Let's get to know one another…

blog
by Jan

Dear friends, you all know that thing will get pretty hot very soon!! Before you know it, we are cheering, dancing, yelling, singing, celebrating, cursing, screaming and crying together. We will stand shoulder to shoulder and will sing hand in hand ( comrades). We will experience our wins and our losses together and even though it’s only virtual, only via this cyberhangspotforcooloranjefans, I think it’s cool if we would get to know one another a little bit… I mean would you jump into someone arms crying, without being introduced properly?

Right!

My name is Jan. A typical Dutch boys’ name. But I live in Australia now, where Jan is a…well…girls name. I grew up in Hendrik Ido Ambacht, close to Rotterdam. A Feyenoord town. Many Feyenoord players lived in our village. I played my football at ASWH – currently Hoofdklasse amateurs – and spent my weekends in De Kuip. I worked in marketing and sales in Holland and Europe before we immigrated to Australia. Why? Why not! Climate, space, lifestyle…

I’m married, have two daughters (who love football) and two labradors who love footballs. I live near Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia. I am in business and apart from football and writing, my hobbies are reading, watching movies, acting, playing the guitar, cooking (and eating) and playing sports (tennis, football, baseball).

The first tournament I watched in Oz was the EC 2004. I lived in Western Australia then and there was no coverage in tv. A friend of a friend in Oz taped the games of the commercial cable channel – not available in WA – and mailed it to us. We’d watch the games two days after they were played. But we watched them in the evening at least… I still remember the game against Czech Republic… Robben played great! Until Dick Advocaat…well…you remember.

I could watch the WC2006 live, early in the morning, after we moved to the East Coast. Which is when I found this site and not much later was asked to join as moderator.

Football background: Limited, was a talented but lazy left-footer, have had interesting connections to football (via players, managers, businesses)

Favorite clubs: Many… Feyenoord is in my blood, but I respect Ajax. Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan. But Oranje tops the list!

Fave players: Again, too many to mention: Cruyff, Van Hanegem, Nees, Van Basten, Bergkamp, Litmanen, Mario Been, Hoddle, Eder, Zico, Overath, Antognoni, Paulo Rossi, Richard Witschge, Edgar Davids, Gary Lineker, David Ginola

Fave players of our current Oranje: Raf van der Vaart, Mark van Bommel, Robin van Persie, Tim Krul

Fave moment of Oranje: The Van Basten goal in 1988, which I witnessed in the stands, behind the goal…

Sympathy for other nations: I do like Spain and have a soft spot for Italy and England. I truly wish Belgium will get their axto together for once!!

Bold predictions: Spain won’t survive the first round. Germany will but will be knocked out in the first knock out. Sweden will get far this tournament

How I watch Oranje: It’s bloody 4 am in the morning in the freezing cold here, so I watch with uggboots on and a blanket around me eating muesli and yoghurt where anywhere else in the world they party with beer and bitterballen :-(. Oh, and I’m obviously doing live webcasts for us all 🙂

One thing no one knows about me: Oh dear… Something secret…? Ok, I made my money in ICT and I currently blog like crazy but I’m actually the biggest computer illiterate you’ll find, hahaha…..

Anyhow, here’s a pic of me presenting a Johan Cruyff boot to the world… The guy next to me is actually the legendary no. 14

 

 

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207 comments

  1. not much to say, this website looks nicer,

    introduce myself? born and raised in miami, florida, USA,

    father is dutch, grew up in curacao, Mother is from aruba,

    never really played sports, did wrestling, water polo and swimming. Gracie Jiu Jitsu.

    Student… lack of media for holland, around tournaments Dutch football becomes a drug, and so far, jan has been my dealer

    my predictions?

    Russia, Greece get out group A,

    Germany gets eliminated in first two games,

    Holland finishes first, would be cool if denmark joined us.

    Croatia wins group, Spain is second,

    France gets out with sweden

    Holland wins the tournament of course.

    how i watch Holland? anywhere with a tv, I feel bad that, i was in bolivia for the world cup, all through the semifinals, and heard of the parade they had in aruba when holland beat brazil and uruguay, so i left for aruba to party when holland would beat spain, but they didn’t,

  4. Ooops I already posted on the previous post – Should never start with 2 posts – you confuse simple minds like mine !
    Well done Buddy !
    FINALLY !!!!

    1. Thanks Carlos!! You have always been an amazing supporter of the blog, me and Oranje and I’m glad you were the first person to comment man! Welcome here and hope you will stay 🙂

  5. Hi!
    I am Netherland fan since 1988. I was a little boy.
    I was lucky that 3 best Holland players played for MILAN Italy. I am born in ALbania and Italy is near us so I could watch Van Basten, Gullit, Rajkard paly every weekend in the TV. Latter on a liked Kluivert very much an I think that we played the best football with Hiddind as a coach. I hope he will be back at Holland as coach.

    It is a shame when you se Holland play in defense. I prefer lose but with 20-30 times hiting for goal than winning with only 2 shots.

    Hup Hup Holland!
    Thank you Jan for this website. I follow you 2 years ago during the world cup. I was happy for us almost winning (but Robben you remember os Casillas lucky foot)…

    This time I hope we win with Germany in the Finals. I hope germany will eliminate Spanin in semifinal adn then we will beat them in the finals.

    I am very very sorry for my English language if I have make some mistake writing iT

    Hup Holland Hup!

  6. New site looks great, can see a lot of potential for it!

    Me – born and raised in Canada, heritage Dutch on both sides so when I got into soccer in high school (blame living in Canada…) there was always only going to be one national team for me. Moved to Japan after university and still living here. Been with the blog for quite a long time now, although I don’t comment very much anymore.
    How I watch oranje is pretty similar to how Jan does, having a similar (the same?) timezone… still, there’s no way I’d sleep through a game!

  7. Hi Jan, congrats to your new blog!

    I have been following your blog since 2006… Great works!

    I think van Marwijk should follow your blog 😉

    And about me… I’m Felix Wei, 30 years old. A Chinese but was born in Indonesia. Currently, I live in Jakarta, capital of Inonesia.

    I watched Netherlands game for the first time in 1988, when I was 6 years old!

    I watched every game Netherlands team played, U17, U19, U21 and National team.

    Keep up the good work, Jan! You have created such amazing blog!

  8. my name is ferenc,i’m from hungary,i live in budapest with my mother. i grew up in hungary, studied in the budapest university then later one year in danemark. from the mid 80s till the mid 90s i lived in france (10 years,in paris and in nice),then in danemark (1 year). i did different works, in the last 10 years mostly artificial intelligence and futurology related things. now i’m doing different research-like jobs,mostly about the information society. i have written several books and articles about this topic. i have three cats,collection wood carvings(especially masks),buddha statues,buddhist paintings,and all this kind of things from all over the world. apart from football i like traveling (my first hobby), robotics, reading, watching (especially asian and tarantino-like violent) movies,architecture,photography, electronic music,gastronomy, ladies from south-east asia and south america 🙂
    the early 70s ajax was the first great team and the 74 worldcup was the first tournament i watched and became dutch football lover. i’m one of those who think style (total football) is over substance,maybe this is the reason i’m less enthusiastic about the current oranje than i used to be in the past. the concept of total football is one of the most important things in my life.
    i have never practiced football because i’m too lazy (left-footer).
    favourite clubs: barca,ajax,ac milan (in this order – before johan’s second arrival i didn’t care too much about barca,bat since i’ve been ar ardent fan).
    i have sympathy for other nations: spain (because of the barca connection,but if catalonia was a country it would be different) and to some extent france and smaller football nations: australia and the current uruguay team.
    favourite players (too many): johan cruyff (the greatest ever),rob rensenbrink,barry hulshoff,ruud krol,johan neeskens,johnny rep,wim van hanegem,ruud gullit,michel platini,socrates,falcao,jean tigana, marius tresor, frank rijkaard,marco van basten,ronald koeman,roberto donadoni,hristo stoichkov,michael laudrup,roberto baggio,denis bergkamp,jari littmanen,luis enrique,edgar davids,clarence seedorf,patrick kluivert,marc overmars,philip cocu,ruud van nistelrooy,ronaldinho (he was the most talented player i have ever seen,but his mentality was too bad),gio van bronckhorst,samuel eto’o,xavi,andres iniesta,gerard pique,sergio busquets (yes :-)),yaya toure,mark van bommel,dirk kuyt,robin van persie,ibrahim affelay and obviously lionel messi (the second best ever).
    fave coaches: rinus michels,arrigo sacchi,johan cruyff,frank rijkaard,pep guardiola

  9. thx Jan,your site is really great,congratulations! your blog is the most entertaioning blog about football and you succeeded in building a real virtual community here

  10. Hi Jan,

    Great new website! Keep up the good work. Funny, I spent a night in Byron Bay a few years ago. Loved the place!

    About me: I am 1/4 dutch 3/4 swiss, mathematician, late thirties. Been loving and following Oranje since 1998 (wasn’t watching much soccer before, no idea why).

    Apart from Oranje, I like Barça when they move forward, but hate them when all their passes are backwards or horizontal. I guess I can say the same about Spain.

    I used to play some tennis (badly 🙂 ), never played any team sport. I do run or swim a lot to eliminate all those beers I drink watching games!!

  11. Hi Jan,

    Love the site and have been an avid follower of the blog – I’m half dutch (family is all from Maastricht) and I have great memories of holidays visting Oma & Opa! Live in Devon in the UK – Love the Oranje first and foremost, soft spot for Ajax, support Portsmouth (where I was brought up). Enjoy watching Barca, but since that world cup final I just want all of them to get their asses handed to them! Then I can go back to liking them!

