The Ol’ sly fox and the young bull…

Both Foppe de Haan and Royston Drenthe were the most colourful people of the EC triumph last week of Young Oranje. And it’s no coincidence. There is a special bond between the 20-year old player and the 64-year old coach.

The EC was a few days old when Foppe took Roy apart. Walking in the forest in Friesland he told the young Feyenoord player the story of one Quincy. Former mega-talent and former Oranje U21 star. And former public cuddly toy.

Don’t let all the attention get to you. There are dangers in believing you’re God’s gift to football. Keep your feet on the ground, than it’s ok to have your head in the clouds. Stay pure within yourself. Enjoy, soak it all in, but always realize who you are and where you’re from…

“Royston is a thinker, a guy who really pays attention,” says De Haan. “A special kid. Yes, he did stupid things as a kid and he really knows where he’s from, but he is able to look at himself objectively. You can critisize him and he’ll do something with it. Yeah, I’ve a special bond with. That’s what happens sometimes. You resonate with certain people and you don’t with others. But, I treat him the same as the other boys.”

There’s a world of difference between Drenthe and De Haan. Royston was born smack in the center of Rotterdam, as only child of Suriname parents. De Haan was born in Lippenhuizen, Friesland. They both have i-Pods but both have totally different music on it.

Still, “Trainer Foppe understands me,” Royston said many times.

After his assist on Rigters in the match against Portugal, Drenthe ran directly in the arms of his coach. The ticket to Bejing was in the bag and Drenthe knew how important that was for De Haan.

“The coach wanted to go to the Olympics very badly,” said Drenthe after the match. “And so do we of course, but we were very happy for him!’

And to prove that De Haan can also be firm, “I think Royston was after his own successes too much in the finals. That’s why I took him off. But, hey…he played a super tournament. There are many similarities between him and Edgar Davids. But if he really wants to become that good, he’ll need to stay at Feyenoord for at least two more seasons. There, he can develop himself. By playing and listening and learning. Like he did with me.”