In the Eyes of the Players

I, as a player of the Netherlands soccer team going to the World Cup, feel a tremendous amount of pressure. Pressure from my coaches, my team mates, but also the people of the country. Though we have the greatest soccer fans anyone could ask for, what with following us around and coming to all of our games, there are big expectations and hopes of how well we will do at the World Cup and no one on this team wants to let anyone down. And we play hard to ensure that we will be the best we can be. As far as competition, the team feels confident in how well we've been playing and working together. But from the 30 players that have been named as part of the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World cup, 23 are going to be chosen for the final squad that will play. There is a little competition between us team mates, to be one of the 23 chosen players, but overall we are sticking together as a team and supporting each other no matter who moves on to the final playing squad. It's about how well play as a team, not the performance by individuals. I am going to try my best, and so is the team, and we know that our fans and coaches will be by our side whether we win or not. But in our minds, we already have won just by getting to play in the World Cup. Go Netherlands!