Tonight the Dutch national soccer team plays against the German national soccer team in the European Championship. In moments like that the public life comes to a halt in the Netherlands. Almost everybody is somewhere watching the game and hope we beat those Germans… This rivalry dates back to 1974, when “we” just lost the final against Germany (at least so I’m told, I wasn’t there yet). Since then “we” always wanted to beat the Germans. It matters less if we lose against say Denmark, as long as we beat the Germans…

Personally I like those rivalries, as long as they don’t provoke disrespectful behavior. In case you wonder why I picked this photo for this story: the color of the national team is orange, so even nature seems to favor us…