More Than Just A Game

Dit artikel geschreven voor het Amerikaanse magazine ‘The Attendance Question’. Gepubliceerd op: https://medium.com/foozay/more-than-just-a-game-4f3b928dbe7b

Soccer impacts and unifies Dutch society, and for me, it is the storyline of my life.

“Everybody have a seat. Only 5 minutes before the match starts,” my neighbor shouted shrilly, holding a Heineken beer in his hand. I found a spot at the front row before the big screen. The soccer players were about to enter the pitch. A rush of vibrations surged throughout my body.

It was the 13th of June, 2014, when the Dutch soccer team played against Spain, the world champion. Four years ago, the Spanish team had beaten us in the World Cup final of 2010. Every Dutchman with a soccer heart still suffers from that loss, but this was a new World Cup. Time for revenge.

For the last couple of years, in my home town of Haastrecht, it has been tradition for my entire neighborhood to gather to watch the first match of the Dutch team at a big tournament. Before the match, we arranged a BBQ, set up a big moon bounce for the kids, and of course made sure that we had plenty of beer. To support the Dutch team everyone dressed up in orange. I painted my face with the Dutch flag, had my orange sunglasses and wore my favorite orange jersey. Some years there was a prize for the best outfit—the weirder, the better. It was a big and festive occasion.

As the match started, the Spanish team needed little time to score the opening goal. I felt a hollowness begin to develop in the pit of my stomach: were we about to lose again? People in the back of my neighbors’ garden started to make cynical jokes about the players. In their eyes, even their own grandparents would have done better in the field.

Dutch national team

Although the Netherlands is a small country — only 17 million citizens and smaller than the state Virginia—we are big when it comes to soccer. The Dutch team has planted great moments in history of soccer. 1988 is a year every Dutchman remembers. Even people like me, who did not belong to that time period, know it as a year of national pride. It is the year that our national soccer team managed to win a big tournament: the European Cup[1]. Key players of that era like Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten are still viewed as national heroes.

After that it never happened again, but the Dutch Lions always played a meaningful role on the world stage. Many times, the luck was not on our side. Other times we were just not good enough.

The rules of soccer are the same around the globe, but every country has its own style of playing. The English are known for their tough tackles and high balls[2], the Italians are champions when it comes to defense and our biggest rivals — Germany — always score in the last seconds of the match. Somehow this happens more often when they play the Dutch. Our soccer culture is famous for its attacking style and attractive nature. The Dutch always want to play the game and score as many goals as possible. We focus on technique and tactics rather than using brute physical abilities.

The Flying Dutchmen

The game against Spain that I watched in my neighbors’ backyard in June 2014 is one of the matches I always will remember. In the beginning, it didn’t seem to become a historical match. The Spanish team led by 1–0 after forty minutes being played. Since they controlled the game a loss seemed inevitable, the only question was by how much would we lose. But, the tables turned right before half time. Holland spectacularly balanced the score. From the left side of the field, defender Daley Blind gave a promising cross pass towards our striker Robin van Persie. Instead of controlling the ball and going for a shot, he dove into the ball and headed it directly into the goal, leaving the Spanish goalie no chance. Robin van Persie will always be remembered for this historic goal nicknaming him the ‘Flying Dutchman.’ It was a great moment for the former Feyenoord, Arsenal and Manchester United player who has near the end of his career and wanted to shine one more time at the international stage.

In the second half, my neighbor Jan, whom I actually could not stand, sat next to me. When I was a kid I always played soccer at the end of my street at a spot that we called ‘the wall.’ There was no moment that we were not in a fight with one of the four surrounding neighbors to that spot, but Jan was the worst. He was 50 something, tall, bold and always full of chagrin. Where the other neighbors tried to send us away through asking, Jan reviled us vilely and stole our ball. One time, I was eight years old, he even tried to fight me when I accidentally hit his car, but I managed to run away.

Only ten minutes of the second half played were played when Arjen Robben, the player who failed to make us a world champion in 2010 by missing two clear shots, went for goal. This time the quick attacker — sometimes referred to as ‘the man of glass’ because of his many injuries in the past — did not fail and painted 2–1 onto the scoreboard. I jumped off the bench and cheered with all the passion in my lungs, “What a fantastic goal!” I felt such euphoria from the goal, the adrenaline rushed throughout my body. It made me even give Jan a high-five.

