The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Nanama Keita
30 October 2009
Banjul — One of Gambia's Wolrd Cup group opponents the Netherlands became the second team to arrive in the Nigeria for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which begins on the Saturday October 24.
The jong Oranje arrived with a 37-man delegation at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport aboard a KLM airline on Tuesday evening before jetting out to the country's south-eastern city of Calabar, where they will join the two-time African champions Gambia, Iran and Colombia for the Group C matches. Speaking to the local the media shortly after arriving in the west African country, the Netherlands' chief coach, Albert Stuinvenberg, said the team are in Nigeria to win the trophy. He revealed that The Netherlands, which were runners up to Germany at the European U-17 Championship, had been training together for more than two years hence his belief that his team would be difficult to beat.
"We are not in your country as tourists, we have prepared for this championship for a long time, starting from the day we came second in the European championship. We are taking this championship seriously because it holds the future of our football," the coach, who revealed that he has some players from Dutch first division clubs in the team, said.Unlike other participating teams, the Dutch side travelled to Nigeria with their own chef and on why the team came in with a chef, the coach noted that it was an agreement with the organisers that a chef be attached to the team considering the health of the players and the entire team.
"We are not in anyway familiar with African dishes, so our chef will be taken care of what we eat in Nigeria," he explained. The Gambia will face the Dutch side in their second group match on October 28, after taking on Iran in the October 25 opener. Awaiting the Baby Scorpions in the final group match are Colombia.
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