Stadtskanal – “The ball is round”, “It's eleven against eleven” and even more of Cruyff's statements were discussed in Café D2, before the start of the Netherlands-France match. A number of local national coaches came to the bar at Stadskanaal to watch the Dutch win together. Despite the draw, the Netherlands took a big step towards the remainder of the European Championship.
Johnny Hendrickman looks at the people in his bar excitedly. “Last Sunday the first match was against Poland on a rainy Sunday afternoon. After the win, more people came to our bar. The next match will start soon against the group leaders.
“Nicely filled”
Behind him, more and more people dressed in orange enter the bar. “It's filling up nicely again.” It's Friday evening. There are a lot of other things going on at Stadskanaal at the moment, so I don't expect a packed box tonight. He expected the bar to be crowded after winning a big post-match party.
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Handrickman has big plans if the Netherlands progress further in the tournament. He had previously organized a big party during the 2010 World Cup final. Despite his motivation, he applied for the permit too late and was rejected by the municipality. “I wanted a big screen on the wall. Everything has to be safer now than it was in 2010, and that's not possible anymore. We have to accept that.”
The bar owner now solves the final problem differently. “People can now come in and watch the final.” He points out that the Netherlands should be able to reach the final, but it will not be easy. 'everything is possible!'
