Valentijn Driessen is in America for the Football World Cup, but he would rather not have gone. He finds this edition lacking in atmosphere and therefore fears the worst for the TV viewer. “What am I actually doing here?”
The Football World Cup in the United States is not exactly a party, because Americans are not interested in this sport at all and therefore do not care about it at all. Valentijn Driessen now works for De Telegraaf on the other side of the ocean, but fears a downer for the TV viewer. He notices that it is a very atmosphereless event.
Atmosphereless
Valentine’s Day is in front of the camera Today Inside quite pessimistic. “It won’t work out with the Dutch team. You will survive the first round, but after that we can book the tickets. You are also here in a country that is at war with another country that is also here.”
There is no atmosphere, he continues. “You come to the city and you don’t see anything here. You see a few flags, but people are not interested in football at all. It’s only about basketball and ice hockey, so why did FIFA finally settle here?”
23 minutes
It is now too commercial, says Valentijn. “Then you watch a match in the evening and it is stopped every 23 minutes for a commercial break. It has nothing to do with football. It is only to make money. No, it is really a World Cup that will last a very long time, but from which we need to be freed as quickly as possible.”
Does he enjoy reporting in America? “To tell you the truth very honestly, Wilfred, I was thinking about it yesterday and I thought: what am I actually doing here? I have to tell you that very honestly.”
‘Completely done with it’
Actually, Valentine is a bit disappointed that he was sent to America. “You are in a country where you don’t want to be at all, you are going to a tournament where the Netherlands will play no role at all. Completely done with it. And we still have so long to go!”
When VI reporter Noa Vahle jokingly suggests that she would like to put Valentine in front of the camera again, he replies: “Then you have to be quick, otherwise we will already be at home.”