    Jan – as I didn’t contribute much I feel I ought to do something to atone for all the effort you’ve put in – I’m a graphic designer and I’ve just spent a few minutes tidying up the website logo – I can email you a copy to see if you like it – and of course if you don’t like anything I can change it if you want.

    Again thanks for all your efforts – and Hup Holland!

    1. YES!! Please do… I am not very smart with computers and design and all that. To be honest, I have been struggling with this WordPress thing… So, yes man!! I will send you my email address :-). Thanks a lot!

  12. Hi Jan,

    Being a little bit computer nerdy, I noticed you use a simple football for the site’s icon (what appears next to bookmarks on our side). That picture is located at

    http://dutchsoccersite.org/wp-content/themes/footballclub-1.1.6.0/images/favicon.ico

    If you remember, some time ago, I made an icon for your site for my smartphone. It is located at

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/58019009/oranje.png

    If you like it, I think you can simply copy the oranje.png file over the favicon.ico, wherever it is located on your side…

  13. Hi Jan,

    I’m 3/4 Swiss & 1/4 dutch.

    Since I’m one of the only people in my family who is interested in football, it took me quite a while to discover football. I thus never played in a club, only in high school, where i developped quite a knack for scoring goals.

    My first great memories are the quarter-finals at Euro 2000 against Yugoslavia where Kluivert scored 4 goals, followed by dissapointment by a match I don’t think i need to explain to anyone here.

    During Euro 2008 I was working and was thus not able to go to Berne where the Oranje played all their group matches and the city was all orange.

    Three weeks i found out that the Oranje were training in Lasuanne, just were I am studying. So of course i skipped some courses at university to go watch them. With the determination and concentration the trained, there is only one possibililty; the will bring home the cup!

    Unfortunately my exam period will start next week. And I have an exam just the morning after the match against Portugal and also one after the final. I hope we will win all matches with comfortable margins so that I can sleep soundly afterwards. With the added benefit of throwing back the word of those pundits who only mention Spain and Germany as favourites, when in fact only Holland is the only real force in world football, the nation that introduced total fottball and will demonstrate this summer what that means.

  14. I’m Carlos, 40 years old, and I’m portuguese. I live in Lisbon with my wife and two daughters. I support (season ticket holder) Benfica and Benfica is all there is (regarding club sides). A Benfica supporter does not feel the need to support the Portuguese national team. Seriously, it’s not sheer arrogance (well, a little bit…), but Benfica’s so huge that one feels completed.

    Regarding national sides I remember as a kid to cry for the first time (due to football) in EK1982 after Rossi’s damned hat-trick and then I remember to root with utter pleasure for Platinis’ France. But then… The oranje bug kicked in the WK1990, my first oranje jersey dates from WK1994 and my first oranje tears (of joy, mind you) date from July 4th in Marseille 1998 (you all know what I’m talking about). Regarding second liners I always had a feeling towards Argentina and Croacia. I used to hate Italy and Germany, but that’s changing. I’m getting wiser, I guess, so now I don’t hate… 😉

    My alltime favorite footballer is Denis Bergkamp. I have a huge respect for Crujff, Maradona, Garrincha and Eusébio. I will always have a special love for Sócrates, Overmars, Kluivert, Seedorf, Bogarde, Koeman, Boban, Suker, Rui Costa, Pablo Aimar, Caniggia and so many more…

    I never played (I really suck at it) and I’m a late lover, since I spent my adolescent years doing other stuff… 😉 But I’m loving it now. And the oranje elftal is my faithful companion for the rest of my days. 😀

    1. Carlos, it is awesome to see a Portuguese supporting the Oranje! (No offense to you, Portugal/Germany keeps taking turns being my #1 hated squad!)

      Also, how could you “have a special love” for Bogarde? If there is one single Oranje that I think was terrible, it was Bogarde!

  16. I’m OhYeah from Estonia.

    30 years old, failing at university, commited and raising a stepdaughter.

    Oranje has been my favourite team since EC 1992.

    Jan, keep up the good work.

  17. Jan i think you have quite a few “Nerdy” techies here (maybe Bill Gates is also watching) I am sure they can help you get rid of all/any bugs and then improve the site tremendously 🙂

  18. Hiiii
    Jan Its great….
    Again My Name is Jad Rajeh, Am Lebanese (36 years) Single.
    I live and work in Qatar – Am mechanical Engineer
    my first dutch game i watched was on 20 November 1985 – where Netherlands won on Belgium 2-1 and didn’t qualify for the world cup 1986 🙁 sad ehh..After this game i read many news articles about dutch football and legend cruyff and got stock 🙂 with this great football nation.
    I visited Amsterdam and loved it.
    The first tournament i watched was 1988,was very happy we won it,Since then am still waiting to win another one 🙂
    Football background: I play football every Friday with friends (I like to play as forwarder am right footed)
    Favorite clubs: Feyenoord ,Ajax, Barcelona, Arsenal
    Fave top 3 players: Cruyff, Van Basten, Bergkamp.
    Fave top 3 players of our current Oranje: Robben,Robin Van persie, Sneijder.
    Latest Fave moment of Oranje: The Sneijder’s 2nd goal in 2010…
    Sympathy for other nations: I do like Argentina
    Bold predictions: England won’t survive the first round. Germany will but will be knocked out in the first round. Sweden,France will get far this tournament.

    I would like to congratulate. the current Oranje Squad who won EC2012 what a historic goal from Robben 🙂

  19. Name: Alex, 20 years old, single student. Have been an avid fan since the 98 team. Living and studying in the Netherlands, good old Noord-Brabant.

    Football background: I played as a respected Centre back for years in my local club’s youth. Was too good so shifted to midfield/attack, but struggled physically and conditionally and couldnt find the motivation to keep going and make the first squad: thus dissapointing alot of trainers who expected I would.

    Favorite clubs: what can I say.. I love good football so FC Barcelona, Arsenal and back in the day had a soft spot for Ajax, PSV and Man. United. Though up untill they started scapegoating Robben I quite liked Bayern.

    Fave players: Used to be Kluivert, Davids, Henke Larsson and Stam, now its Iniesta (its a love-hate connection), Messi, Özil, Robben, V.Persie and a remarkably likeable Tim Krul. Though I have to say Huntelaar seems like a cool guy.

    Fave players of our current Oranje: repeat: Krul, Robben, V.Persie and Huntelaar

    Fave moment of Oranje: Has to be humiliating France in 2008.

    Sympathy for other nations: Germany, dont start to scream.. Belgium and Spain, though I have to say, when we’re not playing them I tend to have a soft spot for the English and Scandinavians

    Bold predictions: France will go far.

    How I watch Oranje: On the couch, with family or friends, sometimes in a bar with mates. Or sometimes not at all, it can be rather bad for my heart so I do not always watch the important games from start to finish, tension rises high in my head 😛

    One thing no one knows about me: Hmm, do i really wanna tell this… I am a hopeless romantic haha

  20. Wow! This site is great. I’ve been following your blog since 2006 and I used to contribute quite regularly… In fact, I won the Euro 2008 tipping competition on your blog haha.

    I’m 24 years of age and still studying at Uni. I’ve completed a bachelor of psychology and I’m currently completing a double degree in mathematics and education.

    My mum’s side of the family is Dutch and we began following them properly in the 1998 world cup.

    Like Jan, I’m from Australia (Sydney) so I’ll be watching each game at a ridiculous hour with a cup of hot chocolate.

    My favorite players in the current squad are Robin Van Persie, Affelay, Sneijder, Tim Krul and Arjen Robben.

    I have a variety of interests outside of playing/watching football. I love to; spearfish, fish, bodyboard, play the drums, play the guitar, cook, play rugby league, play cricket, sky dive, rockclimb, hunt … and the list goes on.

    I really believe that this is the year for the Dutch, but should they qualify, I will be on a flight to Sumatra for a bodyboarding trip. Hopefully somewhere will show a replay!!

  21. Jan ~ keep up the great work. This site is a lifeline for those of us living outside of Holland.

    I’m English but born in Uithoorn to English parents. We left Holland when I was 5. Started bleeding orange during the ’78 World Cup. I’ve lived in London for the last 20 years, working in the City but recently left to bet on sports full time. I’m married with a daughter and an 8 year old son who supports Oranje simply because I do.

    Inevitably I support Ajax and Arsenal. Not surprisingly my favourite player is Bergkamp and all time favourite moment is his goal in the ’98 World Cup vs Argentina. Current favourite is van Persie, but I would happily leave him on the bench if Huntelaar was more effective.

    Predictions : England to really struggle. Sweden and France to do well. Holland……..difficult to be objective!

  22. Hey Jan,

    concratulations on your website! Allready waaay better then that old blog ;P

    My name is Wolfgang, i am a 42 year old (single) BI-consultant from The Hague, Netherlands. Born in Berlin though 😀

    Since 1980 i’ve only missed one orange game: the little final in 98 against Croatia. I played some youth football in midfield (nothing fancy) besides gymnastics and judo.

    My fav players are Johan Cruijff, Dennis Bergkamp and Arjen Robben. Been reading your blog for four years now, and put in a post now and then when the tourney fever is upon me.

    Keep up the good work, great stuff here!

  23. Name: Peter, originally from NZ with Dutch heritage, now living/working in Leverkusen Germany. Been reading this blog since before 2006 WC – call me a long time reader rare poster.

    Football background: ridiculously keen armchair fan.

