Over the last 2 weeks the Euro 2012 football championship has been on. There was a lot of hype during the buildup around the chances of the Dutch team. Pubs and cafes were covered with orange and big inflatable footballs, and had areas set-up with big TVs for everyone to watch the games. Even though they were highly rated coming off a grand-final berth in the last world cup, the locals seemed more hopeful than expectant about the chances of their national team. They had good reason for this pessimism- Oranje were eliminated in the group stage without having scored a single point, and only 2 goals in the For column- second last only to tournament minnows Ireland who exceeded their expectations with just a single goal.
There were a few brief 'did you watch the game last night' chats, but no-one really wanted to talk about it. The orange flags and streamers decorating all the pubs disappeared fairly soon after the exit of Oranje, and while there is still some interest in the remaining games (semi-finals and grand final remain as of today), I'm disappointed that I won't get to see the orange army support their team in a big match.
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