Yes, people here are celebrating the fact that they've been getting their money's worth from all those orange decorations. They're very pleased. Leftover Koninginnedag fireworks pleased.

The third goal was particularly easy to hear, since there happened to be a truck going by at the time. What loud horns those things have.

Very creepy. Like when Denver gets to the Superbowl. Seems to obviate time and space. The cheers all go up at the same time. Everywhere.

As a German living in Spain, I'm planning to watch the game *very quietly* tomorrow. And then raucous madness when we beat NL ;)

(@akaSylvia)

Well I didn't hear a peep in my neighborhood. Would have been different if the opponents had won.

Being rather curious about the whole thing I (fortunately a person of leisure) watched the game on TV. I don't have cable so I watched Univision where the commentary--non-stop frenetic--is in Spanish, which I don't understand.

I think I'm missing quite of lot of the nuances of the game. It still seems very random to me but once in a while I catch a glimpse of what I recognize as skillful play.

Conga rats to the Dutch.

I'm hoping for Spain to be in the final with us -- we've dealt with Germany in 1988 (european champeenship) and Spain, like us, has never won a Worldcup.

This morning the local free rag had an article on how the likelyhood of heart attacks increases during important football matches, especially under males. Today the Dutch team did their best to prove this in those last few minutes.

After the handball in the last match that deprived Ghana of what SHOULD have been a win, I'm pretty happy with the Dutch win. Although they seemed to forget that there was still a match on at the end there; I was expecting Uruguay to equalize.

Holland probably would have lost if Uruguay had had Suarez in goal.

Well, I hardly know who to root for in Germany vs. Netherlands (Spain feh). I think Netherlands, when all's said and done.

Have I ever remotely cared about the World Cup before? No, except to hope Italy didn't win (because it's hell on Earth here in Hoboken when they do). And I'm not actually watching this time either.

But I hope Germany beats Spain.

Yo, por mi parte, abogo por la victoria total de España ¡Aupa España!

Xopher, isn't that a bit like cheering for GM? Or Microsoft?

Xopher: #7: ¿Qué?

Has the team found a place to sleep yet?

Patrick: Good heavens, how so? Have I missed some horrible thing that the German team did? Not unlikely, since I haven't been paying attention to the details, as I said. Have they been "chiefly relying on their acting skills," as someone said of the Italian team? Or something worse?

(I just want Netherlands to beat Germany, really. Them beating Spain just wouldn't have the WWII resonance I'm looking for.)

Fragano - Was? Was für eine Frage ist das? Verstehen Sie nicht, daß ich vielleicht ein Viertel Deutsch bin?

I like it playing out in the media as "modest Dutch", rather than "poor planners". I have no idea what's reasonable and expected, and how teams usually handle this planning issue (hence I have no idea if any "poor planning" accusation would be justified), but it's nice to see something spun this direction.

Me@11, ddb@13:

This is probably a good forum to add: I sent that link to a Dutch co-worker, who put his head in his hands. He later said, in email, 'Hoe bedoel u "op de kleintjes letten"?' (I'd rather let a better batavophone than I come up with an idiomatic translation.)

Hell of a game. At least it gives me somebody to root for in the final. Although the other 50% of the household had adopted Holland the moment that Ghana was pushed out.

Speaking of knowing when a goal was scored, Canada winning ice hockey gold at this year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver was epic. Here's the sound of Vancouver just after the game winning goal was scored...

Overtime game winning goal.

Xopher #12: ¡Hombre! ¿No sabes que mi mamá es gallega?

Martin @ 5, Graham @ 16: tying those thoughts together, some clever soul with time on his hands had a look at water consumption rates in Canada during the hockey final. Hardly any water use at all during play, then a sudden spike in the breaks between periods and right after the final horn - an entire country that had been holding it in flushed as one.

Jacque, 2: That reminds me of going out to see Cloverfield on Super Bowl XLII Sunday evening (when the Patriots lost to the Giants, like I really cared) and being able to follow the progress of the game from the noises from the bars we passed by on the way home from the theater.

Xopher, 12, in response to Patrick, 9: I believe he is alluding to the old adage about how rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for US Steel (or these days, US Healthcare). It's the opposite of being on the side of the underdog. (And yet...the Phillies had to lose the Series last year. I have no regrets.)

I honestly had no idea in the world who would be the underdog in Germany v. Spain. I haven't been paying that much attention.

Now that the Italians have been sent home as they deserved, and by the Slovaks, I feel I've gotten everything I wanted out of this World Cup.

I feel compelled to say that I gave the Italians the benefit of the doubt, even after their antics at the last Cup -- but when one of them kicked an opponent in the crotch and got away with it, my tolerance abruptly vanished. Forza everyone else.

