Poor Glenn Hoddle.

Having just about come to terms with England's World Cup penalty shoot-out exit then he was forced to endure it once again.

Guesting for ITV, Hoddle, his voice still croaking from urging on his team, suffered the anguish of another spot kick drama.

For England read Holland, for Argentina read Brazil.

With Ruud Gullitt squeezed next to Hoddle on the gantry with boring Bob Wilson, there was inevitably a pro-Dutch feeling throughout the night.

That was heightened when Pierre Van Hooijdonk had genuine appeals for a penalty rejected and received a booking for his protests.

From that point Hoddle, still hurt by injustice, pinned his colours firmly on the Dutch mast.

But as the England coach knows all too well, good sides are blessed with luck and World Cup history shows that the Dutch are not really over endowed in the four-leafed clover stakes.

Brazil rammed home their penalties with panache while Holland were punished for two sub-standard kicks.

It was a dramatic finale to a match which took just over 45 minutes to get going.

For 30 tedious minutes the teams tested each other, probed and pushed - the lack of passion matched by Brian Moore's commentary.

Then Gullitt stopped the pussy-footing, slammed the teams for poor passing and too much respect.

Immediately Moore's words, which had also shown too much respect for the teams and the match, took on a sharper edge.

At least Ron Atkinson had been on his mettle from the start. He has been ITV's most consistent performer with his tactical insight and wit shining through.

After the match was over there was a rather ragged finish with Wilson seemingly not knowing when the broadcast was ending.

But he still found time to invite viewers to Moore's final final. Sunday's battle in St Denis will bring the curtain down on his 30 years as a commentator - but the bulk of the nation will be tuned into the BBC, whose coverage has been far superior.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.