AZ vs Standard Luik Footbal game (Euro Championship League) 1-1

I was honored to accompany Wietse's father (without Wietse) to see an European Championship league game last night. The Netherlands best team, AZ (ahh Zed) was playing Belgiums #1 team, Standard Luik.

First stop before the game: to pick up the wife and children of AZ's coach, Ronald Koeman. Talk about feeling important when you roll into a stadium! Game time was at 7:45 PM. Once again, for some reason, i forgot that the stadium would be open air. Fall has arrived and my silk blouse and blazer were not cutting it. Luckily, Willem lent me his fleece. As we approached the stadium, you could hear a roar of noise. It was 1 hour before game time. Naturally, we had coffee and appetizers in the "Players Room" as we waited for game time.

There was not an empty seat in the house. And of course, there was a corner (guarded by security and netting) reserved just for the opposition - the Belgiums. No doubt, the Dutch team was the better team - they controlled the ball 75% of the game. At halftime, score was 0-0 or null-null as they say here. 2nd half was much more exciting. And then Goooooalllll! 1-0 AZ. There were many many more opportunities for AZ to score, but nothing that slipped past the keeper. Singing, chanting, jumping, clapping and dancing carried on through the 90 minute marker. There were 4 minutes of overttime and for some reason, both Willem and I looked at each other at the same time saying, "A lot can happen in 4 minutes". AZ sat back and watched Standard Luik score at the last minute tying the game. What an upset!!! As we say Bummer, the Dutch say Domper.

The post party was more quiet than usual as everyone was dumbfounded and silenced by the ending. Family and friends of the players waited in the bar/room for the players to come out. I was able to peak through the window and watch the players and coach be interviewed on t.v.. One by one, the players dressed in suit and tie entered the room. They sure do clean up nice. It was also cool to witness people speaking English. Only 7 players are Dutch...others come out of Argentina, Italy, Denmark, Australia, Sweden, etc.

I met and spoke with a slew of newspaper worthy people... Holland's #1 radio host 538, Edwin Evers, Hector Moreno (center defense- starter), Graziano Pelle, Ronald Koeman (top 15 best coaches in Europe), and his family. Thanks to Willem, Mr. Camera-Man, I have evidence. See photos :)

We arrived in Amsterdam at the apartment at 1:30am. Waking up at 7am to go for my private Dutch lesson was difficult, and even more difficult saying the Dutch "G" during my lesson. My tutor says, think of having fishbones stuck in your throat and that is the noise you make for the G. Lovely. It was worth the exhaustion and even cooler to see the same faces in the newspaper Wednesday morning as I saw on Tuesday evening.