I know that it’s still more than 6 months away but I just can’t stop thinking about the 2010 World Cup. Sports have been a big part of my life since my early youth and luckily for me, I even get paid to write about it now. I religiously follow basketball, baseball, American football (professional and collegiate) but my passion remains with soccer and especially European soccer.

As a soccer fanatic, you know that nothing is bigger than the World Cup. I don’t need to explain why this is. A summer that has the World Cup going on automatically becomes my favorite time of the year and following on Curacao adds a very nice little twist as well.

With the blend of cultures and nationalities that we have on the island, you see many countries get represented during the tournament. The Netherlands, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the U.S., England, France, Mexico and Argentina are just a few that come to mind. This makes viewing the games in bars and restaurants even better, especially when two well represented countries are meeting. (Games like Brazil-Holland or Holland-Portugal can basically split the island in half).

Places like Pizza Hut, Larry’s, De Tropen and Plein Café Wilhelmina are then usually stacked with roaring supporters and if your team happens to win, the party becomes even bigger and you are free to drink, taunt and brag as much as you want. (Be careful of who you taunt though because your facial region might regret it later).

There is one downside however to a massive tournament like the World Cup and that obviously is the inevitable heartbreak of losing. That unbearable agony becomes even more magnified during such a big event and in the end, you would rather get kicked in the stomach by a mule then go through that again. (There is bonus pain for having to wait 4 full years to get back to the dance).

Let me also add right now that I root for the Dutch national team. I bleed “Oranje” and that’s the way I was brought up. My grandfather was a big Ajax and Oranje fan and while the fandom automatically passed over to me, the journey has been very up and down throughout the years.

I was 5 years old when Holland became European Champion in 1988. I didn’t grasp the magnitude of it at the time (which sucks) and in my simplistic, childish mind this was supposed to happen every time from now on. “My team” would win and become champion every single time. That’s what happens when your first real memory is success and it basically sets you up for some harsh moments down the road in your life.

If you follow the Dutch national team, you know exactly what I mean. I’m talking about the 3-2 loss in the Quarterfinals of WC 94 (the euphoria of tying the game at 2-2 was short lived). I’m talking about Clarence Seedorf’s penalty miss in the Quarterfinals of Euro ’96 against France (it took me a long time to forgive him for that). There’s the penalty shoot-out loss in the semi-finals of WC 98 against Brazil (probably the most painful loss of my lifetime so far because I was assured that Holland would go all the way after the Bergkamp goal against Argentina).

Euro 2000 was another kick to the shins as they put on a clinic in the semi-finals against Italy on how not to take penalty kicks (losing consecutive semi-finals on penalties took years off of my life). The 2002 debacle followed as Oranje did the unthinkable by not qualifying for the WC in Japan & Korea but in 2004 they were back to stabbing us in the liver as another semi-final was lost, this time to the host country Portugal (Maniche!!$#%$#@#!!).

Things were mixed up a little in WC 2006 as it was an exit in the round-of-16, again to the hands of Portugal. And really, who can forget the EPIC choke job in Euro 2008. A rousing start with wins against Italy, France and Romania is followed by that pathetic loss against Russia. Let me not get into that or else I’ll end up punching pigeons in the parking lot.

In short, following Oranje has been bitter sweet. There’s always an abundance of hope at the beginning as they are anointed as a favorite to win it all, which is then followed by strong play that excites everyone and gets everyone talking. Finally, there’s the spine crushing loss in the quarter- or semi-finals that will have you wondering where it all went wrong.

Holland is now known as the most talented team to never win a World Cup. They are always considered to be the most talented team on paper but questions arise about the collective mentality of the team. This may apply to us fans as well because most of us have also gotten to the point where we expect a guy like Seedorf to miss that penalty.

This doesn’t change the fact that I’ll be rooting as hard as ever when the 2010 WC kicks off. They might choke again while deep into the tournament, but I’ll take it. This is my team and I’ll take the lows that come with those very amazing highs. My grandfather never got to see them win the ultimate prize, but maybe I will. It may even happen in 2010. That’s the awesomeness of sports and that’s why we follow it the way we do. It’s about pride, it’s about passion, it’s about winning but ultimately, it’s about hope. Hope that this will be OUR turn.

And even if my lifetime never gets to see the boys in Oranje jerseys lift that trophy, I’ll be just as giddy at the start of every tournament because that’s what constitutes being a fan. You stick through the hard times and whenever a breakthrough is made, you can enjoy it even more.

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