Dutch champion beach football at the Jomtien Beach tournament

From February 11, a fierce battle raged for the final beach football at the Jomtienbeach. Thanks to Colin de Jong for this report which I would like to forward to the readers of Thailandblog.

For the 5-4 semi-final against the technically strong Thailand, we used our trump card FIFA beach football referee Paul Nagtegaal, which undoubtedly helped. Thank you Paul and welcome to the bench again today in the final, because the Norwegians have always experienced the sympathy of the referee.

I hope that it will finally succeed in knocking Norway off the throne, after 6 years. It won't be the fault of our super team, they give every game 100% on Sunday February 19, which was needed in the final.

In a packed stadium in Jomtien Beach with a packed Orange grandstand, Colin de Jong opened the Holland – Norway final by singing the Wilhelmus. The Norwegians quickly took a 1-0 lead, but were then outclassed on all fronts and eventually sent home 4-1.

The 6-time series of gold for Norway came to an end, because especially top scorer Ali with a total of 20 goals and a flawless hat trick was the big man in the Holland team. The captain Rene van Dieren was named the best player of the tournament. He previously played for Feyenoord and Sparta. The goalkeeper of the Dutch team: Lee, was named best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Afterwards, the joy knew no bounds and there was a fantastic farewell party for the sponsors and supporters until the wee hours in the packed Tulip House. Colin retires after 12 years for the Holland team, and this was a nice parting gift.