Going Dutch for the World Cup

Going Dutch for the World Cup in Brazil


Daniel Carey

“AS a fan,” Financial Times football columnist Simon Kuper said recently, “I don’t want Holland to win the World Cup, because my life as a fan would be over.”
I suspect that’s a trade most Mayo GAA fans would make after 63 years of hurt, but it was an interesting observation from the author of the classic book ‘Football Against The Enemy’. He’s unlikely to see the dream/nightmare come true in Brazil this summer, but you never know.
Kuper made his comments during an enjoyable event at the Dutch Centre in London, and it was one of many memorable one-liners during his conversation with journalist Titia Ketelaar. Wayne Rooney had, he said, ‘turned himself into a Dutch footballer’ by watching former Ajax striker Jari Litmanen. And he told the story of Mark Burke who, during his time at the Dutch team Fortuna Sittard, witnessed a 15-minute debate about the correct positioning of centre-halves – something you’d only see in England, Burke reckoned, at a coaching conference.
I spent nine months in Holland during my college days, and in the absence of Ireland, the Dutch have got my backing for Brazil 2014. It’s the least I can do for my former house-mates, who were graciousness personified after watching Jason McAteer’s goal end Louis van Gaal’s original reign as national team manager in 2001 – on the day I moved in to my student flat in Leiden!
Van Gaal will, of course, be the next Manchester United manager, and Kuper’s recent ‘FT’ column on the new man at Old Trafford included a story about the Ajax player Peter van Vossen, who reported that van Gaal had toured his home and advised him not to paint his kitchen white. Van Vossen obeyed.
Louis’s press conferences should be fun.
In the meantime: Hup Holland Hup!