Wesley Sneijder: new leader of Oranje

Wesley Sneijder is jumping up in the Oranje hierarchy. He is chief free kicks, chief pressuring and chief DJ. “I am surprised how much Marco involves me in all aspects of this campaign.”

Edwin van der Sar and Ruud van Nistelrooy are the topdogs in Oranje’s hierarchy. Right after the Italy match, it was skipper Sar who addressed the players and put some perspective in their minds. But, right after those two leaders, it’s Wesley Sneijder’s rising star who takes care of business.

Sneijder is the Boss on the pitch with setpieces, he decides when to push forward and obviously, he decides which music plays in the dressing room.

“I am really overwhelmed with the way I am treated now. And I don’t mean it in an arrogant way or anything. It’s logical that the midfield decides the moment to start putting pressure on the opponent and I do realize this is already my third big tournament. I demand more of myself and more of others. I think my year in Madrid also helped.”

In the players group, Sneijder is affectionately called “a macho”. He sometimes needs it to be put in his place. But who ever you ask, they all say he puts his money where his mouth is and that he has grown enormously. After the Italy match, for instance, he was the first to play the performance down. “This was one game. It was wonderful. But now we have to focus on the French and we’ll need to get back to work. The party - if there will be one -will have to wait.”

“Two years ago,” he says now, “I would have been euphoric for two days or so. But you learn how to handle that when you get older. In Spain, we play finals every week. What, every three days! You have got to stay sharp and focus. Your biggest asset as a player is your mindset.”

His time at Ajax was great, but there is also a big trap most people don’t see. “At Ajax, Raf, John Heitinga, Cedric van der Gun and myself were the golden wonder boys. Every one knew us. We were always complimented and when we were in our early 20s we believed that we could lead the team. Well, we couldn’t. Simple. The expectations were too high and the result is that you become agitated, or frustrated… I think that’s one of the reasons Raf left.”

At Madrid, the popular Ajax player was left to his own devices. In the first weeks, players like Raul and Guti even ignored him. “They wanted you to sort out your own stuff. How do things work at Madrid, where’s the training pitch, etc. If you can hold your own, you will win them over. At Ajax, I was always a protected player. A bit spoiled perhaps…”

“After some time, Raul suddenly said: come on, Wes. Let’s practice some free kicks. It seems a detail but I saw it as defining moment. At Real, you have to prove yourself first. You will be tested. My first games and goals were a huge help of course. But the first months were tough. You don’t have your mates, you don’t speak the language, you don’t know the city…”

His mentors at Madrid were / are Raul, Cannavaro, Van Nistelrooy and coach Schuster. They taught him to defend positionally and to put the team interest above his personal interest.

Sneijder showed against Italy why Van Basten said: “Sneijder!”, on the question who San Marco would rather have: Prilo or Sneijder. Two years ago, the team manager answered the same question with Pirlo…

Sneijder isn’t only lethal in attack, he works hard for the team and never ignores his defensive duties. Sneijder was extremely satisfied with the coaching on the pitch. “To play as a team unit means communicating on the pitch. Constantly. Talking, coaching, eye contact. I remember playing half blind when my mates didn’t let me know if I had an opponent in my back or not.”

Against France, the level of expectation is high. Does Wesley feel the pressure from fans and media?

“I don’t believe the group experiences it like that. We put pressure on our selves, but we don’t aim to play a similar game against France as we did against Italy. You can’t expect a 3-0 against them. They know what to expect, they have to come to grab their points. It’s a totally different game than the Italy game for many reasons.”

“And France doesn’t have a couple of bozo’s in the team. The pressure is with them, but they can handle that. Some teams play wonderful when they have to. I am happy with whatever way the play. We can dominate and play pressure and we can play counter-attack. I’m ready to play that game now, really.”