    Favorite clubs: Ajax, Arsenal, Bayern,

    Fave players: non-dutchies: Toni Kroos, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Manual Neuer,

    Fave players of our current Oranje: repeat: van Persie, Robben, van der Vaart,

    Fave moment of Oranje: Italy match 2008 – really dislike Italian football.

    Sympathy for other nations: Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium

    Bold predictions: Poland/Ukraine to cause upsets.

    How I watch Oranje: When i lived in NZ, would spend nights sitting up trying to watch via so-so streams. Now can enjoy at home with Mates.

    Have faith this time we will take home the trophy………

  24. OranjeRules – 44 yo today (guess what I want for my b-day)

    Born in Canada to Dutch parents who immigrated here as kids after the war. I can vaguely remember my Pop and dad talking about WC-78 and the games in Argentina. Did not really develop the true Oranje Blood until WC-94 when we were robbed by Brasil and Romario’s offside goal. Since then its been a great ride and now I enjoy following Oranje with my oldest son.

    Favourite Clubs – Oranje, Ajax, VVV-Venlo, teams with Dutch players.

    Although it ended in heartbreak my favourite Oranje memory was the WC-10 final v. Spain. Watched it on the big screen in the basement with my son. He was DEVESTATED, he did not speak for 2 days.

    I coach my son’s U-14 AllStar team. That team is just like Oranje, lots of tournament finals but no wins to our credit yet. This is the year we raise some trophys!

    New home looks good Jan!

  25. Hi Jan,

    Name: Ervine
    Nationality: Singaporean

    Been following your blog only a couple of months ago and I totally appreciate the inputs here. It’s not easy to find an English site with the most updated Dutch Soccer news as well as the quality comments made here by the other Dutch supporters.

    I am a Singaporean who started supporting Netherlands in 1994 at the age of 12 under the I fluence of my uncles. Been following thru the ups and downs of Dutch Soccer and i never failed to support them despite their near misses (1998, 2000, 2008 & 2010 are the years i really thought we could do it) with the elusive championship after 1988, horrendus penalty misses in 2000 semi finals (gosh 5 in a match), and been purchasing new jerseys every 2 years.

    I shall keep my comments limited and hope the coach and players strike a winning formula despite different sets of tatical ideas and ideologies limiting the encouragement we shld give to them for reaching the heights of 2010. Emulating that success has been taken for granted, and as a loyal Dutch supporter (by virtue that I’m not even a Dutch, I might had even cursed and swore in front of the TV during those glaring misses or shake my heads in despair over news of internal squabbles), I wish the best for the team ahead of this tournament.

    Whether results or playing style has a more paramount importance? To me, as long as the team has a never say die attitude and does its best, I’m contented to be able to catch them as far as they progress in every competition since 1994. (less the 2002 unfortunate Wirld Cup absence caused by maybe complacency?)

    As “commentators”, our job is to comment and hope the words reach someone within the coaching or playing contingent such that some of the constructive feedbacks are taken into consideration and who knows, the winning formula might come from this blog? Lol

    As I search in vain for a place that airs soccer matches in Hawaii (I’m here on a company trip), I hope I will not miss a single match till I’m back in Singapore to catch their appearance in the quarter finals… Maybe the semi finals… Hopefully the finals… Which by then probably the championship trophy back to the Dutch capital Amsterdam, just in time for my visit in 2013

    1. Cool!!! I can suggest the Winebos winebars in Singapore for the perfect Dutch voetbal experience…. Man, Heineken from the draught, bitterballen, nice staff in orange outfits and big screens. You might even bump into the owner of the place… A true orange bleeding die-hard!

  26. @Jan, this looks really great mate I’m Stijnis previously know as OranjeAussie thought I’d start a new name for this flashy new site. I’m from Melbourne, Australia my mum is Dutch born in Amsterdam and Stijnis is my mums maiden name. I’ve followed the blog for two years and love what Jan and the guys on here do they really help out someone like me keep up will all things Dutch football. Thanks again look forward to an exciting future. Hup Holland Hup!

  28. Hi all. First of all thaks to Jan for finding us a new home. Something about me. I’ve been following and participating in the blog since 2010 worldcup days. I’m 36 years old from Malta. Been an Ajax and Holland fan since 1986. Like others my age I went through many tournaments, many sorrows and many smiles. I’m lucky that I can say that between Ajax and Holland I saw my teams win all cups and trophies in existence, except for the dreaded WC … So you can imagine what I went through in those last couple of minutes of extra time against Spain. Anyway you can all understand because you are like me after all … proud, cocky, smart football fans that enjoy real football … and bleed orange!

  29. Greetings all. I woke to a nice surprise, and am lad to find myself in a new ‘home’ this morning, (in Canada). Keep up your good work, your blogs have become regular reading for me.

  30. Hi Jan and all fellow Oranje fans!!

    My name is Jurij, I am from Slovenia.
    I ve been HUGE Oranje fan since 1988!! That team was my football inspiration and since then I like every team infulenced by oranje players or managers: 1st ORANJE, 2nd AJAX, 3rd BARCA, 4th MILAN.. and so on!
    Its really long time since the last international trophy and I hope & believe that this is our year again!!

    Jan thank you very much for all your effort, great articles and news about our ORANJE TEAM!

    Keep up the good work!!

  31. Nice website you have here, Jan! You surely have put a lot of effort on building this. 😀

    I’m from Indonesia. Pure Indonesia. Still on college, medical degree.
    My relationship with football? Well, I’ve been playing it since elementary school, now being an attacking midfielder on my college team.
    Been supporting Holland since 2006, on a quite weird manner. I played a videogame (Pro Evolution Soccer), and attracted by one player: Rafael Van Der Vaart. Pretty good player on that game. Then I googled, searching his video on YouTube, turned out that he is awesome. Then I rooted for Dutch football, finding another talent such as Robben, Huntelaar, Van Persie, Sneijder. Then I began to totally love Dutch football. 😀

    Favorite club? Nothing in particular. But if you insist me to mention one, it’s Juventus.
    Player? Rafael van der Vaart, Patrick Helmes, Alex Del Piero…
    How do I watch Oranje? usually it’s 1.30 a.m. here. but for next match (against Denmark), it’s 11 p.m. (broadcasted by a channel here). But if it isn’t, streaming is the only way.
    Prediction? Holland vs Spain in semi. Holland-Germany pass the group stage. Poland will make a surprise. 🙂

  32. Sorry didn’t answer all the questions…

    Clubs: Oranje & Ajax also follow teams that have Dutch players

    Players: Bergkamp is my favourite all time… At the moment Huntelaar, Robben, Heitinga

    Oranje Moment: Bergkamp’s goal against Argentina at France ’98

  35. Hi Jan,

    Thank you for being the home of the dutch nuts! 🙂
    I was born and raised in Albania, but living in USA.
    I grew up hearing about Cruijff and my first heartbreak was WC ’78.

  36. I am Ned.

    I bleed Oranje.
    Born in Amsterdam, I support Ajax, then Liverpool.
    I have followed this great game since the 70’s.

    My favourite ever players are Cruyff, Bergkamp, Van Basten – in that order.

    My favourite Oranje moment is harder to remember – not just the EC in ’88, but so many more – I will choose Gio’s goal against Uruguay in 2010 WC Semi-Final as it is freshest in my mind and was a special time for me personally.

    My favourite ever football moment – probably Liverpool defeating AC Milan in the 2005 champions league final.

    I played football from childhood to university level. I played as center forward, and I used to run 100m in 10.8 seconds (in football boots!) – 4th fastest in the country at under 18.
    I blew my knees with track running, and took a normal job instead of the football career i had always longed for. Now i live out my dreams vicariously through the talents of our next generation and beyond – always watching, always hoping, always supporting, though thick and thin. Oranje4Life!

    Great to see everyone here!
    Fantastic site, Jan – well done, mate.

    2. @Ned – hey Mate I always “bragged” about my 100m in spikes at 17 – 11.2 and have never met anyone socially who did better(a few the same time). Well done 10.8 in football boots is quicker than Overmars – 10.4 in spikes!
      My speed and growing up in Australia led me to play Rugby at a pretty high club level – same level as the Australian Internationals. Eventhough I captained the School Soccer First 11 ! When you grow up in Australia you do tend to play lots of Sports. (I even represented the state in Cricket !!)

  38. from Danemark press conference
    Morten Olsen: “The Dutch team think it will be an enormous disappointment if they do not win this title. We can’t say that. If we get through this group we have already won.”

    Morten Olsen: “Everything’s been said and written. But we are quite jealous of the Dutch team as we are not in their shoes. They are the favourites, there’s no doubt that.

    1. Asked what the biggest threat posed by the Netherlands is, Morten Olsen simply retors: “I’m not naive, you won’t get the answer to that.” The questioner persists, enquiring about Olsen’s opinion on the Dutch’s potential problems at left-back. The tete-a-tete continues, Olsen asking the journalists who he expects to play there. When he shrugs his shoulders, Olsen concludes: “OK, you are going to play with ten men, that’s good.”

