One taste of England management might even be enough for Stuart Pearce after this.

In the brief time after his side pulled level with Holland he would have been the proudest Englishman on the planet; every inch the alpha male with that rather unusual gunslinger stance he chose to adopt in the technical area.

His young side, he no doubt thought, had shown the kind of resilience for which he was renowned as a player, with Ashley Young scoring a brilliant goal that arrived as a consequence of a brilliant pass from Phil Jones. But then came the reality check.

Double Dutch: Goals from Huntelaar and Robben sunk England at Wembley Stadium

Then came a wonderful winning strike from Arjen Robben and another demonstration of why one side reached the last World Cup final and why the other has never looked more unlikely to make such an impact at a major tournament.

Let's be honest. The Dutch beat England with ease last night.

They strolled through the first half, accelerated through the gears for three second-half minutes to score two goals, eased off again and as a result conceded two and then struck for a third time, just to prove a point.

They toyed with England as much as they tormented them, making them look exactly what they were; an experimental side missing the class of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Jack Wil shere and John Terry.

Gerrard? He was on the pitch until injury forced him off after 33 minutes but he looked tired after 120 minutes of
Carling Cup final action and exit undermined Pearce's plans.

There were some positives that Fabio Capello's permanent successor, be it that chap watching at home down in
Dorset or perhaps even someone sitting in Barcelona or Madrid, might have noted with encouragement.

Adam Johnson and Daniel Sturridge were dangerous at times on the flanks, Danny Welbeck did not seem overawed by the role of centre forward and Scott Parker proved himself a fine England captain.

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