Dutch football fans have reacted to strict new Covid protocol on amateur football training in their country by giving one team a stunning early morning reception.
Last week, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the nation will effectively shut down for all but essential services between 5pm and 5am.
“In principle the Netherlands is closed,” Rutte said. “This means events, concerts, theaters, cafes, bars, museums, gyms and sports clubs, with a couple of exceptions.”
Amateur football outfits are also hit by the measures in the land of the three-time World Cup finalists, with some resorting to meeting at bizarre hours of the day so that their players, who often hold down regular jobs, can hone their skills.
Currently 10th in the Tweede Divisie, Quick Boys are one such team.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dutch amateurs Quick Boys took training at 5AM to work around local Covid-19 restrictions.<br><br>They were greeted by 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 😳<a href="https://t.co/HhOpyj6AzJ">pic.twitter.com/HhOpyj6AzJ</a></p>— GOAL (@goal) <a href="https://twitter.com/goal/status/1466382504844267520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2021</a></blockquote>
Based in the seaside town of Katwijk aan Zee in the south of the country, they are the Netherlands’ second-most successful amateur club – and boast support to match.
This was no better communicated than when a group of fans turned up at 5am on Thursday morning to let off fireworks ahead of a Saturday away trip to Voldendam II, in scenes more commonly found in South America.
Congregating behind one of their stadium’s goals, the fanatics also lit flares and bellowed out terrace chants as players and staff lined up to applaud them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="nl" dir="ltr">⚽️ TRAINING | 𝐷𝑒 𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑...💪🔵⚪️ <a href="https://t.co/arNDQlcrHf">pic.twitter.com/arNDQlcrHf</a></p>— Quick Boys (@KvvQuickBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/KvvQuickBoys/status/1466317900453756930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2021</a></blockquote>
As footage went viral on social media, onlookers called the display “class,” “unbelievable,” and “awesome.”