“It was great, of course. The atmosphere in such a stadium is so different when you win 5-1 than when you draw 2-2,” says John cheerfully. Yesterday, the Dutch national team played the second match of the group stage against Sweden at the NRG Stadium in Houston. “We shouldn’t immediately think that we are world champions, but this way we can go a long way.”
Fanwalk is only getting bigger
As with the previous match, there was another one this time fanwalk to the stadium. This started at eight in the morning, so the alarm was set for six. “The fan walk only seems to be getting bigger. Streets were cordoned off and there was a lot of police presence.”
This time the parade went through a residential area. Here people stood along the road to offer free water to the enthusiastic Orange fans. “You heard more American around you than Dutch. But everyone was wearing an orange shirt. All those Americans are so nice, they come to help with all kinds of things and the police share high fives out.”
Homesick for the grandchildren
John and Erica seem to feel completely at home in America. Before the next game in Kansas City, they put out a call on a Facebook group for a place to sleep. They soon received a response that they could stay for a few nights for free with a couple in Kansas. They said on Facebook that they were not very interested in the World Cup, but would like to learn more about it. “We want to help them with that. We have already brought orange flags for them.”
Even though the couple is having a great time, they miss the Netherlands a bit. Last week they Facetimed with their grandchildren. “We miss them terribly, but if we can see them for a while, that’s nice.”
