House psychic Liesbeth van Dijk joined us again Business Class (RTL7). “Shall I predict something, Harry? People like that.” Harry Mens doesn’t say much anymore in his own talk show, he reads everything from a note. Liesbeth can go ahead. Gold remains good, just like Nvidia shares and there are some “nice new AI companies” that people can invest in. On to the football predictions. Harry reads out the eight favorite countries. “Just tell me who it will be,” Harry says to Liesbeth.
“Well, not the Netherlands.” The Netherlands comes third or fourth. Liesbeth hears a Spanish-speaking country winning, but it can also sound Portuguese, those are the sounds she picks up from the cosmos. When we ask her point-blank who will be world champion, she is “lurking in Brazil anyway.” Because that’s Portuguese. “Now look at that,” reads Harry Mens. Liesbeth predicts something else: the Netherlands will win all matches in the group stage and Willem van Hanegem will be 103 years old.
Bee Edition NL (RTL4) it was about the heat in America. Not the geopolitical heat, of course. Just chatting about the weather. The players of the Dutch national team go into the sauna after training. That seems to be the case with the presenters Edition NL “very intense.” So they set up a live connection with fellow reporter Josephine van der Erve, who is sitting in a sauna somewhere in Huizen and has just exercised. Josephine is very sweaty. It is 80 degrees in the sauna, she breathes in the red pop hood. An exercise physiologist explains: “Going into the sauna after training helps you cope better with the heat.” The scientist does not explain how that works and why, but it is not necessary. In any case, colleague Josephine settled in nicely.
The Mystery Lion: someone ‘with a World Cup past’ who is crazy enough to wear a synthetic carnival suit in a sweltering studio
Of course, Johnny de Mol also needs to catch up on some work around a world championship. The World Cup Quiz (SBS6) is a hallucinatory series of incomprehensible games, penalty kicks and endless anecdotes by sports journalist Kees Jansma. For an hour, former football players wallow in a repetitive vortex: game, penalty, Kees Jansma, game, penalty, Kees Jansma, game, penalty, Kees Jansma, game, penalty, Kees Jansma, game, penalty, Kees Jansma, game, penalty, Kees Jansma. One game stands out. The Mystery Lion. Someone “with a World Cup history” who is crazy enough to wear a synthetic carnival suit in a sweltering studio. After three long minutes, it turns out to be 62-year-old former football player Stan Valckx. Stan is also very warm.
While Kees Jansma is still orating in my head, I’m suddenly already ten minutes into it The Orange Summer on Curaçao. At a Corendon all-inclusive resort, some blackened, drunk Dutch people are watching Hélène Hendriks and her guests. Former football player Theo Janssen looks more like someone from the audience than a former football player. He also has to do a trick. Uphold as many times as possible in one minute for charity. Barefoot in the sand next to a swimming pool, Theo receives a football from Hélène. A bored holidaymaker watches from a lounger as Theo starts to get out of breath after holding it up sixteen times. He reaches seventy without dropping the ball. According to Hélène, it had to be done four times. Theo wants a beer. Me, too.
There was also something about football, right? Oh yes, a football match. Netherlands against Uzbekistan. Former football player Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is present at the preliminary meeting of the NOS. He has had a burnout for the past three years. Professional football players usually stop playing football around the age of thirty-five. Then you have to spend another thirty-two years as a ‘Mystery Lion’ and high-maintenance monkey on Curaçao. That would also cause me to burn out.