King and Emperor look at the Netherlands-Japan together

On at least one bench tonight, two friends will each cheer for a different team. King Willem-Alexander has invited Japanese Emperor Naruhito to watch the match together. The imperial couple has been staying at ‘t Loo Castle in Apeldoorn since Saturday evening, and their state visit to the Netherlands starts on Wednesday.

“Friendship will be tested twice for 45 minutes,” Willem-Alexander predicted during a press interview in May. “But after that it will be fine again.” The two have been friends since the eighties, Naruhito and Masako previously stayed at ‘t Loo when the emperor was still crown prince.

Later this week, King Willem-Alexander will attend the Ecuador-Curaçao and Netherlands-Sweden matches together with Queen Máxima and Princess Ariane. The king, who is often present at sports matches of Dutch teams, called this World Cup during the same press interview “extra special because we have the Netherlands and Curaçao. We also have twice as many teams for which we can cheer.”

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