ABOVE: Ben Oude Kamphuis explains why he drove 21,000 km to watch the World Cup – and why he did it in a 1955 Chevy pickup nicknamed “Nellie”
Dutch fan Ben Oude Kamphuis drove almost 21-thousand kilometres from San Francisco in the U.S. to Praia do Forte in Brazil to watch his team play in the 2014 World Cup.
Oude Kamphuis began his trip on 15 January and drove through 12 countries in his journey, including the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama.
In Colombia he had to take a boat and then continued his trip into Ecuador and Peru before finally arriving in Brazil’s Praia do Forte on June 2.
He made the journey in a 1955 Chevrolet 235 pick-up truck called “Nellie”, which Oude Kamphuis said hasn’t let him down.
Oude Kamphuis works with disabled children in San Francisco and said they helped him paint his truck.
The 53-year-old comes from the Dutch town of Twente, but has been living in the US for 28 years and in San Francisco for the last 23 years, the Californian city from where he started his long journey to Brazil.
The Netherlands’ first match in the 2014 World Cup is a repeat of the 2010 final, and a chance for revenge against Spain, when the two sides meet at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador on June 13.
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