  39. Fantastic – love the new site. I’ve been following this blog since 2010, although rarely posted. Was born born in Holland and moved to Australia (Melbourne) in ’78 when I was 10. My first trip back to Holland my cousins dragged me into some pub to see some soccer game. It was ’88. Next thing I knew everyone in the pub and the streets went crazy, apparently the team had beaten Germany in the semi-final of some tournament or other. Few days later, the same thing happened, only this time it was Russia, they told me, and it was the final. Then the place really went crazy. They won!!! The celebrations, went for days afterward. That was a real eye opener!
    Then I got busy with other things, until in 1998 my girlfriend and I decided to rise at some crazy hour of the morning to watch the WC and we fell in love with that team. The Bergkamp goal – I remember floating on air that day – the hands over the eyes… love it still! Then the penalties with Brazil. My first real experience of a big loss. The Portugal game. Thats my number one from the recent list incidently – not bringing on RVN. I can remember thinking, why not win it now Marco… rather than prepare for the next EC. (I only learnt about Boula’s daughter more recently, from this blog..)
    Then came 2010 – I liked the patience, despite their being criticised for it, as well as the smiles and jokes at training and interviews. Favourite moments include Gio’s long range shot, and surviving those frantic last minutes against Uruguay. Then the final, and Casillas’ shoelace.. And the should have been corner… and then it was over. So agonisingly close. But they have another chance. I think they can do it – lets hope so!! Hup Holland. Thanks for setting this up Jan!

  40. Been a looooooonnnngggggg time lurker. My bloed is oranje! Big holland and Ajax fan. Try to get to Holland once a year as i have family from Utrecht. This tournament will be an orange one!

    Football background: Played as a CB for my local team

    Favorite clubs: Ajax and Arsenal

    Fave players: Bergkamp, Cruyff, Van Basten, De boer, Overrmars

    Fave players of our current Oranje: Huntelaar, Heitinga

    Fave moment of Oranje: Bergkamps goal in 98

    Sympathy for other nations: Nope

    Bold predictions: Some Eastern country will do well. Russia will go far i think.

    How I watch Oranje: On the internet mostly
    Cheers

  41. Jan, all my life I have wished for a site like this one.

    I was too young to experience the glory and heart break of the 70s, although I have watched the 74 WK on DVD since.

    The first tournament I watched was Mexico 86 which Oranje wasn’t a part of.

    I followed Euro 88 but couldn’t watch it on tv. I was able to watch Italia 90 on tv and have watched every tournament since.

    My favourite Oranje moment is Bergkamp’s goal against Argentina in WK 98.

    I used to post under the name Jerome on your previous site. Don’t ask me why! And I live in Darwin Australia.

    Hip Holland Hup!

  42. Hello , Jan 🙂
    It’s Great to have this website , looks really cool 😀
    So happy for you , bro . Congratulations :).

    Name : Mohamed , 22 years old Egyptian guy who ” bleeds Orange ” since 1998 when he watched the amazing 98 generation with Bergkamp , davids , overmars and kluivert 😀 .

    I’m in my last year of medical school in Egypt , have been following the blog since 2009 .

    my Favorite clubs are Ajax , Arsenal and Barcelona
    however , sometimes i support dutch clubs in the Europian Tournaments 😛

    My favorite dutch players of all time : Johan Cruyff , neeskens , rensenbrink , Van basten , Gulliet , Bergkamp , davids , overmars , Seedorf , Ruud van Goal and F. De boer

    from the current generation I’m a big VDV fan .

    Non-dutch : i think Ronaldinho , Zidane , Henry and Messi are the most talnted non-dutch players ever .

    I really hope we make it this Euro .
    I was shocked after the last WC final .. so i think it’s time to celebrate now ;).

  43. hi Jan….great to be HOME again…does coming to a new home also signifies a new trophy..hope it works this way..
    for everyone…i am Sandeep Kar…from kolkata, india.
    he he..you dont find dutch supporters here…pepople only love and play cricket..and the only few who watch football is only the world cup…and they support brasil and argetina..

    i am 30,single and totally bleed oranje.
    my first love with oranje..1988..the gullit, van basten trio..and then Bergkamp..my all time fav…

    have been assoictaed with the blog for the last 2 years and love all the intensity and passion here…
    just want to say this to not only jan but everyone here…its only becoause of all of you that oranje still bleeds inside or else you cant be a dutch supporter when everyone around you shouts for some other team..

    Lets keep this alive and active…
    HUP HOLLAND HUP.

  44. Great work Jan! We will miss the old blog, but this is a new step …thanks for making this possible for all of us Jan. Now we see your face makes this more personal site..Nice to see many names from worldcup blog here already!
    I am also in webdesign and know setting this up must have been a lot of work, well done Jan! I think it looks super. Love the new logo, it could use some more contrast with the background to make the orange stand out more.! Also I am curious what you were doing with johan in front of the cruyff shop in Amsterdam..

    1. Johan asked me to come and promote his shoes. He said: “If I do this alone people will wonder who this old geezer is. But with you, it will raise my profile… I said…. sigh….well ok then…”

  45. Great new site, Jan. Here’s my vital stats:

    Personal stuff: Married with two boys, 3 & 5 y/o. Work as Organizational Effectiveness Consultant for public human services agencies (child welfare, cash assistance/training/services/medical care/etc. for low income folks) in Washington, DC, USA. Dual citizen Ireland-USA. Mum’s English (from Devon), Dad’s Irish (from Cork), have family scattered to the four winds.

    Dutch connection: Born in Groningen, moved to US when I was 13.

    Football background: Played as a CB for Be Quick 1887 in Haren, GN from ages 6-13. Proudest moments were winning a tournament in Hanover (take that, you zjermans!) and tying Ajax youth 0-0 at a tournament at AFC in Amsterdam. Played CB and left wing (don’t ask) in high school in USA, and casually in rec leagues ever since. Currently play D and Midfield in an old guys 7v7 league in Manassas, VA.

    Favorite clubs: FC Groningen and anyone with Dutch or Irish players.

    Fave Dutch players: Bergkamp, Cruyff, Frank De Boer, Erwin Koeman, Davids, Wouters, Rijkaard, van Breukelen

    Fave players of our current Oranje: van Bommel, Afellay

    Fave moments of Oranje: Watching Oranje-Saudi while working security for 1994 World Cup, Bergkamp’s goal in 98

    Sympathy for other nations: Republic of Ireland

    Bold predictions: None. I’ve been focused solely on Ireland and Oranje, and I’m too afraid of the powers of jinx to even attempt predictions…

    How I watch Oranje: In bars, ideally (e.g., watched most WK2010 at Mackey’s at 19th and L a block from my office), on TV/DVR as second choice, online when needed.

  46. eric. 32 y.o, happily married. bleeding oranje since 1988. been a casual visitor to the other blog for a couple of years or so, and post comments every now and then. indonesian by citizenship, american by residency. work as engineer for a large consumer product company. besides obviously oranje senior, my passion is following the young and upcoming oranje talents. i don’t usually post my ‘ideal’ formation or tactics.. don’t like being an armchair manager, i guess. i fully trust van marwijk (or whoever in charge in the future) to pick the best available players. high points as oranje supporter is euro’88 and defeating overrated brazil against all odds in last world cup. low points are failure to qualify to wc’02 at the hands of portugal, and defeat against italy in euro’00a after two missed penalties. prediction for euro’12: oranje will struggle at the beginning, barely make the group stage, but will then grow in strength and reach the final. germany is the team to beat, russia and france will surprise a lot of people and go deep.

    congratulations on the new site, and keep up the good work. cheers!

  47. Hi Jan,
    I’m very happy that you got this site up and running just in time. I was hoping you do something like this as the worldcupblog seemed to have served it purpose.

    I’m Sam. 30 years old. Living just about 5 mins outside of Washington, D.C. 2nd year medical student taking some time off to do some research. I have been a die hard Oranje supporter since 1990. I was born in Holland and lived there until I was about 7 years old. Last time I was in Amsterdam was during the 1990 World Cup.

    Favorite Club Team: Barcelona

    Other teams I support/follow: Ajax, Arsenal, Juventus

    other national teams I follow or support if Oranje is out: USA, France, Brazil, African and Asian teams

    Favorite Dutch players: Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Bergkamp, Koeman, Davids, Overmars, RVN, RVP, Sneijder, Robben, Van der Sar and so much more
    (These are the players I have watched play live)

    Other players: Zidane, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo (Brazil), Romario, Roberto Carlos, Henry, Messi, Dani Alves, Fabregas, Viera, Xavi, Del Piero, Zambrotta, Thuram, Matthais, Klinsmann, Shearer, Wright, Adams, so many others

    Saddest Moment: Iniesta’s goal in the 2010 World Cup and Robben’s miss against Casillas in the same game.

    Favorite Moment: Berkamp’s goal against Argentina. I felt like we won the World Cup when that goal went in.

  48. Wow, forgot to include my top Oranje moment of all time –first time my youngest son Patrick stood up all by himself was during Oranje-Brazil at WK2010. We were all going crazy after Brazil’s own goal, and he clearly wanted to join the party. Just a sublime moment.

  49. Great blog. Been following since the World Cup but never posted. Following Orange since 1998. Father immigrated to Chatham Ontario following the war with his family (as a toddler). I’m 32 with two kids and work as an anesthesiologist.

    Can’t wait to see van Bommel hoist the Cup!
    Hup Holland!

  50. About my sports: I played football for NFC Amstelveen, Buitenveldert, Voorland and Swift Amsterdam, always as rightwinger, and played on every street and park of amstelveen and amsterdam when I was a kid . Played with Robbie vh Schip brother of Johnnie vh Schip, Robbie asked me to join Ajax but my parents would´not let me. I often played with Johnnie and he was such a great sport.
    I loved to play with Voorland, a club situated next to the old grounds of stadium of Ajax, and we could always watch ajax youth teams.
    My favorite players : cruyff bergkamp, vbasten and Rijkaard.. At the moment I like Hunter Persie Ribery Ronaldo Maher Luuk de Jong, Xavi, Iniesta ,
    Fav international players: Giresse, Platini, Finidi George, Socrates, Zico, Brian Laudrup, Rivera, Johan Cruyff.

