BHUBANESWAR: As the video referral confirmed Netherlands' 2-0 lead over South Korea in the quarterfinals of the World Cup on Wednesday, one tiny section of the Kalinga stadium was dancing. Dressed from head to toe in Orange, you didn't need any prizes to know they were the parents and family members of the team. They added lots of colour to the occasion.
Off the pitch, around 20 of them who have taken leave from their respective jobs to be with the Dutch players for the duration of the World Cup are also spreading love. After finishing the Rourkela leg of the journey, they decided to go to a few Dalit villages near Puri and donated a meal.
The idea came about thanks to Kathleen, Terrance Pieters' mother, who works as a volunteer for Indian Light Foundation in The Netherlands. "I'm a volunteer of The Foundation back in the Netherlands," she says before the match against South Korea on Wednesday. "I help with communications, marketing and fundraising and stuff.
"When I told one of the board members that I am going to India, she was like 'if you are in Odisha, I will connect you to somebody who's in an NGO'. So, I met this lady, who's of Surinamese-Indian descent (Kathleen also has Surinamese roots). She's from the Quality For Life Foundation with volunteers in Puri. I met her in Amsterdam and we had a very nice chat. She told me that she's supporting Dalit villages in Odisha. I said 'while I'm there, I'm going to come and visit'. So, she called the staff member here, Basant. He was like 'why don't I organise a trip for you so you can come and see the work we do'. I told a few (of the) parents (of the other players in the team) of this and they were like 'oh wow, can we join'?. This group got bigger and bigger and eventually we were 18 or 19 people. It was an amazing experience.
Listening to the stories of the people there moved them to such an extent Kathleen calls it 'life-changing'. "It was such a life-changing experience because, you know, in The Netherlands, if you donate, you kind of rely on the fact the money will go somewhere. But being there, seeing the people, how they live, how they struggle, it's impactful. All the family members were like 'where can we donate because we want to make a contribution.'
"My foundation, they said if you are here representing us, let's do something. They offered a meal so we had Quality For Life Foundation hire cooks for the village and they cooked on the spot, so when we arrived there, the food was already there. We helped hand it out and we also interacted with the people."
Alette, Jip Janssen's mother, one of the 20 or so family members who accompanied Kathleen on the trip, picks up the story. "Kathleen works in Holland for the Foundation. Her colleague's husband runs the foundation here. So that's really very interesting. We donated a meal. They blessed us, had a dance for us, and we spoke to the kids. We took a bus with 20 parents. It is very close to Puri."
While the family members put a smile on the faces of several locals, their sons ensured they went back to the hotel rooms with happiness on Wednesday. A comfortable 5-1 win meant they will be back on Friday, facing Belgium for a place in Sunday's final.
Results (all quarterfinals): Germany 2-2 England (Germany advance 4-3 on penalty shoot-outs), Netherlands 5-1 South Korea.
Semifinal line-up (both on Friday): Germany vs Australia, Belgium vs Netherlands.
Thursday's matches (all classification matches): South Africa vs Malaysia (11.30 AM), France vs Wales (2.00 PM), Chile vs Argentina (4.30 PM), India vs Japan (7.00 PM)