I guess you should have been there :-)!!!

Just got back from rainy Sydney…home again in…eh….rainy Byron Bay .

Carlos and myself at a certain point discussed which Oranje game we last watched live (not together of course)… Mine was in 2000 (the lost semis against Italy aarrrghhh….) and Carlos’ last was in the 90s I believe…. It was great to see the men in orange live again! In blue, however…

Coming into Sydney around lunchtime, I actually guessed it would be business as usual in that wonderful city at the bay, but it wasn’t! I won’t say it was taken over by the Dutch fans, but relatively speaking there were quite some orange wigs, shirts and outfits.

Carlos and family and myself hooked up for some coffees. Fascinating to meet someone you think you already know so well based on the several postings and communications on the blog, but never met. A big hug was my first present from Carlos… And over coffees you find there’s not enough time to discuss all the interesting stuff one can discuss. Life, work, football, Holland, travel, wine, food, more football, more life… A true gentleman, well-traveled, rich in stories and insights…

But before we knew it, it was time to make our way to the Sydney Football Oval. Quite an interesting venue… Easily accessible, open and very pleasant.

The number of Oranje fans was heartwarming! I’ve taken many pictures which I will publish here and at times it felt Holland played a homegame (I’m exaggerating, I know). The Aussies love to dress up too, so it was a wonderful “melee” of gold, green, orange and red/white/blue.

I’d meet an old school mate (who’s currently a high rollin’ bank executive in Sydney) and was anxious to catch up after an odd 30 years (!!). When I called him, he told me I could recognize him on the basis of his orange outfit. Yeah, right. There were hundreds there with an orange shirt or cap.

And then I saw him… A huge Orange/Red/White/Blue hat. An orange wig. An orange jersey. An orange shawl. A Dutch flag around his shoulders. Wide orange shorts. White skinny legs. Big flashy orange socks up to his knees. And Dutch wooden clogs!

My mate the bank executive….

He was with his 15 year old son, who walked two meters behind him, with an embarrassing look on his face… Wonder why…?

The pitch looked pretty good when we entered the stands but when the rain came it was clear it actually was a bit of a “knollenveld”, with the mud shining through. We had the usual pre-game antics. Some community singing, schoolkids doing their 2018-2022 promotions (Australia wants to host a WC), meatpies being sold (and eaten!), interviews with former socceroos and heated debates with passionate socceroo-fans.

As Carlos posted, we appeared to be in the wrong spot, but we gladly volunteered to move to our actual seats, since these were under the overhanging roof. Can’t get better. We were parallel with the touchline of the goal towards which the Dutch would play in the first half. I predicted three goals in the first half. I wasn’t too far off .

When the players came on to warm up, the different styles were telling: the Aussies seemed very dynamic but all over the place, while the Dutchies did their choreographed bit. With Carlos binoculars we could make out who’d start… Elia was there, De Zeeuw check, Schaars, Boulah, Johnny….

It was clear to all in the first minutes of the game, that the pitch was a bitch. Muddy, heavy, slow… Workhorses ™ like Kuyt, De Zeeuw and Boulahrouz weren’t too fussed about it but thoroughbreds like Elia needed some time to get used to it. Australia kept the pace low trying to dominate but led by Sneijder and De Zeeuw, Oranje geared up a bit and would dominate the first half without a problem. Thing is…without goals as well, which wasn’t the plan.

Huntelaar got his chances, Kuyt was close, Sneijder tried it from distance…hell, even Boulahrouz joined the shooting party, but Schwarzer never got into trouble.

The second half showed a more feisty Australia, with a good turn from former Feyenoord wingman Brett Emerton. The Socceroos entered the Dutch box a tad more with a totally reformed Kewell (who was invisible in the first half). But Oranje kept on playing their usual game… Great movement, nice little flicks, great skill but just not good enough to create so-called “100%” chances.

Carlos & Co and yours truly had a great time, watching the game unfold. Even the brash Socceroo-fans wanted to talk more and more about the Dutch team: “Who’s that winger?”, “Where does Sneijder play?”, “Is Van Nistelrooy on the bench?” and “I miss Castelen…”.

Carlos and myself did feel that Carlos would have scored those two headers, if Van Marwijk would have selected him instead of Huntelaar, while I actually believe I’d have curled that Boulah-opportunity past Schwarzer ( 3-0 up, first half), but somehow Henk Kesler decided to ignore me (true story) when I saw him in the stadium, chasing him while yelling “pick Carlos and me! Pick Carlos and me!!” (not true of course).

I guess Carlos’ son Paul would have scored a couple in the second half, so all in all, with Carlos’ better half Catherine as coach, we probably would have smashed the Socceroos 5-0! But…Bert van Marwijk thinks he knows better…

We did highly enjoy the performance of De Zeeuw, loved his interplay on midfield with a thrifty but oh-so important Schaars… We revelled at Sneijder’s quick feet, adored Boulahrouz’ runs and composure after being absent for so long and cheered when Van der Vaart came on. Carlos and I also decided that Gio is welcome to come to South Africa, provided he plays as well as he did last night!

We even liked Babel this time around!

And we felt terribly sorry for rusty ol’ Huntelaar… The shadow of Ruud van Nistelrooy is chasing him a bit too, me thinks.

Interestingly enough, after the final whistle, us Dutchies left the venue a bit gloomy. Playing so well but not scoring is just depressing. But we were cheered up by most Socceroo fans who told us they highly enjoyed the game and thought Oranje played out-of-this-world football… That’s always good to hear.

As Carlos posted already, our next stop was Chinatown! Being a tremendous Peking Duck afficianado and having Mr and Mrs Food & Wine themselves as compadres, we decided to check out the offerings at BBQ King ( I kid you not!). You can imagine my awe when Carlos decided to order some chow in fluent Mandarine! Or…it sounded as fluent to me .

Peking Duck

A whole duck and some wine and beer later, we decided to call it a day…

Another big hug was exchanged and we went our merry own way…

Carlos and Catherine back to Singapore, me back to rainy Byron Bay.

Counting the days till Oranje decides to grace our shores with their presence again!