    1. Cool!!! I have always been a Schip fan. This guy had so much class but lacked a little bit sometimes, which made him even more heroic too me :-). Didn’t even know he had a bro’. There is a Canadian connection with Schip isn’t there?

  51. Jan,

    This is AWESOME! Thank you very much for doing this, it is the type of site that I’ve always wanted to exist!

    Now the (not so) obligatory intro:

    * Born and grew up in Indonesia

    * Remembered faintly as a kid how the “nice” Oranje was beaten by the “bad guys” Argentina in 1978. Sympathy point immediately earned

    * Still could not remember how/why, but began to support the Oranje before the start of EURO 1988 and officially “bled Oranje” after their victory, followed them since

    * Moved to the US in 1994, watched some live matches of the World Cup and saw the loss vs Brazil

    * Moved to Asia in 1997 and worked for ABN Amro. I think it is a sign that I joined “THE BANK” as an Oranje. Spent some time in Holland for work, can only help my allegiance for the Oranje

    * Moved to the US for work in 1999 and have been residing here since. Struggled earlier since football was not usually broadcast on TV but I’d say in the last 5 or so years, it’s been much better

    Fav clubs: Liverpool (YNWA) —> I read some of the posts, I think “Ned” and I are both Oranje and Reds

    Fav players: Frank de Boer (too young to be familiar with JC). Current squad: Robben (whom I think – if not for his injuries – is the most skilled player in the world), Afellay and van der Wiel (I really really think/hope these 2 will become bonafide superstars after this month)

    Fav moments of Oranje:
    1. Same with Jan’s …. St Marco’s goal.
    2. Diagonal pass from Frank to Iceman vs Argentina

    Fav (personal) moments of Oranje:
    1. London 2006: I picked up an Oranje jersey, the dude asked me what player/number I wanted. I told him “#4 de Boer, can you please put F in front?”. Poor chap looked confused and asked me “de Boer? are you sure?”
    2. Queensland, Australia 2008: I wore that #4 kit, a guy asked me in a very quizzing tone/facial expression “#4 huh? Frank or Ronald?”. I replied immediately “Frank, of course” then started to rattle him with useless Oranje trivia. He said “follow me” and took me to his bar, this is by the beach. Took me to a certain corner and showed me all these Oranje memorabilias. He is Dutch! We became best of friends rightaway.

    Bold predictions: Germany won’t survive the first round. Sweden (not England) will go through with France

    Not so Bold prediction: Oranje will lift the trophy this year beating Spain in the final

    HUP HOLLAND HUP!

    Thank you again, Jan for providing this for all of us!

    PS:
    One personal wish of mine is to open a similar bar like his by the beach BUT I’ll call it “Oranje Flavour”. It will NOT be just a bar with an Oranje section at the corner BUT it will be a full blown Oranje-themed beach bar in San Francisco Bay Area and it will become a mandatory stop for all Dutch and future Oranje players when they are in the West Coast of the US. I am really serious about this and my wife (who always says I’m a Dutch-wannabe) also knows this.

    If this ever happens, obviously ALL members of “dutchsoccersite.org” will be able to drink for free! (I’ll even let Jan sleep there)

    1. Fantastic story man! And what a mission too. Good of you to share this here. There might be lurkers here keen on helping you along. Do you remember the name of the bar in Queensland? I might check them out 🙂

  53. Jan, great job. Congrats.
    I am originally turkish and living in NYC since 15 years. Been following Holland since early 80s due to stories about Cruyff and fascination with orange color.
    Van Basten is my favorite all time player. Other teams I liked in the past are Brazil 82, Denmark 86.
    Biggest disappointment which left me scarred is the failure to beat Spain in 2010.
    My hair has turned grey while waiting for Holland to lift a trophy. Biggest moment of course is EC 88.

  54. @Guillaume Nice icon!
    I had some problems logging in first time but the page seems to load faster now. Jan if you need any new designs for other topics or pages such as video archive you can ask us to make them, and pick the one you like, we will be gladly to provide!
    I hope you can find a way to make a vdo page lay-out with small thumbnails so that visitors can see them all in one glance and dont need to scroll a lot, this would also give it a more ´modern´ look.
    It would also be great if we, posters could upload/post videos there, because youtube has loads, but I know this is not easy and need some time.

    1. Hahaha….wow….overwhelming me already eh? Thanks!! I will get back to you ok? I am SURE I need help. As I said, I feel like a caveman blundering around WordPress :-).

  55. ok jan – I’ll go along with this.

    Still hanging out here in Europe – had great fun in the AreaA and De Kuip for the “Friendlies” – about to watch the opening match of the EC2012.

    Posted from Ireland –

    (Back in Canada soon)

    OJF

  57. Jan, Great job as always !!!

    I am Vikram, the self-confessed “most passionate Oranje fan” in the world. I bleed Orange, literally.

    I was born and raised in Calcutta, India which happens to be the only city in a cricket-crazy country that still cares about football a bit. I played football in school and college-level tournaments. In 2000, I moved to the United States and I presently live in College Station, Texas.

    I began to bleed Orange starting from 1988 Euro. I was a kid then and had been following football the previous 4-5 years. Those were the days of no internet, limited color televisions and hardly any Oranje following in Calcutta. That city was (and still is) essentially a Brazil/Argentina stronghold. I remember learning about The great Dutch teams of the 1970s essentially from newspaper cuttings.

    Since 1988 I have followed every single Holland game. Sometimes, I feel the dissappointments we all have encountered every 2 years have made me a pessimist. Like all of us, I wished Robben had buried that one in the net in the 2010 World Cup final. I know it sounds strange but I had invited the entire city of College Station for a walk-in party on July 11, 2010 anticipating an Oranje victory.

    Although my wife is not a keen football follower, my 5-year old daughter is. She plays already in the local league. The other day she had this very amusing conversation with one of her uncles back in India:

    Uncle: So do you like Cricket?
    My daughter: No, they are ugly insects !!
    Uncle: So which game do you like?
    My daughter: Soccer off course…Don’t you know it is the best game in the world?
    Uncle: I see..So who is your favorite player? Messi?
    My daughter: Messi? Who is he? I only like Holland players, favorite is Sneijder.

  58. So your a Feyenoord fan. That explains why you’re usually sympathetic with Van Persie! I get the impression that Robin isn’t very liked outside rotterdam

    1. HAha, he wasn’t always liked in Rotterdam either. I think he had a bad start but not just because of him. It’s the way the talents were guided in the past. Or not guided. Robin’s parents are artists. No clue about football. His youth coaches made him feel like he was Jesus. Bert was the first to actually tell him off. He learned and Wenger did the finishing job ( and Bergkamp, and Henry and Tony Adams). Everyone in Holland could see he was oooooozing talent but too cocky. But the Ajax players have this always but at Ajax it’s expected and in Rotterdam they cricitise you for it…

  60. Jan! What an amazing job! Congrats man… you could not have unvieled this at a better time!!

    Keep it short – Lebanese living in NYC. I started supporting Oranje after they won the 1988 EU – I did not watch that game as I was too young and fell asleep!

    My favorite oranje game was the 6-1 win against Yugoslavia when Patrick Kluivert scored 4 goals.

    Don’t think I have a favorite player, but I do believe Arjen Robben has what it takes to bring the cup back to Holland and engrave his name in gold.

    Worst moment is all of the above. I really hate it when they lose, but probably the italy game in 2000 when they missed the 5 penalties.

  61. Jan – what a great site! Love it!

    About myself:

    Born and raised in Canada, as I have both Dutch born parents, and a large family in the Netherlands, I spent several summers there starting in the late 70’s (as far as I can remember)

    I played football in the streets of the small towns in Northern Holland (Friesland) with my cousins during every visit and remember playing with the neighborhood kids on prestine, green practice pitches for the local small town club (HC Veenwouden)where my grandparents lived.

    I’ve seen my share of disappointment over the years, as well as the great victories and success of Oranje.

    I can barely remember 1978, but recall being disappointed of course (something my own son would experience 2 years ago with 2000 screaming Dutch supporters at our local Dutch community club in London, Ont.) I recall that in ’86, Canada really didn’t hold a place in my heart for football and that I bled Orange and couldn’t wait until the next major tournament, which of course was in ’88 and we all know how that turned out…

    I remember the spitting incident of Italia ’90 (classic)

    I remember seeing the team in Toronto in a warm up for USA ’94 against Canada, how dominant they were…and of course Bergkamp’s amazing goal against Argentina.

    I remember those 90’s teams and how they were so much fun to watch, that generation was fun…

    So many more memories and moments, but my favourite had to be against Brazil in the last World Cup. I had to wait all day as I wasn’t able to watch it live so avoided all radio, press, internet etc. until the match was replayed in the evening here. But it was worth the wait…10 hours later.

    Favourite players: So many, but Bergkamp, RVN, RVP, Stam, vd Sar, and the list goes on…

    We now live in a small town, with a large Dutch community and large Portugese community, so needless to say the 17th should be a fun day.

    My prediction: I’ve tipped our boys to beat the Germans in the final, 1-0 with Robben getting some redemption from the finals in 2010 and the Champions league final.

    Once again, great, great site – I’ve been following since 2010 and it’s fantastic to see this move!

    Hup Holland!

