Titbits from Camp Orange

Marco van Basten said he was sad Cannavaro can’t play against Holland. “As Dutch team manager, it’s better for us. He is not only a great player but also their skipper. His absence will be felt by them. But as a fan I am sorry for him. I just want the best players to play at these tournaments. And I am aware that the alternatives for him are maybe as good, but still…he brings something special, most of the times.”

Johan Cruyff and San Marco are not talking. JC was one of Van Basten’s sounding boards, but since Van Basten said “no” to JC’s rigid plans to reorganize the Ajax youth system, JC doesn’t want to deal with Marco. For the time being? When Van Basten was asked whether the rift between him and JC was a problem for the EC, he said: “Not really. Johan and I don’t play this time around.”

Gattuso: “Winning an EC title is harder than winning the World Cup. All opponents on this EC have a chance, while on a WC, some other nation will always knock out one or two favorites. The fact that lesser teams compete enables you to grow into the tournament. That won’t be possible here. We will have to play with a knife between our teeth from the first second onwards.”

Robben: “In the last years, people always spoke about me as if something was wrong with me. And to be honest, there always was….”

Heitinga was asked when he played a bad game last… “That was a pretty long time ago…”

Oranje tickets (tickets for Oranje matches) are being offered on the market for 1000 euros…

In Thailand, the total number of bets on the EC amount up to 1,5 billion dollar!

Marco van Basten is the second to youngest EC coach with his 43 years, behind Croatian manager Bilic (39 years)

In the Swiss ski resort Grindewald, the hospitality employees will wear orange during the EC. And every time Oranje scores, the manager of the resort will paint one cable cart orange.

In Holland, every hospitality employee who reports in sick during the EC will be visited by a control person from the union, to check if they’re really sick in bed or whether they’re watching Oranje on tv at home.

The Living Water Church in Delft supports Oranje. During the games, the vicar will install a big tv screen in the church and invite his “sheeple” to come and watch the game in the church. “What? God$%#%% that was off side, you fuc… %$#@ referee!!!!”