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Euro 2008 Winter's Word: Dutch fans paint the towns and trains of Switzerland orange
By Henry Winter
Last Updated: 12:01pm BST 14/06/2008
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When it comes to off-field life in the Group of Death, the Italians have the classiest suits, the French the most stirring national anthem, the Romanians the most smokers and the Dutch by far the best supporters.
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In terms of numbers and noise at Euro 2008, Holland are the new England.
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At the start of the tournament, Swiss friends remarked how sad it was that the English were absent. Bad for the economy. Bad for the atmosphere. Such sentiments are rarely heard now. Switzerland has gone daft for the Dutch.
This morning, Zurich radio even broke into its latest Human League and Celine Dion power-plays to re-lay sounds of Dutch fans during their 4-1 obliteration of France in Berne the night before. The Swiss particularly enjoyed chants of "adieu les bleus".
The singing lasted well into the night. A Scottish colleague shrugged his shoulders wearily as he headed back to his Berne city-centre hotel, knowing that sleep was unlikely.
Estimates varied of how many Dutch were packing out this pretty town, but even the police indicated it could touch 100,000. Many crowded the station. For those of us rushing for trains back to Zurich, the destinations signalled on the front of many trains were bemusing: "Oranje Special 5", "Amsterdam", and `"Oranje Special 6".
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Many had already departed, carrying the partying Dutch home. Even the train to Zurich was standing room only. Even Zurich heaved with Holland fans who never made it to Berne.
The Dutch are everywhere in Switzerland, old and young, some so callow they hardly looked ready to attend school let alone skip classes to watch Wesley Sneijder, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben.
The Dutch fans are the most colourful at Euro 2008 and that colour is orange. The dress code for Dutch matches is simple: anything goes as long as it is orange. Tell me about it.
I once had my dry-cleaning mixed up with another hotel guest in Marseille at France 98 and came away with four orange T-shirts declaring "Hoop Holland" (the poor Dutchman got some dodgy striped numbers).
Grown men think nothing of wearing orange skirts. Orange boiler-suits are particularly popular, partly because the long pockets permit two cans of Heineken each.
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Dreadlocked wigs are de rigeur, provided they are orange. Ditto plastic horns. Two rows behind Marco van Basten's dug-out sat four middle-aged Dutchmen, chatting, reading the tournament programme, each one resplendent in an orange cat outfit with splendid whiskers and tails that flopped onto the row behind.
Back home, they are probably respectable bank managers in Delft, pillars of the community. Here, they are part of the orange army, a mass of fans who adore their country and their football, particularly when the team perform with the panache that infused Holland in the Seventies and at the 1988 Euros.
With Johan Cruyff in the stands and Van Basten in the technical area, there is a huge feeling of the older generations of the Dutch footballing family combining to guide the current crop to glory. Whatever happens, the Dutch will continue to paint the towns orange.