  62. 1-0 poland! Poland is not bad but they are not very efficient and missed some chances already, I cant see them as favorite yet
    Great atmosphere

  63. Long time viewer – lived in Canada all my life – saddest thing I ever saw was my dad and uncle walking up the street, sad, after the Germans won in 1974. My dad’s name is Jan, he was born near Utrecht and came to Canada after WWII. Thanks Jan for doing this, it’s great.

  64. Hey, Jan!

    This is a fantastic surprise!

    Anyways, my parents immigrated from Hong Kong, and I was born and raised in the Netherlands near Maastricht the year we won the Euros. My parents quickly got into Oranje when they became citizens, seeing it as an important part of their new national identity, and I grew up watching the national team and playing football on the streets.

    My mother loves to mention the day of the Euro 88 final. The streets were literally dead, not a car, not a human in sight, like the city had been abandoned. As soon as the final whistle blew, people came running out of their houses, waving Orange, literally banging pots and pans they’d grabbed from their kitchens! The bars in town offered free drinks all night long, cars were honking their horns in celebration. Augh, I wish I was old enough to remember.

    Anyways, we moved to America in 2000, where I stopped playing football for a while because no one else played, but I never stopped following Oranje. It was one of the few ways I could stay connected to home. Had a lot of trouble following Dutch football, but I found your site (I guess the old site now) and another little piece of home. Thanks for that, Jan!

    I’m quite a bit older now, a college graduate, and I find time to play soccer quite often now. Right-footed speed demon of a winger with pretty good ball control and a good cross, but horrible headers. I tried to emulate Overmars when I was young. 🙂

    Anyways, that’s me. Thanks again for everything you do, Jan!

  65. Great to be here, and to see that all the posters who make it such a unique place to be didn’t waste any time making it over.

    About me. No Dutch ancestry at all. Live in the SF Bay Area. Read a Sports Illustrated Article when I was 15 on the eve of the ’74 WC about Cruyff, follwed them through that championship and have followed Dutch Soccer passionately ever since…best moments: 1:00 am in the middle of the week watching MVB score the last minute winner against Germany (only broadcast I could find was a Spanish Language replay that didn’t start until after 11:00 pm) and then 10 yearss later watching Bergkamp’s winner against Argentina…

    …I say its time for another great moment

  66. Congrats on new site.

    Dutch mother, American dad.

    Oranje, Ajax, Arsenal and Valencia when I watch Spain. Always found Italian league almost unwatchable.

  68. The referee is a joke… is it possible this tourny is rigged? I mean, Poland is in such an easy group and they scored and both yellows on the greek guy were soft… actually one was soft the other was just a joke.

  69. Name: Paul. 27 years old. Born and raised, Long island new york, still live there with my fiance, we are getting married September 9. Work as an attorney, currently between jobs and looking for a good fit at a new firm (any connections?)

    Football background: I played right mid when i was younger, mainly for my speed and not for my ball control…so i switched over to track when i was told i would make the high school team but sit on the bench. have followed the dutch team heavily since 1998 when games were televised and i was 14.

    Favorite clubs: PSV, Arsenal, Oranje.

    Fave players: RVN, Bergkamp

    Fave players of our current Oranje: RVP, Robben, MVB

    Fave moment of Oranje: Whipping Italy’s butt in 2008!

    Sympathy for other nations: USA, Israel (hopefully no anti-semitism on this board kids)

    Bold predictions: England out first round.

    How I watch Oranje: On the couch mainly, i need to concentrate. Sometimes i can drag some friends to a bar or watch with my dad when possible.

    One thing no one knows about me: Nothing, i am a very open person.

    Dutch connection: MY father was born in amsterdam and his entire family is still there. I am pretty close with my relatives over there, more so than my american relatives actually. I have been to Holland 4 times, most recently in 2009 for a month w my friends and family and again fell in love with the country.

  70. While the red card against greece was soft, non-existent 2nd yellow card, itll be good to get the anti-football greeks out of the tournament, not that they had a shot anyway.

  74. We go where you go Jan. Been, and will continue to be, a long time lurker on your site. Supporter from Australia with Dutch father and family that live in Rotterdam. My romance began in ’88 when Oranje won their first major and I received my 1st pair “Cruyff” brand boots. Happily married to the “Oranje lady” ever since.

    Fantastic looking (new) site!!

  78. Great work! thanks Jan!

    I live in Hong Kong since I was born. I did spend a year in Australia last year. I visited all states except SA and managed to pass through Byron Bay with a campervan(did not stop though).
    I am working in NAB(Hong Kong branch) as an IT guy. Seriously, I do hope to immigrate to Australia some day. I like the lifestyle there and most importantly, I feel no future in my home city.

    Football background. I started playing football when in secondary school. Since then I almost played every position including keeper just for fun, but failed everywhere. Now I usually play CF(and still sucks).

    When I was young there werent much tv coverage on football here. All I could watch is the weekend highlight and the 1998 WC. Nowadays I watch everything on sopcast, of course. I dont know when I started to like Oranje but probably it coincides with the day i first watch football….

    Fav. team: Ajax
    Fav. players: Overmars, Van nistelrooy, Sneijder, Huntelaar, Van Der Wiel
    Fav. Oranje game: The trample on Italy in 2008
    Fav. Oranje goal: from goal to goal in 17s
    Who will win this: Oranje!

  79. Hi, my name is Xavier and I’m 24. I have followed Jan’s blog since Euro 2008. I have occasionally posted but mostly I lurk in the cyber-shadows. Who am I? A law student who should be writing final essays but is writing this post instead. The Euro’s could not have come at a better time.

    I’m an Australian with a Dutch father. I started school in Holland, living between Nijmegen and Arnhem. I should go for NEC or Vitesse but my (Dutch) team is Ajax. My first love is Arsenal.

    My favourite player of all time is Dennis Bergkamp. He features in my favourite Oranje memory; i.e. that winner against Argentina.

    That’s enough from me. I cannot wait till we are crowned champions of Europe on July 2.

  80. wow. ESPN is terrible for soccer commentating. The headline was just, “is there a spot in the lineup for RVP”…WTF, clearly got it wrong and reversed

    1. that dude alexi lalas, (whos greek lineage) is all oh greece is going to get out the group without any proof,

      and then saying holland won’t get out of the group, and ballack just stares at him like, did you know what those damn orange bastards did to me in 2004 and what they did in 2008

  81. Damn Szeczny!!
    Clear foul and deserved Red card
    Amazing penalty save from the replacement goalie.

    Poland just gave that game away.

    Michael Ballack is one of the studio analyst for ESPN’s coverage. I don’t like the live game commentators, especially McManaman with his thick, inner ear scratching accent. I don’t know why they don’t get better more interesting people to call these games.

  85. Yea i think we are stronger than in the WC…RVP, Robben and Huntelaar were all either hurt or coming off of bad seasons…now all three are fit as a fiddle and sharp.

    The only downside is sneijder who i think will hit form…the free kick against n ireland will be a huge boost to him and he usually shines with the NT.

    Defense Defense Defense…Heitinga is at his PRIME, nobody realizes that, Vlaar is a beast, VDW can have some great games, or bad…, and Willems/Schaars? Lets hope BVM provides instructions to MVB and NJD to provide cover…i actully think Kuyt would be a good option.

    Sum: We are marginally stronger than 2010…and we were WC finalists in 2010…

  86. Glad to be here! Love this blog. I’m an American of Dutch descent (parents moved from AMS a couple years before I was born), from NJ, living in DC.

  98. Yeah looking at Russia, I prefer the others. Not that we won’t be able to beat them but coming out of a tough group, it would be nice to get Czech or Greece instead

  103. Name is Robert and I currently live in Los Angeles, California, US. Raised in Miami, FL and son to a Dutch father who instilled in me a love for the Oranje.

    Fav Dutch moment: bergkamps goal against Argentina
    Worst Dutch moment: losing Portugal

    Good to be here and looking forward to some great games! Hup holland Hup!

  104. Fantastic website Jan.. Marvelous upgradation to say the least..
    I want Russia in the q/f’s(if at all we manage to get past the group stages)..I’d love to exact revenge on them for EK 2008..

  109. The Czech Republic has been TERRIBLE. Sloppy passing, slow and very poor defense; good grief, I could have scored a goal or two against them.

  110. Russia plays very open attacking football. Very dangerous counter-attacks. Lots of attacking players. Czechs really have horrible defense. Revenge can wait another day. I rather face an easier side.

  112. Hi Jan,

    My name is Shik Yan, born in Holland, moved to Hong Kong when I was 10, after the first football match i watched in 1988, when Holland won the Euro.

    After I moved to HK, i never stopped watching and supporting Holand. time after time my heart broke, 90, 94,98, 04, 06 08, 2000 etc…. time after time we failed, but they never gave up, and so am I 😀

    I’m crazy about Holland football team, it’s in my blood. There is one belief and one dream, that Holland will win the World Cup again once in my life time. I’m sure I don’t have to wait long.

    Let’s get the Euro Cup first! I’m sure we can do it.

    P.S. had been following your page since world up 2010.

  114. Thanks Jan for all your efforts.

    I live in Texas, USA. I’m of Lebanese origins. I’ve been an Oranje fan for exactly 20 years- since Euro 1992. I still remember watching Oranje crush the Germans 3-1. I was still a kid at the time! I’ve been to the Netherlands in 2000 and fell in love with the country. My all time favorite dutch players are Rijkard, Overmars, Bergkamp, Kluivert, Davids, Van Nistelrooy, Van der Sar, Stekelenburg, Sneijder. My favorite dutch win was the one against Brazil in WC 2010 and the best performance of an Oranje squad I’ve ever seen was against Yougoslavia in EC 2000.

