Hup Holland!

I went to my first ever professional soccer game on Saturday night. Holland was playing Iceland in a World Cup qualifying game. The outcome was a foregone conclusion. Holland was arguably the best team in the world during the Euro 2008 tournament, a contest they lost because of the peculiarity of the tournament’s structure. Iceland is, well, Iceland.

The game was in Rotterdam. I was looking forward to seeing the city because of its historical significance (it was annihilated by the Third Reich in WWII) and its rebirth as an architectural landmark.

I have now visited two cities that I just do not like, Tampa and Rotterdam. At least Tampa has the Bucs, some good friends, and the Rays (sort of). Aside from the occasional interesting building, Rotterdam looks like any decent size city in America. It could be Tampa. The city is dirty and the people are rude. We had a difficult time getting to the stadium because of the behavior of the Rotterdam residents. We were to meet our friends at a pre-party at a mutual friend’s house. He lives in the Turkish area of town. Turks are roundly hated in Holland. I refuse to elaborate; delve into Turkish history and draw your own conclusions.

This guy’s apartment was terrible. It looked like an old dorm and was called, “In Africa hotel”. True story. He is from Florida. He grew up in Sarasota, goes to law school at FSU, and was the only person at his apartment. Apparently, the rest of the group decided to go straight to the stadium without telling us. There was no pre-party. Tristan, the Florida guy, was a saint. He welcomed us into his apartment as if we were long lost friends. As it turns out, he speaks Dutch because his family is originally from Holland.

The game was amazing. There were a few unruly fans in front of us but other than that it was pretty tame. No booze is sold at the stadium, much to our initial disappointment but ultimately a blessing. Soccer fans do not need booze to get excited. I expected the fanaticism to be more intense than that of U.S. sporting events but that was not the case. Florida football games are much higher octane than this. I realize it was an inferior opponent but even when compared with a Florida v. Western Kentucky snoozefest, the atmosphere paled. Still, it was an incredible experience and I really enjoyed it.