ORANGE TRÄGT NUR DIE MÜLLABFUHR!

And now back to your regularly scheduled civilized comment thread sans German singing.

The real question I've been wondering is, if Spain does beat Germany, how will that affect German willingness to bail Spain out if the debt crisis gets worse?

I can't imagine that the average German-on-the-Street would be too happy to giving massive loans to the people who just shut them out of the world cup finals...

Germans aren't that stupid.

Are they?

Wow, I hope not.

It's not like their current obsession with financial austerity makes any sense.

Mark @ 18: The power companies have to allow for this - you can see spikes in the UK as everyone boils their kettles during half-time of big football matches, and so on.

(And I cannot believe I'm reading, and participating in, a football-themed thread).

But it would be nice if the Netherlands won.

Mark @ 18:
I used that graph in my calculus midterm this past spring quarter.

If Spain make the final the National Anthems will be fun. The Dutch will sing about honouring the King of Spain ("den Koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geëerd."), whereas as I understand it the Spanish will not.

My heart say Netherlands, but my head says Germany, on current form.

@Daniel Klein: (hihihi) "OH, WAT ZIJN DIE DUITSERS STIL!" o===========<() tooo0000oOOOT!

Hum; well, any excuse goes to misbehave; can we do a wave here?

@chris y: worse if Germany is the opponent: (Wilhelmus van Nassauwe) "ben ik, van Duitschen bloed. Den vaderland getrouwe, blijf ik tot in den dood." Oops! Needless to note that the original Wilhelm spoke French :-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Silent

History, variations, translation: wikipedia on "The William", a song based on a French pop tune from around 1569, but slowed down to make it fit to be sung in church.

Point of order: the Netherlands had already made the finals, which means the world cup tournament itself as opposed to the qualification events. They have now made the final.

Fortunately we have a healthy type of democracy where the German on the street is not consulted in manners of any importance. Otherwise Greece wouldn't have been given a cent.

And also, *WAAAAAVE*

heresiarch #25: It's not like their [Germany's] current obsession with financial austerity makes any sense.

Very much not current. "OMG debt" had been the refrain for as far back as I can remember, and I bet it's been so since Karl pawned his empire to the Fuggers.

Also, if debt leads to currency devaluation, that's a collective instant-panic button that was played with by the conservative press during the transition to Euro. So the "3%" stability clause.

I very much hope that football does not carry quite as many associations with sudden poverty and failed states.

@23 I should mention that Germany has actually lost at the World Cup before (once or twice, maybe) and I have never seen any evidence that it has influenced politics with the other countries in the finals. I'm trying not to be offended at the implication that the game might affect the bail-out.

@22 On the other hand:

ORANGE TRÄGT NUR DIE MÜLLABFUHR!

I shouldn't have laughed at that but I did.

inge #34: You must remember that the Karl in question was (a) Austrian and (b) King of Spain (where he is referred to as Don Carlos Primero).

Wasn't he also raised in the Netherlands? And spoke Dutch... Lucky he's not around, he would be soooo torn...

Wasn't he also raised in the Netherlands? And spoke Dutch... Lucky he's not around, he would be soooo torn...

Anecdotally, he spoke French to gentlemen, Italian to ladies, Spanish to his servants and German to his horse. I don't know if he spoke Dutch to anybody - possibly football fans?

chris y #38: The colourful dress of the Flemish troops of his escort made such an impression on his Spanish subjects that they named a dance for them.

So it's Spain vs Germany tonight. One of my (Dutch) colleagues has a Spanish girlfriend, and is therefore clearly supporting Spain.

From his Twitter stream:

"Advice: Always check the color of your pants before you put on a red and yellow shirt to support Spain!"

So who can tell me, without looking anything up, what color of pants he had on today?

Chris Eagle @32:

Verily are you well named. I've fixed it.

abi @ 40: Black?

Yep. Didn't notice till he got to the office, either.

Based on nothing more than re-purposed Beessies (http://hawkdog.net/wordpress/archives/2851) I'm going to be rooting for the Netherlands.

Xopher @20, normally Germany, after the last two weeks, Spain.

chris y 38, I think back then, Dutch and German weren't seen as different languages. The Dutch didn't have their own army and navy yet.

It's Spain.

Revenge for Haarlem!

Go Nederlands.

Go Nederlands! Crush the Spanish Armada Spaniards!

WA^aAaAa_AaAaA^aAaAVE!

¡España sí, Alemania no
la lucha ya se acabó!

O, mejor dicho:

¡España sí, Holanda no,
la lucha ya se acabó!