What happened next was surreal to me. The Dutch squad made three more goals and absolutely humiliated the Spanish. After we scored our last goal — Robben dribbled around at least five Spanish foolish defenders including the goalkeeper before he put it in the back of the net — I gave Jan a long intense hug.

Soccer as a lifestyle

My soccer roots originate from a young age. Normally, kids start playing soccer when they are six years old, but I started at the age of five. Later, my parents explained that I was so eager to begin playing that they let me start a year early.

I went to ‘het Scala College,’ a specialized high school that had more opportunities for sports like soccer. To get there I had to travel one and a half hour by bike, train and again bike every day. While most kids had four hours of physical education per week, I had eight, half of which consisted of soccer practice. That started before class at 8am. In the evenings, I practiced with the club team in my home town. My weekends also consisted of soccer. It started with the match on Saturday morning. Afterwards I stayed at the club to watch the first team play. Some Sunday mornings I did go to an extra practice for goalkeepers. In total, I kicked a ball at least 7 times per week.

At High School, I wasn’t the only one with this soccer intensive lifestyle. Not surprisingly, during breaks –in class or on the train back home — the number one topic was soccer. My friends and I discussed every match, analyzing each detail. A debate we never reached consensus on was whether Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid or Lionel Messi from Barcelona was the best player in the world. Messi was a small player with the ability to dribble extremely quick, whereas Ronaldo was a big man who had a magnificent shot on goal[3]. I was in favor of Messi because he aligned more with the Dutch way of soccer. Instead of using strength Messi was a player of technique. Besides, Ronaldo looked silly with a different haircut every half. While discussing this, one side sometimes became aggressive and emotional, but that was only because we were so passionate about it. Soccer was the first thing that truly fostered a bond between us.

The managers

Louis van Gaal — the manager of the national team during the World Cup in 2014 — is the most popular Dutch coach among the fans, but he is feared by the media. Some journalists are afraid to interview him. At one of his press conferences as a coach of Ajax he responded to a journalist: “Am I the smart one here, or are you just stupid? What a horrible question.”

When Louis van Gaal moved to England to lead Manchester United — one of the biggest English clubs — for two years, he gave the English media a hard time by translating his Dutch expressions. A few examples: ‘It is always the same song,’ meaning that his team kept making the same mistake, ‘that is another cook,’ referring to a better opponent his team is going to play and ‘we have to look upstairs, not downstairs,’ meaning his team has to look at the bright side. The English media couldn’t make sense of what he was saying. I thought it was hilarious and I sometimes use the video compilations of his horrible English as an excuse for my not always perfect English — or as I call it, Dunglish.

When it comes down to soccer, Van Gaal is a real professional and he is loved by his players. The coach won a couple great prizes in different countries. Everybody — except the journalists — would have loved to see him leading the Dutch team for many more years. Sadly, Van Gaal retired from the national team after the World Cup of 2014 and with him some experienced players. The Dutch national team was about to experience a grave change.

The soccer federation appointed Guus Hiddink as new manager of the national squad. He had a comprehensive resume, had been manager of big clubs around the world, had won many prizes, but was at that moment 68 years old. Too old? Yes, because he failed unbelievably badly and the federation still regrets the decision to appoint him.

It shouldn’t have been that difficult since the Netherlands drew an easy group. At least on paper[4]. On top of that, time more countries could participate in the European Cup, 24 instead of 16. This should have made it simple to qualify. However, it was still too difficult for Hiddink. The Dutch team missed the European Cup of 2016 and this had major consequences, including for our economy.

Economic consequences

Since the Dutch people love to support their country, playing in a European or World cup gives a big boost to our economy as a whole. Supermarkets run special campaigns and beer brands like Heineken design special soccer bottles and invent gadgets for during the matches.

Missing the European Cup cost our economy 40 million euro in terms of lost revenue according to market research firm GFK, that investigates consumers behavior in the Netherlands. Conversely, when the Dutch team plays in big tournaments the economy blossoms. “The world cup of 2014 in Brazil was worth an extra 54-million-euro revenue,” Joop Holla, director of GFK told news website nu.nl. Since there were now 24 teams competing in the European Cup it results in a longer tournament. “This could have caused higher revenues when the Dutch team stayed in the tournament for a while,” Holla added.

