For the first time in thirty-two years, the Dutch football team reach the final of a major tournament. Thousands of Dutch fans celebrate on the street of Cape Town, Accra and Nairobi. Our correspondents report.

By Serginho Roosblad, Myrna van Pinxteren & Ilona Eveleens

Although the official kick off of the first semi-finals was at 20.30, hours before, thousands of Dutch fans flocked the streets of Cape Town in the hopes their team would reach the finals for the first time in thirty-two years. “Today, we are going to write history!” Thijs van der Molen says. He is one of the lucky few that has managed to get a ticket. “It was a bit of a gamble, as I bought my ticket back when I was in the Netherlands. But it was a good gamble. Now I only hope that we reach the finals as I put money on our team with some friends.”

About a hundred Dutch football supporters in Cape Town went to sports bar Tommy’s to support their team. And after the 3-2 victory it was madness. “Do you know how special this is?” Dutch intern Glenn van der Kruk asks his friends. Glenn, dressed up in the original team jersey and red, white and blue sunglasses, has been doing his internship in Cape Town for five months now. “And today was the most beautiful match of all the matches I’ve seen.”

The supporters in Tommy’s sport bar are only a small percentage of the thousands of fans who came down from the stadium to celebrate on the main streets of Cape Town, Longstreet. And for the first timesince the British took over control over the Cape region from the Dutch Cape Town was orange again.

Ghana's best option
After losing the game against Uruguay, Ghana are now supporting Holland. Ecery team that would be able to kick South Americans out of South Africa are the new heroes of Ghana. "Ghana beats Holland, that is the best option we could hope for."

Before the semi–finals started, the only Dutch café in Accra was getting packed with Dutch supporters. Besides of expats and volunteers from Holland, there we also some Ghanaians which were cheering for Holland. Dressed in the Dutch national colour orange, the Ghanaians were also united behind the Dutch flag. Kwame: “I am here with a friend from Holland. He was supporting Ghana as well, so now it is my time to cheer for the Orange team.”

In the café which is owned by a Dutchman and his Ghanaian wife, you could feel the tension after the first half of the game was played. With a score of 1 -1 it was very difficult to predict the final score. Evelyn is one of the Ghanaians in the bar. “We are all behind Holland now. If they can beat Uruguay, Ghana will be thankful.”

The second half was only getting better for the Orange team. After the score of 3 -1, the Dutch and the Ghanaians knew that Holland had a real change to go to the finals. The final score of 3 – 2 for the Dutch team, was making the crowd in Robi’s café euphoric. After the final whistle, Ghanaians and Dutch supporters are dancing together to celebrate the victory of the Orange team. Kwame: “They made it. The Dutch team was ready to beat Uruguay and they did a great job by scoring three goals in the game. Uruguay is out, so Ghana is happy.”

Maasai in orange
Dozens of Dutch and Kenyan fans watched most of the game with little exuberance in the Kengeles pub in an affluent area of Nairobi. But the last five minutes of the match everybody was standing, blocking the views of others and not caring about it. Finger nails were bitten, beers swallowed fast with audible nervous sights.

When the referee blew the final whistle, the wooden structure of the terrace with the giant screen moved under the weight of the dancing and jumping viewers.

Peter de Roos, a Dutch prison warder on holiday in Kenya, sighted with relief: “Those last minutes were nerve wrecking. They lasted a lifetime. I was terrified the Uruguayans would equalise”.

Trevor, a young Kenyan working at a bank, was donned in a red and black Maasai shuka (wrap around). “It was the nearest I could get to orange”, he explained. The ardent rugby fan was an excited supporter of the Dutch side. “I have a Dutch neighbour and she is nice so I support the Netherlands. I also supported Ghana but you know what happened”.

Four Argentineans watched the game, huddled in a corner. When Uruguay scored they danced and blew their Vuvuzela’s but left when the Netherlands scored their 3rd goal.

A Belgian who watched them leaving remarked: “Netherlands is going all the way and I’ll be here on Sunday again. We Belgians have some issues with the Dutch but this world championship we are squarely behind the Dutch team”.

While more drinks were ordered, Dutch fans slapping each other on the back, Peter Roos and his wife picked up their sleepy children. “My wife is from Kenya. We adopted our children here and enjoy a nice holiday. This victory is the icing on the cake”, says the prison warder from the Dutch city of Bodegraven. With a broad smile he adds: “Germany here we come!”