Went home around seven o’clock. Walking towards the Bijlmerstation I see people with cans of beer in their hands, wearing orange pants and orange heads. Suddenly I realised that the football match between England and the Netherlands will be played in Amsterdam Arena. At the station, you can hear the crowd already singing. Trains full of supporters (mainly men) are arriving. Match starts only around 8:30… Have to wait quite a while before the first train going to the center arrives. Sitting in the train, I see 5 british boys sitting in a row. Not talking at all to each other. Some a emotionless staring to the floor, some are just watching outside into the darkness. Weird, you would think they are tense for the match, preparing to see their heroes on the pitch. Or making plans to watch the match somewhere. Maybe they had tickets but lost them, or didn’t have enough money to buy the tickets, or they had false tickets.
They went away from the stadium, back to the city. No sign on their face that they are going to have fun this evening. Very strange. Hmmm. At home I see that the stadium is not sold out, lots of empty seat around. Well, you can’t have an answer to everything. Winter is coming back again, the temperature is going down. The British Football Association asked to have the match been played with the roof closed. But the Dutch FA rejects England’s plea to open the roof. The grass in the stadium has just been refreshed after the royal party ten day’s ago. The need every air available.
[ more about the match from the BBC ]