Before this tournament started, nobody had dared to dream of reaching the final game. Now, a day after losing, we can’t even be happy with finishing second. Bitter disappointment followed a few pretty exciting weeks. Sadly, a potential new football trauma has arrived to haunt our collective memories. I didn’t plan on writing this entry about our loss. I didn’t want to; what happened in South Africa, stays in South Africa! However, I couldn’t ignore the downcast atmosphere in the office. It’s quiet. So, so quiet. Everyone is getting on with their work in silence. It’s as if an unspoken agreement has filled the office; please don’t mention the football game!

We’re disappointed. We struggle to accept a second place. We came to win and we almost did! Nonetheless, I think our football team are heroes! They did well to get this far and for about a month, they succeeded in uniting roughly 15 million people. Everyone seemed to put aside their differences in opinions and supported our boys in South Africa. For about a month we were one, a collective, and ever so slowly we started to believe in a fairy tale ending.

I’m sure our players will be received in a deafening roar of cheers and applause during their homage in Amsterdam tomorrow. And rightly so. Being the number two in the world is quite an achievement, even though admitting defeat leaves a bitter taste.

What a damn shame we didn’t quite make it!

I’ve heard that a picture can say a thousand words, well I’ve got seven for you:

On Friday before the weekend the World Cup kicked off with a match between South Africa and Mexico! I was pleasantly surprised when the boss told us to shut down our computers and go to the bar together to watch the opening match! He didn’t have to tell us twice! In a minimum amount of time we were ready to go! We were a bit too late to watch the beginning of the match and apparently we had missed out on a few exciting minutes!

It was good fun hanging out with all the footie-crazies at the bar though. We found ourselves sitting between South African and Mexican fans! It was fun to watch how the South Africans went from noisy to quiet after the equalizing goal from Mexico. Thankfully, nobody carried a vuvuzela! Although the noise of many hundreds of them from the telly was quite sufficient to be annoying.

Besides the start of the World Cup, there was a lot more sport to watch: 24 hours of Le Mans and the Formula One Grand Prix of Canada. It made me wonder if the organisers of these events are just living in their own world without looking at what else is going on. It was too much! In fact, I managed to miss the finish of the Le Mans race completely. And I almost, almost, forgot to flip channels to watch the magnificent Eddy Jordan, David Coulthard and Jake Humphrey for the Canadian GP build up on the BBC!

World Cup fever!

I’ve said this before: I’m not a particular fan of football. I don’t really have a favourite team, I don’t follow the competitions or European cup tournaments. However, for some weird reason I do like playing Fifa 10 on my XBox 360 and I always get a little hyped up about the really big tournaments such as the Euro and World Cups. Perhaps it’s something to do with national pride and hoping that this time they really will make it to the final (unlikely).

"Aaaanvalluuuuh!"

Tomorrow is the kick-off of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. I’m guessing we will end up with a final between Brazil and Spain. If that happens, I hope Spain will win the Cup! Despite this, I’ll cheer for our Dutch national team and hope they’ll truly make it this year!

“Hup Holland Hup! Laat de leeuw niet in z’n hempie staan!”