“Bal zoekt vrouw [Ball is looking for Woman], a naturalisation course for women” could best be described as a course in football watching for women. The writer Ernest Heinemann (1970) is a strategist and trendwatcher at Gummo. But most of all, he is an avid football lover.

Heinemann believes that the ways in which men and women view the world are becoming increasingly similar. Men can be into sex, football and beer these days without being macho. Dutch men have got it sussed in that regard. Now it is up to the Dutch woman to become engrossed in a man’s world.

Heinemann’s reason for the book and the course nights was, therefore, a combination of patriotism and self-interest. According to him, the positive energy that is released when both men and women support the Dutch team, can be crucial to the Netherlands’ results. Apart from that, he wants to deliver himself and Dutch men from their wives’ eternal nagging when trying to watch a nice game of footy on the telly.

Within a few weeks, the book and the course nights in the Odeon turned into a full-blown (international) media hype. It was covered by over seventy newspapers, magazines and radio and television shows. This included a front page article in the Netherlands’ largest newspaper De Telegraaf, articles in women’s magazines like Viva, coverage by national news show such as 2Vandaag and TV items in amongst others China, Germany, USA, Australia through press agency Reuters.