Sweet revenge for the Dutch

July 4, 2014
July 4, 2014 Theo Brainin

Sweet revenge for the Dutch

Sweet revenge for the Dutch

In 1961 Geurt saw the Dutch team play against Mexico. He was eight years old. The image of a Mexican supporter with a big sombrero on his head, making a deep bow in front of the Dutch audience when the Dutch scored, is something he won’t forget. It was the first of many Cup matches to come. The Netherlands vs Costa Rica will be his 311th.

‘Every time it’s different’

Distraught Mexico Fan‘This Sunday, after the Mexicans lost against the Netherlands, there were no bows.’ Geurt watched his 311th game together with his wife Janny, his brother Peter and sister-in-law Saskia. When asked if all games seem alike by now, he answers sincerely: ‘Every time it’s different. Not only the games, but also the circumstances, the country, the people. In Brazil not everybody is happy and involved with the tournament. They’re busy making a living. It’s not that we feel unsafe when we’re out on the street, but we do feel we should be careful.’ In 1974 in Germany, Geurt’s first World Cup Championship, the whole country was celebrating. ‘There were only a few thousand Dutch supporters. Later on in the tournament more and more wanted to come and be part of it.’ That time the Netherlands lost in the final against the host country Germany.

World Cup friendships

Cruyff in Germany 1974.

In 1974, when Geurt went to the World Cup in Germany, he was still on military service. ‘Getting there took some improvisation. It still does, on the tournaments. There are only a few days at the beginning you can plan; the rest is up to the team.’ Geurt arrived in Germany alone and didn’t even have a tent with him. A Scottish guy came up to him and offered him some space in his tent. They lost track of each other straight away, but fortunately Geurt met some German supporters instead. ‘You know, the Germans weren’t our favourites during the tournaments. But we had a beer and they invited me to sleep in their tent. It was a very small one and it rained. The next morning I discovered that one of them had spent the night outside to make room for me. For years we kept in touch. The Scottish guy I met later that morning again as well. You meet many nice people during tournaments. Also within the Dutch supporters group, you get to know each other as the years go by.’

Second chances

Geur, Janny, Peter and Saskia.‘You know, we can get a second chance against Germany this year.’ Geurt starts smiling. ‘Better still, if we play well and Germany does too, we get a second chance against all the countries we ever lost a final against! We’ve already beaten Spain (World Cup final 2010). If we win against Costa Rica this Saturday and Argentina wins against Belgium, then we will play Argentina in the quarter finals. Revenge for the final we lost against Argentina in 1978. Germany will have a few tricky games to win, against France and then probably against Brazil. But if they do, then we will have our revenge against Germany in the finals this year. And we will win this time. So I can go home very happy.’

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This month we celebrate World Cup memories. Also see our previous interview with Geurt and other articles. What’s your favourite World Cup memory?

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