Prayers go unanswered at the Dutch Church London kopt ‘the Times’. En toch was het een leuk feestje.
Alternating cries of joy and pain could be heard from the cellar of a 13th-century friary in central London, but at nine minutes to 10pm there was silence.
Netherlands fans in orange filled the room beneath the Dutch Church to watch the semi-final. When Ollie Watkin’s 90th minute shot landed in the net heads were in hands.
The Dutch Centre had interest from 150 Orange fans within a day announcing its event at Austin Friars, where in 1550 Edward VI had offered Dutch and French-speaking refugees freedom of worship. Yesterday the Church was offering chilled Heinekens and Gouda cheese cubes on sticks with pickled onions and decorated with tiny red, white and blue flags.
The crowd rose to their feet at Xavi Simons’s early goal, hugging and cheering. There were boos when the referee called for a penalty at 8:18pm, then agony as Harry Kane scored. Dorothy Blake, 58, who has lived in Britain for 29 years, was with her English husband. “I think that the penalty wasn’t correct”, she said. “When the Dutch feel like something is incorrect they feel disheartened.”
Lara Wildenberg
The Times Newspaper Thursday 11th of July 2024