Netherlands, Spain get their first shot at the World Cup
Thursday, July 8th, 2010For the first time in history, Spain or the Netherlands will be the owner of the soccer World Cup. The Netherlands lost the finals in 1974 and 1978. For Spain, European champion and the winner of yesterday’s World Cup semi-finals against Germany, it is the first time it reached the finals.
Although the Netherlands is undefeated in its last 24 matches (and won all of this year’s World Cup matches), Spain is considered the favorite. The country has been playing the best football of the tournament (maybe equaled only by Germany) and can count on a stable core of Barcelona players on its team.
The fans of both countries have shown themselves confident though. The celebrations after winning the semifinals have been gigantic in Spain as well as in the Netherlands. Lots of extra flights to South Africa have been rapidly arranged, from Madrid as well as from Amsterdam. And the rest of the country will be in front of a TV screen – most likely watching with a lot of friends. It is difficult to imagine, though, that a new TV viewer record will be set. Last Wednesday, when the Netherlands beat Uruguay in the semi-finals, the incredible total of 12.3 million Dutchmen watched the game. This is exactly 75% of the population. Never before has a TV show reached that many people.
How the Dutch watched the semifinals:
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