The supermarkets especially suffered. The tradition of watching a match together energizes us to buy more food and beverages, especially beer. As long as the team is doing well, people spend more.

On top of that, supermarkets run special campaigns where the customers can save stamps to purchase various kinds of token items. For every 10 euro groceries, you receive one stamp. A full paper of stamps equals a token or a doll.

These campaigns started in 2006 when the supermarket ‘Albert Heijn’ successfully introduced orange dolls called ‘wuppies.’ These fluffy little dolls had an adhesive layer so they could be placed in cars, behind windows, or on your head. The campaign was so popular that they ran out of ‘wuppies’ before the end of the tournament. The next soccer tournaments, every supermarket introduced its own kind of ‘wuppies.’

Besides supermarkets, individual brands have their own campaigns. The Dutch beer brand ‘Heineken’ designs their own kind of orange beer bottle and gives extraordinary reductions. On top of that a cool gadget comes along the way when buying a large amount of beer. Over the years Heineken offered some amazing stuff: in 2006, they had the ‘Heineken Hoed’ — could be used as both a megaphone and hat, in 2008 there was the ‘Trumpet’ — drums and a hat — and at the World Cup of 2010 in South Africa they introduced the ‘Pletterpet’ — an African Vuvuzela attached to a hat.

Supporting the Belgians

Since my own country didn’t play in the 2016 European Cup, not only the economy suffered, I did too. I had to look for an alternative country to support. Like many other Dutch soccer fanatics, I chose to support the Belgium team. Our neighbors speak almost the same language and many Belgium players are well-known by the Dutch since they played for several big clubs like Ajax and PSV. Amusingly I found a couple Facebook groups named ‘How to become a Belgium supporter.’

I went to Brussels to watch some of the matches there. It was a shame that I had to travel all that way — three hours by train — to support a different country, but nevertheless it was an exciting experience. Belgium is known for its division between the Dutch-speakers — the Flemish — and the French-speakers — the Walloons. The capital Brussels is where these two groups merge with one another. Yet, when there is soccer on the screen no one cares about the division, only about the game. With arms locked, the Belgians sing in harmony to support their nation, “Tous ensemble, tous ensemble!” which translates to “All together, all together!” Unfortunately, they only made it to the quarter finals where they lost to Wales, but at least the Belgians did better than us and I had a good time enjoying the Belgium beers.

World Cup 2016

Luckily soccer is big enough that every two years there is a big tournament. After the deception of missing the European Cup in 2016 we could focus on the next World Cup. The Dutch team was in a group with big soccer nations like France, Sweden and Bulgaria. We soon realized that it would not be easy. Only the number one team qualifies for the World Cup directly; the second place is offered a playoff match, which was the more realistic option for us.

The team did not play well in the first couple of matches, but at least we won them. Next, we were up against better opponents. We lost to France and tied Sweden. A crucial moment in the qualifications was the game against Bulgaria- no win meant a very unlikely chance of qualifying.

On Saturday night of the 25th of March 2017, I was planning to go out with my friends from high school whom I had not seen in a long time. We got together to pre-game and watch the World Cup 2018 qualifier match of the Dutch squad against Bulgaria at Sven’s place. Since his parents divorced he has the house to himself almost every weekend. The beers tasted as delicious as they always have and I savored each sip as it rolled down my tongue. A nostalgic sensation came over me and it brought me back to the old times of high school adventures with my friends. We discussed the formation in the field: “Why is this 17-year old defender in the first 11?[5]” Nobody had a good explanation, although my friend Sven’s was the most appropriate, “He plays for Ajax, the best club of the country.” I agreed, because I was an Ajax fan myself.

