Stockings help Holland around the globe
Wednesday 07 October 2009
After a flight of 22 hours and
a 2½ hour stop Holland manager Bert van Marwijk
looks a bit like a government leader after a late crisis
meeting.
Gray stubble are starting to form
a shade on his chin but the coach still looks into the
world remarkably fresh after the long flight.
Yet players and staff had the most
luxurious type of business seat at their disposal on
their trip with Cathay Pacific Airlines.
Every member - from the center
forward to the doctor - had his own cabin, with the
possibility to watch TV both sitting and lying down,
to read or to sleep.
"I have been on such a luxury
flight once before with KLM," Van Marwijk says.
"It was an absolute demand
for me that the boys can sleep lying down on this trip.
Otherwise I would not have embarked on this long trip."
What is striking is that all players
walk around the plane in black stockings.
The second skin improves their
recovery after a game.
"An ankle that you took a
knock on would otherwise swell," says Dirk Kuyt
who still feels the Premier League game between his
team Liverpool and Chelsea.
Kuyt is one of the players who
likes to play cards on such trips.
This time assistant-coaches Frank
de Boer, Phillip Cocu and Dick 'Cooky' Voorn are his
partners.
Nineteen players are part of the
first visit of the Dutch national team to Australia.
Bayern Munich defender Edson Braafheid
even brought a digital camera to record as much as possible
of the big trip.
The foreseen 20th player tells
Van Marwijk over the phone during a stop in Hongkong
that he will not be joining them in Australia.
While Oranje were high up in the
sky Nigel de Jong injured himself during a league game
with his team Manchester City and will remain in England.
"Nigel wasn't happy as he's
got a little crack in his ankle. They will run some
tests in the morning. Could be he is out for a few weeks."
After Van der Wiel, Ooijer, Van
Bommel, Van Persie and Robben De Jong is the sixth Dutch
player who fails during this team building trip.
To complete the team some journalists
propose that Cocu or De Boer could put on their boots
once more and put their names on the team sheet, sort
of like a historic cap down under.
Just before 9h30 PM a crowd has
gathered to watch the team leave for the Sydney Sheraton.
But first the team have to pass
a police control at the luggage check out.
The players have to line up their
suitcases so that a sniffing dog can do it's job.
The players have a laugh when the
dog stops at the bags of goal keeper Maarten Stekelenburg,
but fortunately for him it was a false alarm.
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