The Bijlmer erupts?

America and England are out of the World Cup, but I was always favouring the Netherlands, anyway.  Now, with a great deal of luck, my dream match could come true… Holland versus Ghana.

Why, you ask?  Simple! My old neighbourhood in Amsterdam Zuidoost (known as the Bijlmer) was in the middle of the largest Ghanaian expatriate population outside of Surinam (where most were taken by the Dutch against their will in centuries past).  The Bijlmer will be a gigantic party from Saturday night onward if the Quarterfinals go the right.

Here’s a nice introduction to the diversity of the Bijlmer, and an argument that it has greatly improved as a place to settle in the past decade:

http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/afleveringen/2002-2003/bijlmer-the-rough-guide.html

And, here is a clip from a series of stories from the local paper about life in the Bijlmer (this time focusing on one of the 15–that’s right, 15–Ghanaian kings living there):

http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/1870/De-Bijlmer/article/detail/268394/2009/11/18/In-de-Bijlmer-Koning-heeft-het-prima.dhtml

And, if your Dutch isn’t great, try this one: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5391/is_200009/ai_n21459797/

Other good match-ups (not necessarily good matches) were:

Spain v. Portugal (the battle of British Holiday Destinations)

Germany v. Argentina (where the Nazi’s fled)

Netherlands v. Denmark (the Herring Cup)