Veel Geluk Nederlands

Bill Murray · #1 06-07-10, 23:17

Hanno and other LowLanders....

Congratulations on your victory today.

As a one time resident of South America, I was rooting for Uruguay but they got outplayed by a Dutch team that finally got things together in the second half.

The next match, and the Final match should be veeeery interesting I think.

I had hoped for a slightly more international mix in the end (I was also rooting for Ghana) but it looks like an all Europe show this time.

Of the remaining contenders, my guilder is on Holland, the only country out of the finalists where I spent a fair amount of time in my Volvo days. I was unfortunately responsible for winding down the DAF spare parts organization and integrating it into the Volvo system. I was told I was sent to do this because I was a Yank, not a Swede and it would go down easier as we Yanks are all about money and the Dutch guys could blame me.

Strangely enough, I still have some Dutch friends ex DAF from that time so I guess I was not the typical "Ugly American" that was bandied about during that era.

Best of luck Holland.

Bill

Barry Churcher · #2 10-07-10, 23:16

Wishing The Netherlands the best of luck tomorrow in the World Cup. Congratulations on getting to the final. Here in Canada we are seeing lots of Dutch flags flying from the cars, so you have lots of fans here. Here is my banner.
Cheers,
Barry

Hanno Spoelstra · #3 11-07-10, 22:03

Bill, Barry,

Thanks, the game is in it's second half and is nerve wracking. 76 minutes and it is still 0-0!

More later!

Hanno

Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) · #4 11-07-10, 23:11

The game just done, as you well know. I'm sorry for your loss! Damned good game though. It could easily have gone either way!

Hanno Spoelstra · #5 12-07-10, 09:37

As Americans would say "second place is first loser!"

But I feel the Dutch team did great and more than was expected initially. But the victory of the Spanish team shows a team which is accustomed to playing with each other, will get better results than a team consisting of star players gathered together for a tournament.

And let's not forget: congratulations and a big thanks to the people of South Africa for hosting such a world class event!

H.

Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) · #6 12-07-10, 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

As Americans would say "second place is first loser!"

But I feel the Dutch team did great and more than was expected initially. But the victory of the Spanish team shows a team which is accustomed to playing with each other, will get better results than a team consisting of star players gathered together for a tournament.

And let's not forget: congratulations and a big thanks to the people of South Africa for hosting such a world class event!

H.

Certainly, kudos to the Sooth-Effricins! Magnificent job. As far as the game was concerned, I did note what appeared to be a significant bias on the part of the referees... most of the fouls given to the Dutch wouldn't even have raised an eyebrow here in North America, and there were far too many screeching dives, with those that took them getting up and walking away the moment a yellow card was produced. Pathetic. The game could have gone either way, but the Spaniards got lucky. The whole thing was too damned political, IMHO.

Me, I voted for the octopus...

G.

Hanno Spoelstra · #7 12-07-10, 20:50

Yes, that kind of behaviour is more like we are used to see from South American football teams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball

Me, I voted for the octopus...

Ah yes, Paul. . . Well sorry, he ended up on our BBQ last Saturday after he predicted the Spaniards would win

For me it is back to normal now, I like to watch a great game (yesterday's wasn't), but football isn't a great deal to me personally but hard to avoid in this country