Today is the chance for the Dutch national soccer team to write soccer history (in more than one way) by becoming the World Soccer Champions for the first time in Dutch history. In order to get this privilege we need to defeat the current European Soccer Champions: Spain. And that is going to be a very difficult task.
It has been 32 (!) years since we played in the World Cup finals. We lost in 1978 (against Argentina) and our whole nation is eager to see us all win the World Cup this time, for the first time.
Although everyone is hopeful, we know not to underestimate the Spanish “conquistadors” as they have proven worthy adversaries. Even though they started the tournament with a 0:1 defeat by soccer-dwarf Switzerland.
What ever the outcome of the match will be: soccer history will be written regardless of who wins: Spain has never before played in the finals of the World Championship and Holland has never won the finals.
I know I am repeating myself, but if Holland wins, soccer history will be written in more than one way. Off course it would mark the first time ever our country wins the Championship, but we also would go into the history books as the only country – together with Brazil in 1970 – to win every match in the tournament and in the qualifiers!
That alone would be a great accomplishment. Also, if Wesley Sneijder scores (and Spain’s David Villa doesn’t), he will become the top scorer of the World Championship; a great honour.
In the mean-time the excitement here in Holland is reaching the boiling-point.
I was there when the festivities took place in Amsterdam when Holland became the ’88 European Soccer Champions. It was something we have never seen before. A nation going crazy. If we win, this will look like childsplay 🙂
Hup Holland! Hup!
