Furry, orange stick-on sideburns, a hat shaped like a piece of Gouda cheese, clogs and so much other orange paraphernalia, it was hard on the eyes. Dutch soccer fans huddled together in Lapamanzi Pub Africa in Fourways Gardens, Johannesburg, on Sunday as their national team took on Serbia and Montenegro for their first game in the 2006 World Cup.
With some effort from the Dutch embassy, the pub calls itself “Holland House” for the next soccer-crazed month. Orange flags adorn the ceiling and bar canopy, a big poster of the Dutch team hangs on the wall and bitterballen — Dutch bite-size meat croquettes eaten with mustard — go well with the world’s number-one sports tipple, beer.
In addition to the bottles of Amstel, Lapamanzi has another popular Dutch beer on tap for that essential home-away-from-home feel.
Fans gathered hours before kick-off and the first hundred received orange T-shirts sporting the Dutch red-white-and-blue flag on the back.
When number 11 Arjen Robben scored, it was not only the crowd in Germany’s Leipzig stadium that went bonkers. Spectators in the Jo’burg pub jumped on to the wooden tables and screamed their lungs out as they saw their beloved team get one step closer to the cup of gold.
“Holland House” is an opportunity for the Dutch to be Dutch and for the non-Dutch to experience a little of the Dutch party mood. One family that moved from The Netherlands to South Africa in 1971 was glad to be among fellow Dutch for this event; even grandma was made to wear an orange top underneath her leopard-print vest.
Two Dutch students doing research in Johannesburg, Paul and Ralf — the latter with his national flag painted on a cheek — were happy to watch the match on one of the pub’s big screens. “As close to watching it back home as we can get,” Ralf said.
Chris, from Orlando East in Soweto, tagged along with them. “This is an amazing party,” he said, looking highly amused before joining a conga line around the bar to some Dutch tunes, beer in hand. With his free orange shirt, he was happily emerged in the festivities that went on long after the game had finished.
The orange legion is sure to gather again this Friday when the Dutch team play Côte d’Ivoire and on June 21 when the “Flying Dutchmen” face strong opponents Argentina.