In addition to its wealth of talent, Team Netherlands is one of the most cohesive squads in the tournament because many of its best players grew up together on the two islands, which have a combined population of just 250,000. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyStill, unlike the teams from, say, the Dominican Republic or Japan, Team Netherlands clearly has a polyglot roster. Other Dutch players, like Rick van den Hurk, who started Tuesday’s game, played in M.L.B. The players from Aruba and Curaçao also speak Dutch but often communicated with the European players in English. Advertisement Continue reading the main story“I’m trying to understand what they’re saying, but it’s hard,” van der Meer said of the islanders.

Source: New York Times March 07, 2017 12:48 UTC