Oranje fans delighted by Tunisia win; Thousands of Kansas locals join Dutch fan walk
Oranje fans are delighted by the Dutch national team's 1-3 victory over Tunisia and qualification for the World Cup knockout phase. "Absolutely beautiful," a fan told RTL Nieuws from a bar in the Netherlands. "You can see it in the people. Happiness everywhere." Ahead of the match, thousands of Kansas locals joined Oranje’s fans’ traditional march to the stadium.
"The first ten minutes were good, after that moderate," another fan told the broadcaster. He thinks Oranje should have won with five goals.
"I find it super nice that we're all together. That makes it really 100 times better," an ecstatic fan said. "Really, really nice."
National coach Ronald Koeman is satisfied, he told NOS shortly after Oranje’s 1-3 victory over Tunisia. “Only the phase just before and just after half-time wasn’t good. But that was also due to our good start, because then we thought we could do it at 90 percent,” the national coach said. “We do need that sharpness in the next round. After all, you want to play a match well as a whole.”
Captain Virgil van Dijk said he enjoyed the match. “Nice atmosphere and beautiful stadium. It was a good victory. For large parts we were very good, only just before and just after half-time we were sloppy.”
Brian Brobbey was named the best player of the match. “I don’t know if you should celebrate that,” he said to ANP in an interview right after the match. “I try to focus and be important for the team. Our Round of 16 match against Morocco will be a tough one. We are playing against a good team there with individually strong players.”
Koeman was delighted with the atmosphere in the stadium. “For three matches now, I’ve had the feeling that we are playing at home. Judging by the faces, there are a lot of Americans, but the KNVB has done its job well.”
That the Americans are captivated by the Oranje spirit was also noticeable in the traditional Dutch fan march to the stadium before the match. Like with the previous two matches in Dallas and Houston, thousands of Kansas locals showed up to watch or join the march through Kansas City, following the Oranje bus to the stadium and jumping along from left to right to the rhythm of the famous Snollebollekes song.
Local authorities had anticipated some 25,000 participants in the party and march. The actual number turned out slightly lower at 22,000, a KNVB spokesperson told ANP after receiving confirmation from the police.
