Dutch fans by Dick a flight home (soccernet.com)
AMSTERDAM, June 20 (Reuters) – Dutch fans at Euro 2004 have clubbed together to buy a plane ticket out of Portugal for coach Dick Advocaat following the 3-2 defeat by the Czech Republic.
Advocaat was blamed for making a substitution in the second half which allowed the Czechs to come back from 2-1 down.
‘We collected the money in just three minutes,’ said Johan de Laat who organised the initiative on a camp site in Portugal, news agency ANP reported.
Advocaat’s ticket was booked for Tuesday’s Virgin Express flight from Faro to Brussels, a flight that cost �120, according to the airline’s website.
The Dutch play their last Group D game on Wednesday, needing to win to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
‘We will give him the ticket through room service at his hotel. All he needs is his passport,’ De Laat said. ‘He doesn’t have to come back to the Netherlands.’