Van Basten gets some laughs

13 June 2006

AMSTERDAM — Marco van Basten, coach of the Dutch national team, is getting a lot of questions from foreign journalists this World Cup. The coach tries to answer them in his best English, German and Italian – even when the questions have nothing to do with football.

This has led to some comical situations. This is one of them.

“Mister Van Basten”, a journalist from German press agency DPA asked the coach this Tuesday, “I understand that the girlfriends of the players will soon be coming to Germany. Will you be putting the players under house arrest?”

“No,” Van Basten answered. “But I think you haven’t understood [the situation] correctly. It is not so that the girlfriends will be coming. The wives of the players will be coming to Germany. Not the girlfriends. That would make it all much too busy around here.”

The DPA reporter did not know what to say to the joke. When he avoided eye contact with Van Basten and looked around the hall a number of his colleagues shook their upraised thumbs at him.

Thanks, another good quick piece of copy.

Subject: Dutch news