Dirk Kuyt reacted on Wednesday evening to the swipe of Yuriy Vernydub, the trainer of Sheriff Tiraspol, towards his person. ‘s analyst RTL 7, who said on August 17 that clubs like Sheriff have no business in the Champions League, wishes the Moldovan stunt team every success, but does not apologize when asked.
While on August 17, the play-off match between Sheriff and Dinamo Zagreb (3-0) was discussed on RTL 7, said Kuyt that ‘clubs like this have no business in the Champions League’. On Tuesday, Vernydub, the coach of the Moldovans, was right in the direction of Kuyt after his team’s spectacular victory at Real Madrid (1-2) overtook Vernydub. “The great player Dirk Kuyt has said that there is no place for Sheriff in the Champions League,” the coach said at the press conference. “I like to make his world fall to pieces.”
Kuyt thinks his words have been taken somewhat out of context. “A few weeks ago I indicated that the strongest teams should enter the Champions League,” said the former attacker. “You now have a distribution in the play-offs that the champions who are not directly qualified for the main tournament play against each other, and the numbers two and three also play separately. I think: the strongest teams should play in the Champions League The champions are not necessarily the strongest teams, so I think that in those play-offs you should lump that group together, so that you are left with the strongest teams.”
Kuyt said he did not specifically refer to Sheriff. “This is the first time I use the word Sheriff, because I didn’t mention that name at all then. For example, a club like Malmö FF is having a very difficult time in the Champions League now, and I think that if Benfica or PSV it would say that they are a better team.”
Despite all the fuss, Sheriff gets the full support of Kuyt. “I love watching it. I didn’t mean it to Sheriff that way at all, but my social media inbox was flooded with messages. It’s not that I have anything against Sheriff, I enjoy it too that they are performing so well. They have had to go through all the rounds in the play-offs to get there. It’s only nice when there is a team that rises above themselves. I hope that I am an extra motivator and that things which I say matter, even in Moldova. Good luck Sheriff, I’m going to follow you.”