Vuvuzela driving Van Marwijk mad
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
The training session of the Dutch
national football team had been going for about 45 minutes
when Holland manager Bert van Marwijk turned to the
spectators in sheer desperation. With a tempered gesture
the coach indicated that the thought the fans had been
blowing their vuvuzelas long enough.
But Van Marwijk's address didn't
have the result he was hoping for and only motivated
the fans to blow their African tooters even more. They
were there by the thousands on the training ground of
Wits University , and it was the first time the fans
were allowed to watch a training session of the Dutch
team. If it's up to Van Marwijk it's also the last.
Whatever Van Marwijk tried he could
hardly make himself audible on the training ground.
There's no way of outscreaming a vuvuzela and that doesn't
spell any good for Holland's first game next Monday
against Denmark. There will be some 95,000 people in
the stands then en many of them will bring their horns.
The Dutch FA - KNVB are expecting
that at 10,000 Dutch fans will be in the stadium in
Johannesburg, but with 40,000 Dutchmen living in South
Africa there's a good chance there will be many more.
Even the first public training
session attracted thousands of orange-clad Dutch fans.
And they didn't just toot, they also sang for Wesley
Sneijder, who celebrates his 26th birthday today.
The Dutch players enjoyed the motley
crew and the support they gave, even on the way back
to the hotel. The bus got stuck in a procession of fans
of local heroes South Africa, on their way to the hotel
of Bafana Bafana. Hooting and tooting whatever
produced noise, but mainly their vuvuzelas. Fortunately
for Van Marwijk Holland will train without press or
public tonight.
On Thursday the players will open
an Orange
Cruijff Court in the township of Hillbrow. The players
donated about 100,000 euro for the fenced in football
court, and it will be Johan Cruyff himself to kick the
first ball there tomorrow. No doubt the locals will
be celebrating with their noisy tooters.
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