RSS
ATOM
advertisement
World Cup 2010: Netherlands Return Home To Rapturous Welcome
Amsterdam is celebrating despite final day defeat...
|
Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £100 in free bets! |
|
Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
Sign up with Paddy Power for a free bet up to £50 |
Jul 13, 2010 5:40:00 PM
By Subhankar Mondal
World Cup runners-up Netherlands were welcomed with open arms by hundreds of thousands of Dutch football fans on Tuesday.
The Oranje lost the final of the 2010 World Cup 1-0 to Spain at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday night, thanks to an extra-time goal from Andres Iniesta. It was third time unlucky for the Oranje, who had reached the final in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups but had lost on both occasions.
Fans cheered as the players went on an open-top boat tour of Amsterdam's canals. Dutch football fans lined the waterways and celebrated as if they had won the World Cup.
The celebrations were originally scheduled to happen only if the Netherlands came back victorious from South Africa, but Amsterdam officials released a statement in which they said, "Even in second place, the Dutch team are champions in the eyes of their country."
The Dutch team had earlier met Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Queen Beatrix. Coach Bert van Marwijk and captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who featured in his final international match for the Netherlands on Sunday, were knighted by the Prime Minister at his official Catshuis residence.
Balkenende was sporting an orange tie and served the squad coffee and cakes with orange icing in his garden, which was decorated with orange balloons.
"The Netherlands is proud of Oranje," he said.
The Oranje lost the final of the 2010 World Cup 1-0 to Spain at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday night, thanks to an extra-time goal from Andres Iniesta. It was third time unlucky for the Oranje, who had reached the final in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups but had lost on both occasions.
Fans cheered as the players went on an open-top boat tour of Amsterdam's canals. Dutch football fans lined the waterways and celebrated as if they had won the World Cup.
The celebrations were originally scheduled to happen only if the Netherlands came back victorious from South Africa, but Amsterdam officials released a statement in which they said, "Even in second place, the Dutch team are champions in the eyes of their country."
The Dutch team had earlier met Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Queen Beatrix. Coach Bert van Marwijk and captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who featured in his final international match for the Netherlands on Sunday, were knighted by the Prime Minister at his official Catshuis residence.
Balkenende was sporting an orange tie and served the squad coffee and cakes with orange icing in his garden, which was decorated with orange balloons.
"The Netherlands is proud of Oranje," he said.
The players then met Queen Beatrix at her Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, before being taken by helicopter to Amsterdam. An estimated half a million people came to cheer their heroes in the city.
Footage of Holland's canal celebrations.
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £100 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power for a free bet up to £50 |
|
Thank you for your comment!
Please enter your name
Please enter your location
Please share your comment!
8 Comments
Advertisement
Inside Goal.Com
-
Fabio Capello & FA differ on public perception
The governing body played the populist game and lost a manager who still had English football's best interests at heart but would not accept responsibility without command
-
The top 20 clubs in football's money league
Deloitte's annual publication of the richest sides in football sees a familiar Spanish duo stretch their advantage over England's finest in 2010-11
-
How Capello's exit will affect England's players
As the national team enters a new era, we take a look at the players who are now destined for big things and those potentially heading for the scrapheap under a new boss
-
Cartoon: Redknapp sentenced to England service
Goal.com cartoonist Omar Momani gives us his unique take on the football news of the day ...
-
The list of clubs that could try to sign Capello
Now that the Italian is no longer the England head coach, it is likely that a number of high-profile clubs from across Europe and elsewhere will make an attempt to lure him
Advertisement
Advertisement
