In these North Holland ‘Oranjestraten’ it is still remarkably colorless for this World Cup

“Are we going to decorate, Don?” she calls to her husband when NH Nieuws calls the Hoekstra’s to find out how the orange flag is hanging. Yes, is the answer in the background, probably orange and red-white-blue flags, ‘and a bunch of banners’, but not yet. First the gutter lighting, candles and lights outside for Sint Maarten. “After that, we’re going to get involved with football,” says Wendy.

“It is also a job, decorating such a street,” says Don Hoekstra (56), when his wife hands over the phone to him. “And there are already so many other things, Christmas, Sinterklaas. It is less alive than in the summer.”

‘much too bad’

He also cares that thousands of workers have died building the football stadiums in Qatar due to appalling working conditions. “I think it’s too bad what happened there. We should never have gone there. But now our boys are going, and then we want to support them.”

And so Don and Wendy Hoekstra will most likely watch the matches on the beamer at two neighbors. It will not be a party on the street this year because of the season.

Flags hard to get

In the Bantamstraat in Haarlem, the residents will probably set up a tent outside to watch the matches of the Dutch national team, says resident Amanda Voulon (38). But there are no orange decorations there either. “We’ll probably hang something on Saturday,” says Voulon. “If we can find something, that is. It is more difficult to get the flags, you see it less in the shops.”

In previous years, the residents of Bantamstraat went big. The lampposts are packed and large orange balls hang halfway down the street. Voulon: “And every home has rings in the wall, we all participate in that. That way you can hang the flags very easily.”

Voulon does not know exactly why there is no World Cup feeling in her street yet. “You just don’t hear much about it. I also understood that there is a lot of hassle in the country where they play, but I don’t get much about that either, because football doesn’t interest me that much.”

Bribery

Cocke van Laarhoven in Amsterdam-Noord is aware of this. The events leading up to the World Cup in Qatar dampen the anticipation a little bit in his neighborhood on Texelplein, which is normally known as the orange square of the city. “Politics is involved, those workers who have all died. Bribery, FIFA: it is terrible that such a country is elected.”

NH Nieuws visited Cocke van Laarhoven this week at the Texelplein in Amsterdam-North.

But boycotting the entire tournament is going too far for Van Laarhoven: the players have to be supported. “If we win, we’ll all just sit in our orange swimming trunks in an ice moat,” he laughs.