The Hague, Netherlands.- The Netherlands national teammade up of 26 players under the command of coach Louis van Gaal, left this Tuesday for Qatarwhere they will play their first World Cup match against Senegal on Monday the 21st, in the midst of the polls in the Netherlands underline the lack of enthusiasm among Dutch fans for the event.
The orange team will arrive at Doha this Tuesday afternoon, after more than a six-hour flight from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, and will have a small private training session with the entire group tonight, although the first official training session for the team is scheduled for Wednesday.
Dutch footballer Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan) also boarded the plane, despite the right knee injury he suffered with his Italian club last weekend, as the mishap was not serious enough to cancel his participation in the Qatar 2022 World Cup and already participated in a large part of yesterday’s training, Monday.
Memphis DePay from Barcelona also traveled with the Dutch national team, although he was out for almost two months due to a hamstring injury. Van Gaal already said last Friday that the striker could form part of the team that is going to Qatarbut will not be in the starting line-up against Senegal next Monday.
The dutch national team will then play against Ecuador on Friday, November 25, and against the host country, Qatar, on Tuesday the 29th. However, a survey published today by the public program EenVandaag shows that there is very little enthusiasm in the Netherlands for the Qatar World Cup 2022: only 14% of the Dutch, and 20% of orange fans, are looking forward to the football tournament. The lack of enthusiasm is largely rooted in Qatar’s poor reputation when it comes to equality and human rights.
Among the statements made by the respondents, some said: “I have it in mind (the World Cup), but mainly in a negative sense. In this World Cup you really realize how the world of soccer has been hijacked by a lot of money; and I won’t miss something like the World Cup, but it’s all a bit dirty. I’ll see him at home with the blinds down.”
Only 11 percent of fans said they want to watch the game in a bar with other people, while 77 percent said they would watch it at home, alone or with their teammates.
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The Dutch Government will send the Sports Minister, Conny Helder, to represent Netherlands in Qatar during the first stage of the tournament, and if the Dutch team advances to the next round, Prime Minister Mark Rutte or King Willem-Alexander could go, although the Executive has not yet made a decision.
The Dutch Football Association (KNVB), which has been one of the few football associations strongly critical of working conditions in Qatar, announced that it will auction the shirts that the Dutch team will wear in this World Cup, and will use the total proceeds from the auctions “to improve the situation of migrant workers in Qatar”.
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