A world of difference. A cheering hall in Huize Maas at the 1-0. And funk from Rik’s keys in sports café Proeflokaal Hooghoudt on Monday at the first game of the Orange in Qatar,
What is the atmosphere like in two cafes during the first game of the Orange at the World Cup in Qatar? One, owner Maarten Roorda of Proeflokaal Hooghoudt, thinks human rights violations are worse than less beer sales. So he boycotts the World Cup, while in Roorda’s sports café all FC Groningen duels are normally shown live on a large screen. The other, Rico Zwaving of Huize Maas, thinks a boycott is not a task for the catering industry. Zwaving wants this tournament to become the largest World Cup café in Groningen.
‘I made vegan satay for everyone’
In Proeflokaal Hooghoudt on the Gedempte Zuiderdiep, when the Netherlands kicks off its first match against Senegal on Monday, it is actually busier than usual on Monday afternoon at five o’clock. But not a hint of Orange fever to be found. In solidarity with pub owner Roorda, musician Rik Joosten has come especially to provide a different atmosphere than the World Cup with some funky sounds from his synthesizer. “And I made vegan satay for everyone,” says the keyboardist.
Everyone includes Bert Stoop. He’s not usually in the cafe at five o’clock. ,,But I wanted to support Maarten’s statement against this World Cup in such a strange country.” Stoop does not know whether he will not watch the World Cup at all. “Maybe the matches of the Netherlands at home, just on TV.”
‘We look like the Gallic village’
The Tasting Room Boss has about ten guests just before five. Roorda usually replenishes the stock at this time because it is nice and quiet then. Usually around this time there are ‘three or four guests’, a regular customer at the bar knows. So printer. Despite or precisely because of the boycott of the controversial World Cup in Qatar? Perhaps the latter, because since Roorda decided to boycott three weeks ago, he has been approached almost continuously by all kinds of media. “We look like the Gallic village that is the only one fighting against this wrong World Cup,” he jokes.
Yet Roorda does not regret the boycott for a second. “The more I delve into it, the more convinced I am behind our own World Cup line-up.” For him, it is the gross violations of human rights in Qatar that prevented him from being hungry for a moment to watch this World Cup in his cafe with cheers, beer and nuts on large screens.
Just as many girls as boys in Huize Maas
There will be such a large screen in Huize Maas on Monday. And many fans, most of whom are dressed in Orange. The audience is mainly young people. And, not counting to the decimal point, about as many girls as boys.
Karlijn is one of the girls. The 22-year-old developmental psychology student at the University of Groningen (RuG) is there with friends from the volleyball club. ,,We just wanted to enjoy watching the matches of the Netherlands at this World Cup on a big screen in a café. Fortunately, that is possible here, in Huize Maas.”
The first match of the Orange in Huize Maas was quickly sold out. At least, the sixty seats. According to Rico Zwaving, a total of 300 people can follow the performance of the Dutch national team. All seats for the second game of the Orange against Ecuador have also been taken. “It’s funny, but there were still about thirty visitors even at the Iran-England game.”
‘Qatar lives less among us young people’
Just like Roorda, Zwaving knows that things are not right in Qatar according to our standards and values. But a boycott is too heavy for Zwaving. He doesn’t think it’s up to him and his fellow bartenders to set a moral example.
What about the young Orange fans in Huize Maas? To watch or not to watch or not to watch a boycott of that controversial country, Qatar? Karlijn finds the question about this ‘quite difficult, to be honest’. “Of course you think about it. And yet, yet, all the fuss about that land so far away. It just lives less among us, young people our age.”
This is evident in the downstairs room of Huize Maas filled and decorated with about 150 football fans. “I am not concerned with what kind of culture there is in Qatar,” says 18-year-old Emille from Huizinge, who studies media at the RuG. “I just want to watch a game of football together, and that is possible here.”
That tasty pot lasts a long time. But when Gakpo makes the liberating 1-0 against Senegal six minutes before the end, an almost relieved cheer erupts among the fans in Huize Maas. In the Tasting Room, chess is already being played on 64 fields at the same time, actually as if no goals had still been scored in Qatar, where the Orange also pushed the second goal into Senegal’s goal.