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The beginning of the adventure
June 3rd, 2006
Welcome to my World Cup diary folks. I’ll be in Germany for most, if not all, of the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. Better still, I have tickets to a few matches. For those of you watching the World Cup from your home, I’ll do my best to give you an idea of the atmosphere, the travel and the experience.
I have tickets for all of Australia’s matches but I’ll be at some other games as well. And while the Socceroos’ qualification provided a spur for me to go to Germany, I intend to watch other matches and follow the entire tournament with interest just as I have in the past.
So why am I starting now, still a few days before the opening ceremony? Because I’ve already left Australia and I’m in Rotterdam to watch the Netherlands-Australia friendly. The adventure has already started.
Those of you that live in Europe don’t know how good you’ve got it when it comes to travel. You can hop from country to country in no time at all.
Australians that go to Europe need to spend 18 to 20 hours in the air – and that doesn’t count time spent in transit lounges.
I had to spend six hours in transit at Singapore’s airport but at least the Singaporeans are right into the World Cup. In the airport, they’ve set up a mini grandstand with big screens that are currently showing action from the 2002 tournament.
The Singapore to Amsterdam flight takes more than 12 hours. Most people on the plane seem to be able to sleep during the night but I just can’t. How do they do it?
Still, football helped kill time again. One of the movie channels was showing Goal! (the recent movie starring Kuno Becker, not the FIFA movie of the 1966 World Cup). And another showed a movie called The Game of Their Lives which is about the US team that defeated England at the 1950 World Cup. I’m embarrassed to admit this but I didn’t know this movie existed – it’s quite good.
I also entered the in-flight trivia challenge in which people on the same flight can compete against each other. You’ll be pleased to know that I won handsomely. It’s just a shame that no one else on the flight took part.
I landed at Amsterdam’s airport and I got straight onto a train so that I could reach Rotterdam. I arrived so early that nothing in the city was open yet.
It’s certainly an interesting place. The city had to be rebuilt after World War II and some of the architecture is wonderfully bizarre. It might not be to everyone’s taste but it’s definitely worth seeing.
My Lonely Planet guide to the Netherlands has a photograph of a field of tulips on the front cover, a photo of clogs on the back and the first photo inside it is of windmills. It’s easy to immediately think of these things – and orange-clad football fans – when you think of this country.
I’m already discovering that there’s much more to the place, however, and I’m wishing I could stay longer (I leave on Monday). Despite not having slept properly for more than 24 hours, I decided to beat jetlag by walking around all day.
Apart from the interesting buildings, there’s a lot of water. I knew this would be the case before I arrived but what amazes me is how waterways just seem to unexpectedly pop up when you’re walking around.
I also went on a cruise. Rotterdam is Europe’s biggest port and its sheer size is mind-blowing. Apparently 328 million tonnes of cargo go in and out of Rotterdam every year.
The Australian team had an open training session this afternoon so I found my way to De Kuip – Feijenoord’s stadium and the venue for tomorrow’s match. De Kuip means the tub and, as soon as you see this stadium, it’s fairly easy to see how it got its name. About 200 fans (including a handful of interested locals) turned up to cheer the team during a light session. The biggest cheer of all, though, came when a Dutch person walked on to the pitch: Guus Hiddink.
It’s quite amazing. Here’s a guy who will leave the Socceroos after coaching them for less than a year. He’s made only four brief visits to Australia and, if the team is eliminated in the World Cup’s first round, Hiddink will have been in charge for just 11 international matches.
But we love the guy. His role in ending the Socceroos’ long exile from the World Cup finals won’t be forgotten. His manner has also impressed Australians and, of course, he has us playing as a fluent, cohesive team.
The days are getting longer in Europe so, after the training session, there was still enough time to go to the Euromast, Rotterdam’s tall tower. It has a lot of critics (though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it) but it’s worth going up just to see the fabulous views of the city.
Tomorrow I will be attending an international football match in Europe for the first time. Sure, it’s a friendly, but it should still be a magnificent occasion with about 45,000 Dutch fans in their famous oranje and about 3000 gold-shirted Australians.
I’m also meeting fellow Planet World Cup columnist Ruud Doevendans, nearly five years after first corresponding with him by email.
There’s plenty to look forward to as World Cup fever continues to build.
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