Hopeful, we watched the start of the game. Predictions differed from 0–1 to 0–4, all my friends were certain that the Dutch would beat the Bulgarians. “I don’t even know of a single Bulgarian player,” Sven said grinning. The reality turned out to be different. The Bulgarian team was more focused, quicker and more precisly throughout the entire match. They toyed with the Dutch team like it was just a training session. It was so embarrassing to watch. In the second half, no one uttered a single word. We were all so disappointed and I remember someone stepping outside for a smoke because they could not take another look at the screen. I kept watching, not because I was not heartbroken as well, but because it was freezing outside and I do not smoke. Eventually we lost 2–0.

I interrupted a silence which had lasted for ten minutes now. “Who still wants to go out?” A couple of my friends shook their heads. “I am not in the mood,” one replied. The others were not either, but still decided to go out to “drink away the loss.” I joined them. We went to our favorite club, but I did not have a happy experience. It was not a night to celebrate, but to mourn.

One of the reasons why soccer is such an interesting sport is the fact that miracles actually can happen. A team can come back from a hopeless situation, but not this time for the Dutch team. We won our last match against Sweden, but failed to make it to the World Cup, again. Although we saw it coming, it hit the nation like a sledgehammer.

Small and diverse

We are a small, but really diverse country. There are nearly 200 different nationalities living in the Netherlands. When we had a shortage of labor, many people from Morocco and Turkey immigrated in the late 1970s. Another big migration flow came from our former colony Suriname. Although we needed these people and welcomed them with open arms, it has led to segregation in our country. Most of the former immigrants live together in economically challenged neighborhoods. They tend to hang out with their own people since they share the same culture. This often results in tensions between the Dutch and the former immigrants.

The unhappiness of the Dutch people with the current segregation is visible in the popularity of right-wing politician Geert Wilders. He accuses the former immigrants as criminals and prefers to — as he says it — ‘move them back to their own.’ Despite these hateful statements, Wilders’ party become the second largest party in the last election in 2017.

Sports could be the solving element in our segregation problems. The website of NOC*NSF — the general Dutch sports federation — reads. ‘Sports unifies and inspires. It contributes to the society and every individual.’ It is the reason why the government encourages and subsidizes sports so much in the Netherlands. It is the reason why our King is present at all of the important matches. It is the reason why our prime-minister recognizes outstanding athletes when they win a gold medal. The government wants to create unity.

For me, soccer is more than feeling united with my country, it the storyline of my life. Most of my friends I have now, I first met through soccer. Sometimes I played with them, other times I played against them, or got to know them simply by having discussions about the game.

Even during my time as an exchange student at William and Mary, soccer has been the tool to make friends and meet people. I play as a goalkeeper for the club soccer team. We practice three times a week and play against other universities in Virginia. After a whole semester of soccer, I consider my teammates as good friends on and off the pitch.

Soccer is also what my roommate and I have in common. When he introduced himself, he mentioned that he was a huge soccer fan. I knew immediately that we would get along. We watch games together and discuss the latest transfers of players. Sometimes, he knows even more Dutch soccer players than I do.

Since the Dutch team didn’t qualify, I hoped he would not have the same grief for the American team. I joined him to watch the last match against Trinidad and Tobago. A tie was enough for the team to qualify for the World Cup 2018. Chris didn’t even think about not qualifying: “We are not the Netherlands.” Unfortunately, we share the same destiny. USA was beaten by Trinidad and Tobago and did not make it to the World Cup. For at least ten minutes Chris stared at the screen saying nothing. He was devastated. I tried to comfort him: “I know how you feel, it sucks.”

Soccer is a simple game. For 90-minutes eleven players on both sides try to score at least one goal more than the opposite team. Yet soccer is so much more.

[1] The European Cup is held every four years and is for European countries only. Big soccer nations like Brazil and Argentina are excluded which should make it easier to qualify.

The World Cup is also held every four years, but two years after the European Cup. This results in a big tournament every two years. The World Cup has more prestige internationally.

[2] Playing high balls is an efficient way to get to the opponent’s goal, but is by many soccer fans seen as an ugly way of playing the game. They prefer short passes and possession. However, the English supporters love this kind of play.

[3] The Portugese attacker is famous for his accurate free kicks and penalty’s.

[4] The Dutch played small soccer countries like Latvia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iceland and Czech Republic

[5] Mathijs de Ligt, 17 years old and defender for Ajax played his first match for the Dutch team. Because of injuries and suspension, he was able to make his debut in such an important match.