    Hup Holland Hup.

  115. Hi Guys, first post on the new board. Congrats Jan. Very nice… thank you for hosting us and all this great info.

    Good luck. I will stick around for a while 🙂

    Going straight to the Euro, Group A was a joke and still is. Assuming we are not f up, then we should be in the semis easily …

  117. BTW,

    I spent half of my life in Europe and half in the US, dual citizen living in Los Angeles.

    Favorite teams: Oranje and only.
    honorary mention Brazil 82, have a little sympathy for Sweden as well.

    Favorite Goals: Van de Kerkhof equalizer with Germany 1978, Nanninga equalizer with Argentina 1978.

    Favorite modern Goals: Van Gol with Russia 2008. I love to scream 🙂

    Favorite moment of all times: Steks stopping Kaka. Unreal 🙂

    Favorite players: Krol, Haan, R Koeman, Cruyff
    Foreign: Eder and honorary Socrates (great man too)

    Favorite modern players: Steks, Nigel, vBommel, Sneijder

    Living my entire life waiting to revenge the cheating of 1978. BvM is my only chance to make this happen 🙂

    Loving this board, can’t sleep a minute waiting
    1. for conquering the euro just for practice
    2. WC 2014. That’s the real deal !

  118. JAN again congrats!!!!!!!!!!

    I am a 33 years old lawyer. I had born in Venezuela. In this country everyone support Brazil or Argentina, and Spain, Portugal and Italy, because after WWII we received a lot of people from Europe.

    But I am not like the others… I am Orange fan since 90´s… Koeman, van Basten, etc… really I don’t need to explain, need it I? For me Dutch football is the perfect combinations with the Latin American skills and the European strategy. Netherlands like Jesus, divided the history in two eras, AC and DC. In 74 the football history divided in classic and modern. The “total football” was the main gap..!

    Like everyone here support Brazil I have been suffering a lot of bulling all my life to support Holland jajajajaj.

    I am not Duct, but I love Duct football… and shit!!!.. I cried a lot like you guys when we lost against Brazil in 94 and 98, or against Spain in 2010.
    but I know the day will come when Dutch football will receive what he deserve: the WC (and not only one!)..

    Also I am Ajax´s big fan. I love it and I watch Eredivisie all the weekends. I will rather watch Eredivise more than Premier League!

    The next WC will be very special for me. Venezuela will go (we draw against Uruguay last week in Montevideo imagine) and I have the feeling Netherlands will win it!

    Favorite players?: Bergkamp, Davids, Overmars, .. current orange: Sneijder.

  120. Hey! Uhm. New blog huh? I like it. It’s cool you invest so much effort in building us a new home Jan. You picked a right time for the move too 🙂

    I enjoyed this opening day. The team that impressed me was Russia. We had our referee blundering already, red cards etc.

    Can’t wait for tomorrow!!!!!

  121. all will be revealed tommorrow,

    if holland has what it takes,

    whos going to be left back,

    if germany or portugal are the real deal or pretenders,

    the start of our quest to place the oranje lion on the throne of europes best

  122. I’m Hien. Born and grew up in Vietnam. Lucky to live in Canada thanks to the result of the Vietnam War.

    Football background: I played football on the street a lot when I was young, bare feet, sneaking out of the house whenever I can, I recalled that our team won the championship by penalty (I scored 1 of the 5). The trophy and medals (after given to us) was taken back and kept by the Young Pioneers (Communist thing) in a glass case somewhere where I never see it again. I play on grass only in Canada and of course with shoes and proper football gear. I play defense (center, right back) or midfield (center) where the team needs me. I’m not a good as goalie or striker.

    Favorite clubs: 1. Ajax. 2. Barcelona. AC Milan when Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard were playing, not now.

    Fave players: Cruyff, Van Basten, Van Der Saar, Neeskens

    Fave players of our current Oranje: Sneijder, Van Persie, Robben, Afellay, Huntelaar, Van Der Wiel, Stek.

    Fave moment of Oranje: 1988 Euro Championship.

    Fave goal: Van Basten in the Euro 88 final.

    Sympathy for other nations: Canada (perhaps Vietnam although both are long shot to make to the WC) but no team can be compared to the Netherlands.

    Bold predictions: Like Jan, I hope Italy and Croatia will advance. I also think perhaps Sweden sneaking in instead of France or England, and of course Netherlands win Euro 2012.

  126. Hey Jan! Glad you’re keeping this alive! I’m Shivam (call me Shiv). Born and raised in Massachusetts, US. Not going to lie, I’m fairly new to football, compared to most of you here. I’ve started following football about 6 years ago. I’ve never played football on any level, besides recreationally (2 bad ankles).

    Favorite clubs: 1. Arsenal. 2. Bayern Munchen (Oranje is a given)

    Fave players: Van Persie, Sneijder, Schweinsteiger,

    Fave players of our current Oranje: Van Persie, Sneijder, Robben

    Fave moment of Oranje: Don;t really have one..yet

    Sympathy for other nations: England

    Bold predictions: None really. Germany and Holland in the finals! Oranje to take it all!

  127. Super cool site, great place to kill some time whilst at the office or when lack of sleep reels in the night before a game;)

    Hope for a modest win tomorrow.

  128. Now in Raincity Canada but grew up in NL. Only played soccer after school at the playground, wisely left it at that.

    First time I saw an Oranje game on tv was in a Kneipe in Donaueschingen, Germany while on vacation. Oranje vs the DDR, 1974. The subsequent matches vs Brazil and W-Germany I heard over the radio by Wereldomroep NL. By that time we were at a beautiful camping site in Yugoslavia. With the exception of one Belgian family there were Germans and Germans only. The day after that final we felt the sudden urge to leave for France. The Belgian family emphatically came to wave us goodbye. Bless them.

    At that time we hadn’t the faintest idea of the quality of the Oranjes and the impact of the missed chance to win such a tournament. Soccer wasn’t reported on or pushed to the fore as it is now or so it seems to me. I know everything changes but back in that time it wasn’t unusual for respected players to have another business going to make ends meet. Including cigar shops and liqueur stores…

    Great blog! Thanks for putting this up Jan!

  129. Hi Jan,thanks man for this nice place.You are always a great writer and a leader.

    My name is Lights(Jason).I was born in Singapore,i am in business and I live in The Netherlands.Being an Oranje fan since 1989.At present I am back to Singaore becos my dad is fatally sick…..

    My favourite Dutch players are Dennis Bergkamp,Ruud Van Gol and my favourite of our current Oranje players are Robben,Van persie, Sneijder, Afellay, van der Vaart and Maarten Stekelenburg.

    Hereby is a very special goal from Van Goal.During that time,I was chanting and dancing,LoLzzzz……
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAV530H9jQc

    My prediction of this EK2012 cup winner – Orange/Russia
    If our Oranje gonna play confidently ,very strong mentality with hunger,we will take the cup back to Amsterdam.
    Hup Holland Hup….olalaaa…oleleeee

    1. Hey Jason, sorry to hear about your dad man….

      Good that you are there….

      Check out the game at Winebos if you have time. There is one in Katong Village and on North Bridge Road

      1. Thank you for the concern,Jan.
        Ok,i will visit the Katong Village when i have the time.Haha,i wonder how can you know so much thing in Singapore.I actually feel myself as a tourist in here…haha 🙂

  130. All Dutch people should feel honored by the fact that although Oranje might have only won one trophy so far, they’ve actually won something much more valuable with their way of playing: the hearts and imagination of people from all over the world.

    Maybe if this current team would realize this they will be able to shake the enormous pressure and in my mind unreasonable expectancy to deliver.

    In the hope that they will be able to enjoy their games, give us some memorable moments and if that cup is won along the way that would be nice too.

    HHH

  131. Wow nice new website Jan!!
    @ Bpb H, well said sir.

    I live in Vancouver BC Canada, 30 years old and married and I work in cinematography, supplying large greenscreens/ bluescreens etc for special effects for TV shows/movies (ferenc, i almost had to come to budapest 3 weeks ago for die hard 5 filming there!). my mother’s side are dutch immigrants who were part spanish, my father’s side are scottish and english canadians. yep, I’m a total mutt.
    As a hobby I play in a few bands and watch and play as much footie as I can…I am BUSY, ask my wife who thinks we are ridiculous.

    Football background: played all my life (cause we couldn’t afford hockey, ha!) until I became a little punk rocker in high school not before Bergkamp won me over, started playing again 5 years ago at the age of 25. These days I play on a team in a private league in town, and also 2 or 3 times a week at local ‘drop-in’ games around my area of the city (which is very multicultural). I love it.

    Favorite clubs: Arsenal (thx to Bergkamp)/ Barca (thx to JC), however I follow any and all teams I can with dutch players…

    Fave players: Again, too many to mention: Cruyff, Bergkamp

    Fave players of our current Oranje: Persie, Afelaay, Robben, Huntelaar (man I want to see these 4 up front! how can we not make this work?!?!?)

    Fave moment of Oranje: Bergkamp 98

    Sympathy for other nations: nope, we deserve all my sympathy

    Bold predictions: I really think we will win this year (and I hope we beat every top team on our way to it!)!!!

    Cheers, thanks again Jan!
    Great to read up on everyone, I feel like I know you!

    1. Steve, i hope in the future you will come to budapest for another film – big companies like to shoot here,so sooner or later you might have to opportunity to visit budapest 🙂

  132. Hi Everyone,

    Love the new site. I post occassionally but I have been a mad Holland fan since 1990 when I was 15 and watched the 1974 Official World Cup Film on SBS TV in Australia.