Up met Nederland, vastgesteld met Spanje
Dan zullen we allemaal dronken op trania!

(Apologies if the Dutch is wrong. It's from Google...and untranslateable words are very useful for rhyming in a language you don't speak!)

(Hmm, the retranslation says "established in Spain." Oh well.)

I watched the last ten minutes of the game in a Greek restaurant, waiting for our order to be finished (and then standing with the bag in hand). The Greeks had been rooting for Spain, and my son admitted he'd been rooting for Germany. Clearly, his handicapping skills need work.

I'd originally predicted Netherlands versus Argentina -- one out of two ain't bad!

Now I really must make sure that shirt is orange, not pink.

my son admitted he'd been rooting for Germany. Clearly, his handicapping skills need work.

I don't understand how that follows. Doesn't "rooting for" mean "hope for the victory of"? Not the same as predicting the winner. Otherwise people wouldn't root for the underdog, would they?

"hoping for the victory of" of course. Sigh.

Xopher @52: I was trying to say he hadn't picked winners without seeming to gloat. It's not his fault after all. However, he begged for that Brazil jersey, and now he has to wait for the next Cup. Of course, if the final should turn against the Orange, he'll be free to laugh at me.

Ginger@54: At least, with the next cup in Brazil, the jersey should have plenty of use in 2014.

After a full month of soccer, sorry football, I just don't get it. I played for years in rec leagues, and still can't appreciate the game.

Counting down days until NFL training camp opens. Must make me a typical American.

There must have been a particularly gratifying dimension in Spain to the joy of beating Germany yesterday, considering the euro economic crisis, and the constant characterization of Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain as irresponsible adolescents who don't know how to handle money or be self-disciplined.

Today it's probably turned around: the Netherlands' 17th century history with Spain ....

Love, C.

David Wald @ 55: Yes, and it might even fit him then (still). He has entered the rapid growth phase of his teens*, and will be approaching 19 at the next Cup. Well, if he can't wear it, I will. I've supported Brazil before he came along, and will be happy to root for them -- I hope they'll be able to field a decent team instead of a compilation of great players, next time around. I like watching jogo bonito.

*I am suddenly able to dispose of older shirts by bequeathing them to him. This means that I will be able to browse his clothing over the next year or so, and will (hopefully) save a bit of money over the next few years. Alas, he is skinny (like my brother) and I doubt I'll be able to steal get any of his pants, jeans, or nice slacks. In this, I am only following in my mother's footsteps -- she was able to score some nice shirts out of my brother's closet for a while.

He grew past my shoe size some time ago, so that opportunity is long gone. This was not as much of a hardship as one might think, as he beats up his shoes and turns them into scrap within about a week (or so it seems) of purchase. We've already each bought him two pairs of sneakers/shoes this year, and we'll need more soon.

As my countrymen are fond of singing:

Deutschland, Deutschland,
Alles ist vorbei.
Alles ist vorbei,
Alles ist vorbei.

Headline in a dutch paper yesterday (I believe it was the Volkskrant) "We beat them in 1648, let's do it again in 2010"

Went to dinner last night at a mexican restaurant; the owner has run one in the area for at least 25 year. Hector was wearing a Nederlands shirt.

He'd been supporting Germany, but when Spain beat them...

Watching the match from the uncomprehending depths of California.

A lot of manoeuvring for possession as the teams get a feel for each other's play. My gut says the Dutch are technically outclassed, and are going to have to discover the kind of push they used in the second half of the Brazil game to have a chance.

Vuvzelas are giving me a craving for honey.

(Twitter trending topic is apparently #huphollandhup)

Halftime. Lots of flirtin' but no kissin'.

I have to watch quietly, because sudden screaming scares the dogs, plus they take my comments at the tv as personal remarks upon their parentage. Wearing orange doesn't bother them, thank goodness.

Apparently the Netherlands have decided that karate-kicking the other team is a faster way to victory. I don't have enough experience to say why that chest-kick didn't rate a red card, but it was egregious.

Spain is really good at playing keep-away. A pity the game is football.

Go Netherlands.

Heather -- I think Spain's strategy is to get the Netherlands team more exhausted, hang on to the ball, and look for opportunities. Obviously it hasn't worked yet, but the Spanish side are looking way less tired than the Netherlands, at least to my untutored eye. Filter this through my desire for Spain to win, of course.

Though it's becoming apparent that the Netherlands own the game above the knees -- the Spanish have no luck when the ball leaves the turf.

Sigh

Sorry, Abi.

Apropos of #62 -- how do vuvuzelas induce a craving for honey?

