It’s another one of those important German-Dutch days.
This morning we went to the German Consulate to apply for a passport for our daughter. Perfect timing, we thought.
The doorman (who, just like at an airport, frisked us and checked to make sure we really didn’t have any coins in our pockets) was resigned. Today he was a Dutchman on German soil, but that didn’t bother him. Not very nice, I thought. “I’m retiring in a year, and in two days I’ll be sitting in the sun in Turkey.” That was all he said. Not a single hostile soccer remark could be coaxed out of him.
Then there was the man behind the glass who took all our papers. He did speak German, but it turned out not to be his home country. “Poland,” he replied when asked where he was from. “1-1,” immediately popped into my head. The man began to beam. They were definitely going to win the next match; he was sure of it. “But you’re in for a tough time tonight.” It wasn’t entirely clear whether he was referring to me or my friend J. He, too, didn’t express a preference.
When we came back outside (the doorman held the door open for us a moment longer; that’s the proper thing to do when you’re out and about with a stroller), there was still a nice surprise waiting for us. A 25-km cart, covered in orange from roof to wheel. The cart’s lights were pointing directly at—yes—the door of the German Consulate. Someone had really thought this through. They’d gone to a lot of trouble. A good joke, almost a friendly gesture; reason enough for us—and the doorman, too—to beam from ear to ear.
No, that real, old resentment from the past—it’s gone, as Joris Luyendijk also wrote today in a beautifully thoughtful analysis.
And now—while the national anthems are already ringing out on the green field—there are two teams, both of which are mine. Two souls—one white and black, and one orange. And the latter will beat the former today. At least in my mind.
They simply both have to advance. I don’t want the Netherlands to be eliminated after tonight. And that’s why Germany isn’t going to win.
Only against Denmark. That much is true.
And then we’ll see what happens next.
