“Oranje” fans suffered on Sunday as the Dutch national team reduced to ten men due to a red card lost 0-2 against the Czech Republic and was knocked out of the Euro 2020 soccer championships in round 16 (see sports section). That countrymen Max Verstappen and Mathieu van der Poel won respectively the formula one Grand Prix in Spielberg, Germany, and the second stage of this year’s Tour de France was only partial consolation.
There are obviously more important things in life than watching sports, but it does bring people together and gives particularly bars and beach clubs a bit of badly-needed business after a dismal coronavirus-related crisis year. Thankfully, stayover arrivals have picked up considerably and the tourism economy is finally showing signs of a sustained recovery.
As stated before, getting vaccinated to ensure a relative level of safety also for guests remains crucial in this sense. The island is known as a fun destination and a high degree of immunity can make all the difference.
Regarding soccer, the good news is that the other local favourite France is still in the tournament and faces Switzerland today, Monday. In addition to people on the French side, St. Maarten’s supporters of the Netherlands would be nice to now back “Les Bleus” as well going forward.
After all, it is very much one community and that would be the brotherly thing to do.