Dang.

Arrgh. You mean...? Oh, well.

Wait 'til next year four years from now!

VictorS @ 71, I assume it's the buzzing noise, which could charitably be thought of as being like a swarm of bees rather than (as it seems to me) like a swarm of flies.

To me the vuvuzelas sounded more like Manhattan rush hour traffic than like bees. (And I'm out of honey, but there's ginger beer.) But maybe ABC's filtering the sound or something.

A fairly defensive World Cup Final, with no goals until a few minutes before the end of extra time, between the national teams of two countries in which the way football is played at the highest level has been to some extent influenced by the ideas of Johan Cruijff. Hmm.

Oh, and New Zealand is the only team that didn't lose a single game at this World Cup.

Raphael, I don't understand...if they never lost how did they get eliminated?

Xopher:

They had three draws in the group stage, which placed them third behind Paraguay (one win, two draws) and Slovakia (one win, one draw). So they failed to go through without losing a match.

Ah, right. I forget draws. I suspect they're one reason Americans haven't taken to the game...we want someone to WIN (preferably our own side, but someone).

Bill Stewart, #75, yes, I read in the WashPost that the channels were muting the background sound. They didn't want to completely get rid of it, but they didn't think people would watch if it was full sound.

Marilee: Dear me. I only made it through one first-round game--was that before they started muting the fckng vvzls? If I find out I could have watched more I'm going to be right frustrated.

This morning we saw a gift-shop sign on a bucket of those magnetic hematite buzzer-things (aka "the world's largest and most annoying cicadas") which said "More fun than a vuvuzela!" There will be a picture once I'm home and can upload easily.

Unlike most people, I actually LIKE my soccer covered in bees. I hope the vuvuzelas make it to the next World Cup. :)

I confess that at least the vuvuzelas are preferable to chants of specific team or country names. Maybe we could encourage people to use them at the Olympics too?

Well, shadowsong, I can respect that. A matter of taste, upon which reasonable people can disagree.

Even though, of course, the RIGHT opinion is to wish vuvuzelas so thoroughly expunged from the world that history is no longer sure they ever existed.

Just sayin'. :-)

Xopher #85: the RIGHT opinion is to wish vuvuzelas so thoroughly expunged from the world that history is no longer sure they ever existed

Whoso pulleth out these vuvuzelas from yonder recycling bin is rightwise soulmate of inventor Freddie Maake.

The New York Times has an interesting display of footballs (soccer balls) here. I didn't know that what I think of as the "normal" ball (pentagons & hexagons) wasn't introduced until around 1970, and apparently fell out of fashion quite some time ago.

@65 : three possible reasons:

1.The referee didn't get a good look at it.
2.There was some attempt to go for the ball.
3.The referee didn't want to send anyone off if he didn't absolutely have to.

@87 The pentagons and hexagons structure does now have a second life as that of buckminster fullerene

TexAnne, #81, they worked on how much of it they'd allow during the first couple games. They wanted it for background and so forth, but not to scare people away from watching.

Heather Rose Jones @84:

I certainly prefer the vuvuzelas to sectarian chants and inflammatory songs.

(Spot the person who learned what she knows about football in Scotland.)

Marilee, 89: First couple of games? Really? That was the *soft* version? I devoutly hope the vvzls get run over by very large trucks, in that case, or I'll never be able to watch World Cup soccer again.

I thought the vuvuzelas were peculiar to Africa; have they appeared in the crowds in the European or South American leagues? (They may from now on, I suppose, but before this World Cup had they appeared?)

I don't recall hearing of them in a soccer context before this. They do, however, exactly resemble the red* plastic horn I bought at a Big Game (Stanford v Cal) in the early 1980's.

-----
* My parents led me astray. I didn't know any better.

I spoke to a brother-in-law that knew I was cheering for the Netherlands. He told me I should go eat some tapas and paella!

pollineke: and say 10 Hail Marys? Sure sounds like penance to me.

I remember vuvuzelas being sold at Boston's First Nights.

vuvuzelas can't be more annoying than those aerosol can horns you sometimes see at basketball games.

Erik@97: Sure they can: just blow an air horn through a vuvuzela.

David Wald@98, I have seen that unholy chimera sold online recently.

I've watched a couple of the Women's Under-20 World Cup (currently being held in Germany) and the vuvuzelas have not put in an appearance. OTOH, neither have many spectators.

abi @ 93: I had that horn's close cousin at New England Patriots games. I believe I can be excused on the grounds that I was an 11 year old boy at the time. (And that, as a trombone player, I could get a several note range out of the thing.)

Linkspam from a failed crystal ball user @ #102