Foppe, Foppe and more Foppe

He is the sweetheart of the country here at the moment - Foppe de Haan that is. And who is that strangely named man you may ask?! He is the coach of Jong Oranje (the under 21 national football team). For the past two weeks it has been "football central" here in NL, with the staging of the UEFA Under 21 European Championship AND Nijmegen being one of the 4 cities to host matches!!

I think Jeroen has managed to watch just about every game, either at the actual venue or on television! He went with a friend (who is originally from Serbia) to see Serbia beat Czech Republic 1-0 during the group phase at the Goffertstadion here in Nijmegen (see photo at top). We both went together with another friend last Thursday evening to the Goffert to see the play off between Italy and Portugal for the last Olympic Games spot in Beijing next year. Italy won the game on penalties (grrr). And last but not least, Jeroen managed to get free tickets for the semi final, and went with his dad to witness the longest penalty shoot out in European football history when Jong Oranje beat England in Heerenveen last Wednesday evening. After extra time the scores were still tied at 1-1 and it took 32 (!!!) penalties to determine the winner, with NL standing strong and eventually winning the penalty shoot out 13-12. I watched it on television here at home, and even I was jumping up out of my seat when they finally won! They now play Serbia in the final tonight. Score update to follow tomorrow ;-)

Now, back to Foppe :-) During the tournament much has been made in the media, and on just about every football-related talkshow, of Foppe's coaching style and the fact that he is from Friesland! Before coaching Jong Oranje, he spent 20 years at SC Heerenveen in Friesland and seems VERY happy to stay in that part of the country. Apparently this is THE major obstacle to him becoming coach of the senior football team - he lives too far away!! Foppe comes across as a pretty down to earth, fatherly and somewhat cuddly figure :-) When asked questions during an interview he gives extremely direct, intelligent, sometimes funny, and always no nonsense replies. No Johan Cruijff-style philosophical waffling from him!! The young players seem to really warm to him, and if they win tonight the whole country will probably vote him in as honorary Prime Minister. My favourite thing about Foppe is his wry sense of humour and the fact that he has appeared every evening on a particular football talkshow wearing track pants and sports sandals with white socks - so cute!

Anyway, the tournament has been a nice way to warm up for the forthcoming Asia Cup - Aussie, Aussie, Aussie oi, oi, oi :-)))

Alli xxx