Henry Winter’s World Cup Diary, Day 15
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Kansas City
The Dutch rolled in orange waves towards our hotel breakfast buffet, sprinkling Hundreds and Thousands on their bagels. They gathered in the centre of the city, then marched towards the ground, doing their left-right dance. They got round FIFA rules banning umbrellas by wearing hats with open brollies stitched into them.
I’ve had plenty of encounters with Dutch fans down the years, invariably enjoyable, barring one in Marseille at France 98 where a hotel mixed up our laundry. I received four orange T-shirts with “Hup Holland” on them and he got a couple of my dodgy shirts in return.
Talking of shirts, Dutch fans celebrate their great footballing heritage on the backs of their “jerseys”. Just in the small section in front of me at Arrowhead last night were shirts parading their love for Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit, Edgar Davids, Dennis Bergkamp, Arjen Robben, and loads of Ruud van Nistelrooy. Members of the current Oranje squad are also acclaimed in stitches: Virgil van Dijk, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo, Jurrien Timber and Frenkie De Jong (Netherlands and Barcelona shirts).
Two thirds of Arrowhead’s near 70,000 crowd were supporting the Netherlands, and treated to a deserved 3-1 win over Tunisia. Yet so many of the accents were American. Local media is full of stories of communities with Dutch roots in Kansas or Missouri or simply attaching themselves to a team staying in their midst.
The Dutch have been taken to Missouri hearts. Ronald Koeman’s players regularly stroll around Kansas City, especially going into the sports stores. Koeman is loving the experience. “So many orange shirts,” Koeman said. “Perhaps some don’t know all that much about Dutch football and the songs being sung, but they go along and it gives you a fantastic feeling to go into the stadium and see all that orange.” And for vast stretches of route the team bus goes along en route to the stadium. Orange everywhere.
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Kansas City locals don’t mess about when the weather kicks off. So far I’ve taken refuge in a sports bar as a tornado hit town, been shown the safest place to hide in England’s media bunker when a severe weather warning sounds (narrow corridor, away from the windows), and now been trapped in the tunnel at Arrowhead stadium before Netherlands v Tunisia. Within seconds of the first alert, security and stewards were instructing everyone where to go. Basically, the tunnel.
I found myself with 20 security and police, a FIFA doctor, and a couple of photographers, at the pitch end of the tunnel, while 100 more were corralled at the top. Four kids in Quaker Oats T-shirts were led through. “We have to protect the children,” said a mother present. Mother Nature was certainly present, sending a stream of rainwater flooding through the tunnel. The two nations’ flags laid out on the concrete, ready to be carried out, were dragged to one side to escape the growing stream. The locals were in control, though, checking their phones to see when the storm was going to pass through Arrowhead. They gave instructions, such as to put our mobile phones away – “I’m warnin’ ya” – when the refereeing team marched in followed by the Dutch party en route to the Chiefs locker room.
Virgil van Dijk was towards the back and looking very much in control, unperturbed by the angry clouds outside. Ronald Koeman emerged from the dressing-room and strolled out to check the pitch, which, of course, was immaculate and draining as easily as if a plug had been pulled. The storm abated, the siege lifted and everyone raced off to catch up with work, leaving a few puddles to clear up and the memory of impressive Arrowhead staff in total control against the elements.
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Bastian Schweinsteiger’s description of Ivory Coast’s “wild” style as “a bit African football” has understandably stirred plenty of controversy and comment. It’s an abhorrent remark, hinting at stereotypes, and he deserves the criticism directed at him. Schweinsteiger’s words and sentiments also seem very unlike a fairly balanced character. During a visit to DC United to interview Wayne Rooney in 2019, I also arranged to see Schweinsteiger, who was playing at Audi Field with Chicago Fire. I took five minutes longer than expected with Rooney and rushed down a corridor to find Schweinsteiger waiting patiently. He talked about MLS and his career, I tried some schoolboy German on him, he smiled with a hint of forbearance, we shook hands and that was it.
It felt a world away from someone caught up in a controversy like this, and now bringing censure from the Ivory Coast coach. What does “a bit African football” mean anyway? All African teams are different. Reading through World Soccer’s preview to the tournament highlights the differences amongst CAF teams. Schweinsteiger was talking about a team’s tactics and clearly did not mean to offend. But some contrition, or a clarification at the very least, would be wise.
Catch up on the rest of Henry Winter’s World Cup Diary here