Although my son considers himself Flemish, his arm is increasingly covered by Dutch soccer star tattoos (available in Dutch supermarkets that offer any product imaginable in orange, which are proudly redistributed by his Dutch grandparents). It shows the place branding power of global sports. Sunday finals will be watched by at least 715 million viewers around the world (the size of the global audience in 2006). Go Sneijder, Van Bronckhorst, Robben: paint the world orange; whomever wins, Spain or The Netherlands, your marketing power for brand Holland is immeasurable, leaving aside the effects on internal branding; the orange legion is proud to be Dutch again. This apparently even applies to Belgian half breeds like my boy, regardless of peer pressure against the neighboring team ;-).