Coen Lammers: Great night to be a Dutchman

Netherlands' Robin van Persie celebrates with head coach Louis van Gaal after scoring against Spain. Photo / AP

Opinion

As I am brushing the Copacabana sand from my feet in the metro in Rio de Janeiro I realise life just doesn't get much better.

I just witnessed my beloved Dutch side crush the Spanish 5-1 along with tens of thousands of football fans on the big screen at the Fifa Fan Fest and most of them seemed to relish the demolition of the world champions.

According to one Australian fan, the result would send shockwaves through the footballing world and had truly set the World Cup alight.

Like in the 2006 and 2010 cups, the Fan Fests are just about as good, or at times better than being at the actual match, especially with a backdrop like the Copacabana.

Supporters from Argentina to Ethopia (yes indeed) mingled to make new friends, talk football, swap shirts or give rival nations a bit of stick.

One Spanish fan was so disgusted with his team's effort that he offered to swap his expensive strip with my ragged old orange t-shirt, despite the protestations from his girlfriend. An hour later though, the desperate Spaniard tracked me down in the crowd and begged me to reverse the swap. "It was my friend's shirt," he said sheepishly. "And he was not happy I had given it away."

Naturally I relented after our moment of glory and my new friend promised to send me a Spanish strip in New Zealand.

During the match, an English supporter on honeymoon was interested to hear I was from New Zealand as his estranged father was a Maori expat from a small town in Northland.

He remember the name of the place, but the West Ham fan quite enjoyed having a Maori player as one of the stars of the Hammers.

Another person with Kiwi connection on the Copacabana was Jack Tame who was having a quiet beer after a few days on the road for TVNZ. The correspondent from New York was clearly enjoying the World Cup and not keen to go back to the Big Apple.

First though he had to console his buddy in a Socceroos shirt after Australia's first-round defeat to Chile.

Over 50,000 Australians are said to have made the trek to Brazil and hundreds were at the Fan Fest along with thousands of Chilean supporters who seem to dominate every street corner.

Chile took a quick 2-0 lead and the Australians were preparing themselves for a repeat of the 5-0 humiliation against Germany four years ago.

Many started drowning their sorrows, but after Tim Cahill put them back in the frame, the boys from Down Under rushed back from the bar to the big screen. After an emotional rollercoaster ride, the hope of a positive result was destroyed by a late Chilean goal, but the fans were proud of their young Socceroos. "But it won't get any easier against Spain and Holland," one fans summarised. "But just watch us in four years."