    Fav. Player – Johan Cruyff.

    Fav. Teams – Holland 1998, Ajax 1995 and of course the current Barcelona generation who now carry forward Cruyff’s football ideals.

    Fav. moments – Ajax winning the champions league in 1995 and Holland coming so close in 1998 to win the world cup.

    Heartbreak moments (there are so many but I love this team)

    1992 Penalty loss to Denmark at Euro92
    1998 Penalty loss to Brazil at France98. We were the best team in the tournament and to lose like that well I am still recovering.
    2000 Penalties…penalties…penalties v Italy at EURO2000. This game I believe had a massive tectonic influence on how Holland plays now…playing beautiful is no longer as important as winning. I sat there watching this Semi final unfold and could not believe it. Truly the football Gods Hate us.
    2002 World Cup Qualification Failure
    2010 World Cup final loss and Robben missing by the tip of Casillas boot. The Gods still hate us.

    However, one day it will be our day again like in EURO 88!!!!

  133. So my name is Finn.

    I was born in a small fishing village in Norway. Have zero relatives in Holland, can’t speak Dutch, but I love Oranje with a die hard passion. I have been to Holland probably 20+ times, watched my first Ajax-Feyenoord in Amsterdam whilst on holiday with my parents at the age of 12.

    I have always found the Dutch to be some of the friendliest and generous people I have ever met. I like their view on life. As a student, living in the UK, I would spend my student loans on weekend trips to Holland to watch Ajax.

    Now I live and work in New York (or New Amsterdam as it used to be called). Have been living here for 22 years. Divorced, with a teenage daughter. Never really played the game much as a kid but ran track (long distance, not like the gazelles called Carlos and Ned). Was pretty decent at it though. I am also a die hard Liverpool supporter (travel to Anfield once a year)and watched Kuyt score his hat-trick against Man U in person from the Kop. Happy days.

      1. Thank you Jan, and a massive congratulations on what looks like an absolutely massive site.

        Well done, and look forward to contribute as much as I can

  134. Hi all!

    My relationship with Oranje, could be described perhaps as quite strange. First, I’m not a big football fan and actually don’t even follow professional sports much. I’ve never even been to the Netherlands, even tough I had a few friends study there for a student exchange and actually came to booking tickets, but my old laptop had broken, and the money for the trip went to replace it. Closest I’ve been is Antwerp.

    I remember first supporting the Dutch team as young boy at a summer camp, during the Euro 2000. Everyone picked a team, and I chose the guys in orange who played fast, exiting and fearless football, that we’d then replicated in our own little matches during the day 🙂

    Life went on and the games came and went..and so did the disappointments…Looking at Gerard’s post above I’m in a way glad I wasn’t yet on board the Orange Legion (partly due to my age) to experience some of them before my time.

    But I do have a fair share of them etched in my memory, the most painful one being the very recent defeat in South Africa. And in a way it was very personal, let me share this one with you:

    I had, for a second year applied to get into to university where I really wanted to study. The selection was/is hard ( 94% rejection rate the year I got in 2010) with about page book 400 to literally memorise if you want a shot in the exam. I’d miss by three points last year, but decided to still try again and had been practising and studying for my months, during other studies work and everything else. The university would publish the results online, and of course inform those accepted by mail, but the date for the former wasn’t set.

    So at half time I, out of a whim decide to check the university website. I see my name among a few dozen other lucky ones. I’m over the moon. My life is set at least for the next five year: hard work and perseverance had finally paid off.

    Then came the second half…and the OT..and that goal…
    I still can’t describe the mix of emotions I had. One half my face was smiling, the other in tears.

    But I guess, love only grows stronger with difficulties. 2010 still gave us some great memories, the Brazil game especially, and also to the domestic Dutch fans, the reception you gave your time when they got back. Silver in the World Cup is still an achievement and you welcomed them like heroes.

    This reply has gone way longer than I intended, and there is still stuff I need to get done before the match so I’ll end it here. Thanks for Jan for this fantastic website, thanks for everyone for sharing their stories.

    Tonight, the Orange Lion will arouse his appetite with some Danish lamb!
    Wij Houden van Oranje!

    Matias
    Tampere/Finland

  135. Jan my friend! How far you’ve come!

    Remember when we first started the World Cup Blog? You’ve done wonderful things with the site since then and should be proud of yourself now that you have your own.

    Well done and keep up the great work!

    HUP HOLLAND!!

  136. sandesh from kathmandu, nepal. wc 94 was when i started watching football. have very little memories of those days. salenko scoring plenty, argentina’s loss, sweden’s third place finish, baggio’s mis hit.
    started loving holland from ’98 and especially from that very goal by bergkamp.
    i feel we deserved the title in 2000 but ….
    best players: bergkamp, kluivert, rvp, rvdv, davids, zidane, owen, henry
    best moment: bergkamp goal vs argentina, sneijder’s goal exactly 4 years ago. man, what a counter attack that was!!
    following this blog since the july of 2007. still remember that day when i searched “van bommel” in google news and there i found the best site and best people loving holland football
    predictions for this time: i am bleeding orange so what more can i say 🙂
    and feeling bit nervous at the moment.
    july 1 will be the glory day guys. i really think so..

  137. I am an American of Dutch ancestry. My forefathers and foremothers came from what is now the Netherlands, in the mid-1600s, settling in New Amsterdam (now New York City) and in upstate New York (Albany area, which is the capital city of New York State. The first seven generations of my family were farmers, owning comparatively large farms along the Mohawk River valley. The spoke Dutch for several generations, attended Dutch Reformed churches and settled in a community which was predominately of Dutch heritage.

    My father was the first non-farm born ancestor, and he became the first college educated member of my family, and spent his career in public education. He died at age 57, still teaching. His brother, Don, was a superior athlete who played professional baseball, and excelled at basketball and soccer. From my father I received the gift of music (sax, clarinet, drums) and from Uncle Don my love of and participation in sports. Then these interests came together after I visited the Netherlands for the first time, and I became a Dutch soccer fan and follower, beginning with the World Cup in 1974.

    I am attorney by profession, an avid student of both family history and the history of the Netherlands. My son, who turned 27 today, is an excellent soccer player and loves Dutch football as well. We are disappointed today, but we have been there before with our beloved team and will support them forever. Thanks for this great idea, Jan–you are the best!

  138. Hi Jan

    Great new site — and it is really heartwarming to see Oranje fans from around the world all joining together here.

    For myself, my father came from Holland and my mother from Italy, so football was always going to be in the blood. Although both nations have great football traditions, the style and entertaining attacking nature of the Dutch won me over. So yes, my blood is orange.

    I grew up and live in Los Angeles (USA) and have to deal with nearly perfect soccer weather year round.

    Football background: Played in club leagues growing up, mainly as center midfielder (#10 position) or sometimes a striker in 4-4-2. Did not play for college or beyond although I did have a dream long past of one day playing in Holland.

    Favorite clubs: Besides the Netherlands, I usually cheer for any team where the Dutch players go. But I do have a liking for Barcelona (under Rijkaard and now perhaps again with Afellay), AC Milan (long historical Dutch connection), and Ajax. I despise Real Madrid and had a difficult time when our famous players were there for a spell.

    Fave players: Bergkamp, Rijkaard, Kluivert. I was a bit too late for Cruyff and Neeskens but they are legends.

    Fave players of our current Oranje: Probably Hunter, Robben and Afellay, although I support all of our players at their respective homes across the globe.

    Fave moment of Oranje: In recent times, it is probably the back to back wins over Italy and France.

    Worst moment: The loss to Brazil in ’98 was probably the most sobering, because I just knew that team was better than Brazil and was destined for our first WCup. Second to that, the Portugal game in ’06 was simply maddening.

    Sympathy for other nations: In 2002 when Oranje did not qualify I decided to back Spain due to its relationship with Cruyff and the Dutch. I am more lukewarm on them today. I also sometimes cheer for Italy but never ahead of the Dutch, and only when they don’t play negative.

    Bold predictions: France will make it to the final. England knocked out in the group stage.

    How I watch Oranje: Since games are usually on in the mornings here, it’s with a nice cup of coffee and plenty of room to jump around when we score.

  139. Jan and All,

    While I’ve followed your blog forever, I rarely commented (maybe once) but I always read.

    I absolutely love the site-it’s impossible or at least seems that way-to find enough news about the Oranje where I’m at (Wisconsin).

    Thanks so much for the work on this and looking forward to following!

  140. Hi I am Anne,
    I am a Dutchman living in Israel. My oldest memory of Oranje is the 4-1 win over Bulgaria at the 74 World Cup. After the Neeskens penalty against Germany in the finals, I had to stop watching, because we boarded a cross-atlantic flight. So my first Oranje tears were the 1976 game against Czechoslovakia. There’s been a lot of blood and tears since.
    The moments of ecstasy were also there:
    Against Italy 1978,
    3-2 turn around against DDR
    Hamburg 1988
    3-1 win over Germany in 1992
    1998 Bergkamp scores a last minute winner against Argentina
    Kluivert demolishes Yugoslavia 2000
    2004 against Czechia – well that one had tears as well, but still one of the greatest games
    2008 wins over Italy and France
    2010 win over Brazil

    What will 2012 bring? The Portuguese owe us a win. The Germans are sorely in need of a serious defeat. Wouldn’t you agree.
    Plus Euro deserves Oranje after the group stages

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