Orange colors again dominate the stands in Germany when the Netherlands plays.
And it proves again that there are no fans quite like the Dutch.
"It absolutely helps the players," Netherlands coach Marco van Basten said. "All of them, the players and the public, they can happily go home."
It helped Sunday when the Dutch team beat Serbia-Montenegro 1-0 in the Group C match.
"If half the stadium is orange again in Germany, you feel it is an honor to play for your country. It is special to play," Netherlands captain Edwin van der Sar added.
Even though the Dutch federation was limited to about 4,000 tickets initially, the overwhelming color at the 43,000-capacity Zentral Stadion was screaming orange, as loud as the cheers for the players.
"This is where we all come together," said Andiene Corte, who had traveled five hours by car for the game, "If you don't dress up in orange, you stand out too much."
The first time the Dutch truly came together like that was at the World Cup in 1974. All their games, except the final in Munich, seemed to be played at home stadiums.
"Orange is a national thing," Van der Sar said. "Everyone can be proud of their country and wear orange with pride.
"It would be great that every time someone sees orange they think of the Netherlands," Van der Sar added.
(Agencies)
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