Waar Is Pierre?

---

Late June in 2004 I left my home country Sweden and moved to the Netherlands for work. Found a job just outside of Utrecht, decided to live in the city of Utrecht. Found myself an apartment in the city on the Internet, decided to take it unseen. Had never been to Utrecht before, so an interesting adventure. By coincidence, I happened to arrive the same day that Holland was to play Portugal in the semi-final of the European football championships. Being a football fan, I found the apartment (which turned out to actually be an attic), dumped my bags, and headed out to find a place to watch the match. The caravan of people dressed in orange made it easy to find the way to town. Plenty of bars, but also plenty of people. After a bit of search I found a bar on a corner with an outdoor bar and big screen. Ordered a beer, ready for the game.

For the first time I was properly introduced to the Dutch concept of “biertjes”. Pints rarely exist; instead the Dutch insist on serving “biertjes”, beer in small glasses, about half a pint. Prevents the beer from getting flat, but instead increases the number of times you have to go to the bar. Learned very quickly the trick of ordering two beers at a time in a packed bar. Especially when watching a game you want to minimize the interruptions.

Portugal takes the command in the match. A bit into the second half of the game, Portugal is up 2 goals to 1. The Dutch fans aren’t happy, but keep their hopes up. They keep the beer coming, but focus on the match and having fun rather than planning to destroy and trash the bar, the city, and everything else that comes in their way like fans from certain other countries would have done in the same situation. The clock is ticking, and the end is getting closer. Holland is still down one goal. A slightly tipsy girl is standing on a chair shouting “Waar is Pierre?”. Having spent only a few hours in my new country, my Dutch language skills are very limited. With a combination of solid language skills and knowledge of the game, it’s quite obvious that she’s bringing up the question “Where is Pierre?”. The person she refers to is Pierre van Hooijdonk, an ageing player who is sitting on the bench. A few minutes later Pierre comes on. Pierre has the reputation of being a free kick expert, having scored some spectacular goals from just outside the penalty box. Low and behold, not too long before the end Holland gets a free kick just outside the penalty box. Pierre steps forward, ready to take the shot. The crowd in the bar goes wild. They shout and cheer as if it was a given goal already. Or at least a penalty shot. But anyone who knows a bit about football knows that the vast majority of free kicks result in practically nothing. This free kick is no exception. It’s not really close to being a goal. Holland loses the game.

I make an interesting observation. Despite being a strong football nation, and despite having come close to winning a few times, the Dutch national team only once won a tournament. The fans aren’t exactly spoiled with success. The Dutch fans don’t really appear to be disappointed or upset, rather express an “oh, well, it was fun while it lasted” feeling. Maybe not the intense passion for the game you find in many other places, but still a sound attitude towards the game. Because after all, it’s just a game...

---