Daley Blind has praise for his teammate Antony. The 31-year-old defender of Ajax will not be surprised when the Brazilian wing attacker grows into one of the best players in the world. “He is doing very well and has a lot of talent. He works hard in training, I see that every day,” said Blind.
“He is such a technical player. He has a lot of speed and he is very calm in front of goal. He can score, he gives assists,” Blind says to TNT Sports Brazil† “I think he is a very complete player. He is also very young, so if he continues to develop he can get a lot better. But he is already very important to us. It is a pleasure to watch him play and to play with him.”
Blind is asked by the Brazilian sports channel whether Antony can become one of the best players in the world. “Yes, I think so,” says Blind. “He is doing very well and has a lot of talent. He works hard in training, I see that every day. He really enjoys the game. I hope he shows us a lot more.” According to the defender, it will not be an easy task for Ajax to match the successful Champions League campaign of the 2018/19 season, in which the team from Amsterdam stranded in the semi-finals. “I think this is something we want, but it’s very hard to achieve. You need so much to get that shape, you have to grow in the tournament.”
“Today is the first final we play, it will be a match in itself,” continues Blind. We have to show the best of ourselves again, but the fun we radiate as a group is very important. We also did very well in the group stage, but that doesn’t count anymore.” Blind states that the selection cannot be compared with that of four years ago. “If you look at the rosters, our current roster is completely different. There aren’t many players left who played here four years ago. In such a short time the selection can change very quickly, but the results are good. This is the way we want to play. We want to show ourselves to the world and this is the level where we want to participate. You don’t win prizes with beautiful football. It will certainly not be an easy game against Benfica.”