Former PSV player responds to columnist’s criticism regarding the Orange Marches

Former PSV striker Wim Kieft is this World Cup analyst for NOS and also sat at the table as an analyst on Sunday evening for the match Netherlands - Japan. Kieft analyzed the match together with Rafael van der Vaart and Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Before the match, the NOS showed footage of the Orange March through Dallas by supporters of the Dutch national team. Kieft, together with Van Hooijdonk, found absolutely nothing of the sort and the pundits came under fire from columnist Angela de Jong of Algemeen Dagblad.

''How telling. The Americans are ravingly enthusiastic about the bouncing Orange fans in Dallas, but in the NOS studio the level of acidity spikes and the disdain oozes out once again. In the Hilversum studio of our state broadcaster, it couldn’t be any more acidic and the disdain oozed out'', writes De Jong in her column for the AD.

The columnist also cannot understand that the analysts labeled the march as Carnival. ''Why would you call it Carnival or lowbrow popular entertainment? You may thank God and everyone in the universe on your bare knees that all those Dutch people have taken the trouble to fly to America to cheer on our pampered football millionaires,'' the columnist continues.

In the podcast KieftJansenEgmondGijp, the former PSV player responds to the criticism he had to endure. ''Angela de Jong had a critical piece about Pierre and me, that we were being very contemptuous about the Oranje march. I find that Oranje march terrible, I’ll admit that honestly. But how much does an average trip to America cost, how much do the tickets cost, the drinks? Really, the woman next door from Almere isn’t there'', said Kieft.