Two weeks ago we went to Herzlake, Germany. We had two trainings a day with average intensity but in good spirits, which is very important. I think the team is very much together, we were all working with enthusiasm. Jollity only disappeared on matches, but not because of the score. Red cards were flying about both against Sivasspor and Genk, normally I don’t see as many dismissals in the whole season as now on only two prep matches. When we played against an amateur team previously I thought that they merely wanted to prove something too hard, that’s why they were so brutal, but this explanation doesn’t hold for the Turkish and the Belgian teams. On both matches everyone, including me got so severe attacks that I thought season would start with injuries.
Luckily I got away unharmed, so I got to be present on the farewell-game of Phillip Cocu. The whole town was looking forward to this match very much, the stadium was almost full, and there was a big show. Getting into the mood started in the morning, when the whole team went to be photographed. We had pictures taken in suits, in our home and away outfits, from the front, from the sides, from all directions. The match in the evening will be memorable, such great players were on Cocu’s team as Figo, Bergkamp, Kluivert, Stam; all of them classes by themselves. They made the first half difficult for us, but later on it showed that we were in better shape. I was looking forward to the meeting with Figo the most, I announced in the changing room before the match that I wanted to swap shirts with him. Luckily I managed to do it, we even chatted for a while. He knew where I was from, as he had visited Hungary for the shooting of a commercial, and he said he would also come to Budapest to see the World Cup qualifying game against Portugal.
Everything is live already this week, European League on Thursday, and championship match on Sunday. According to Dutch media our team has a very good chance to win the championship, and I am personally very curious too about how we will perform. Rutten got together a good team, we have good transfers, even though Manolev’s first training will only be tomorrow. So countdown has begun...
I have two friends visiting me, they also saw the gala match, and more importantly delivered my mum’s goulash, so thanks to that we could have a Hungarian evening on Sunday. It was divine.