Hup! Holland! Hup! (Part 2)

The Euro 2008 shindig is hotting up. Turkey giving the Croats some pain. The French are out. Tonight it is Holland, as the footballing world call the Netherlands, probably because there are fewer syllables in it. The Dutch have done very well indeed. Nine goals - nine points. That's a winning formula. I shouldn't speak to soon. The opposition is Russian. Not a team to be underestimated. They will have "chances" no doubt.

Watching on television I will have to hope the commentators don't gabble too much. When they say something or give an opinion, the complete opposite happens next. John Motson is a prime example - indubitably!

One thing they haven't mastered yet is the pronunciation of the Dutch surnames of the players. My wife winces at the speech patterns. She tries it out on me. "Say Guus", she'll go. I try my best non-Sun attempt.

The sting in the tail in all this is that the coach of the Russian team is Guus Hiddink, described as a coaching genius. Van Basten will need all the wily skills to promote cohesion in the newly-found family friendly Dutch team. Wow!

I've got my Amstel bier cooling down and am ready to go.

Posted in: Dutch Euro Team,Euro 2008,Guus Hiddink,Marco van Basten,Netherlands