Travelog post for: Roots Bear

Dear mum,

I went to see the Dutch national footballteam today!! In the footballstadium of PSV Eindhoven in Eindhoven. The match was between Holland and Denmark.





Before the match, there was a giant toy on the field! He had a drum with 'Dutchy' on it. Marjolein told me this is the mascotte of the Dutch team. I said he should also travel but Marjolein doubts he will fit into an envelop. She told me a little secret: there is actually in man inside that lionssuit!



But then the match began. First it was time for the national anthems. The Dutch anthem is called the 'Wilhelmus' named after Willem I, king of the Netherlands in the 16th century. The song has 15 verses but they only sing one at the footballmatches. Most of the Dutch only know this verse.



That's the goalkeeper of the Netherlands, Edwin van der Sar, on the big screen.



And they're off!





Do you see all the people nicely dressed in orange? Orange is the Dutch national colour. This is because their royalty's (queen Beatrix and family) are called Oranje (orange in Dutch).



Rafael van der Vaart (number 23, footballer of HSV, in Germany) took a cornerkick for Holland.



And Holland scored!!



Chompers was so excited! We couldn't see anything!



But I was also partying!



So when the second half of the match began, it was 1-0 for Holland.



But then Denmark got dangerous!



O no! Denmark scored!!



And that was the end of the match. The first half was very good, but the second half the Dutch team played sloppy and they let Denmark make a goal. I hope they will do better at the European Championship next month! This game was just for practice.



The stadion of PSV Eindhoven is a very beautiful stadium, also on the outside. It's called 'Philips Stadion' because Philips is their sponsor. Philips is a factory that makes lamps and other electric stuff. Eindhoven is therefore also called the 'Lichtstad' translated something like The city of Light. That sounds beautiful doesn't it?



Love Roots