Kris Fernandes (kris@insidesoccer.ca)
is a Toronto based soccer & futsal writer for Inside Soccer Magazine. Deeply immersed in soccer fandom and culture, he has been actively involved in spreading the love of the beautiful game in a uniquely Canadian way for a decade through media coverage, administration and coaching. He covered the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and the 2008 UEFA European Championships from Austria/Switzerland for both CBC Sports Online and ISM.
I have a tendency to stay awake the night before vital matches contemplating lineups and formations, replaying highlights in my head, and really just enjoying the anticipation of the next game.
Last night was different though.
At dusk, the horizon in Cape Town brims with fervent shades of pink, eventually settling on casting a dark orange for the night. Last night the glow was definitely brighter than what I have become accustomed too. The soccer fan in me couldn’t help but think it was a sign of things to come within the next 24 hours.
Practically everybody in this breathtaking coastal city is pulling for the Dutch in today’s pivotal semi-final clash against Uruguay. And they will be covered from head to toe in orange.
Surely one of the prime reasons for that is the fact that Uruguay ousted Africa’s last tournament hope in Ghana, and did it in a way that wasn’t reminiscent of what the beautiful game is all about. All one must do to see the disdain for Uruguay – actually more towards striker Luis Suarez who stopped the ball with hands to prevent a sure goal, is take a look in the local and national newspapers here. Pictures of the specific handball, and subsequent missed penalty compliment hordes of scathing commentary.
There isn’t a single person though who will openly admit – though deep down they would – that they would have done the exact same thing in Suarez’s boots. But it doesn’t matter; he has now been sculpted into the official villain of this World Cup and Uruguay is the most hated team of the remaining four hopefuls.
If you wander around the Western Cape, you will also notice that the majority of white people actually look Dutch; fairly tall, usually thin, light haired, with a defined facial structure. It’s not a coincidence. The city of Cape Town specifically has been home to thousands of Boer (Dutch) settlers since the 17th century when a Dutch trading company set up shop and they’ve never stopped coming in. Numerous companies feature Dutch names, usually Van something, and there is even a team in the Premier Soccer League – South Africa’s MLS – called Ajax Cape Town, owned and named after the most famous club in Holland.
Hundreds of thousands of fans trek the 2.5km through the fan walk from Cape Town central station towards Green Point Stadium and is lined with countless cafes, restaurants, and tiny shops, all featuring orange scarves and t-shirts in their windows. The Dutch who have flown in from Amsterdam are amongst the most loyal, peaceful, colourful and die-hard fans on earth. Some of them concoct the most interesting costumes you will ever see at a World Cup and many of the gents have a taste for hats featuring long winding braids – in orange of course.
If Holland, favoured heavily by pundits and bookmakers alike, can get into their first World Cup final in 32 years, there will be an epic celebration throughout the main streets and along the waterfront as the team moves closer to shaking off their stigma as the best team to have never won a World Cup.
If that happens, the ‘Oranje army’, as always, will surely follow.
Damn you’re good!