"I thought we could hang on till the penalties, and then it would have been 50-50, " said a man in his 30s, wearing face paint in the colors of the Dutch flag.

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Motorboats trailing the Dutch tricolor flag, or the Amsterdam city flag with its three Xs, careen by, their wakes gently rocking you.

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"I have no time for the Europe of the blue flag and the little stars, some elevated ideal, " said Mr Rutte, speaking to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.

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