Devyne Rensch is experiencing his big breakthrough at Ajax this season, much to the delight of his father Achmed Kandhai. The former attacker experienced a short-lived adventure in professional football at FC Twente and Heracles Almelo, which he said failed because he could not resist the temptations outside the field. “When I look at him, I don’t feel like ‘if only I had this or if only I had that’. I have closed that chapter ”, says Kandhai in conversation with The Telegraph.
“He is a normal father, but also a father who has been a professional footballer. He knows what to say to you. Unfortunately, things have gone in a lesser direction for him. Then it’s up to me to move in the right direction. He helps me with that, ”says Rensch in the same newspaper. Kandhai worked at FC Twente together with Erik ten Hag, who, together with Fred Rutten, tried to keep him ‘on the right track’. However, he says that the temptations were too great for him when he was alone in Enschede and could be found in the city several evenings a week.
At Heracles it went ‘completely wrong’ for Kandhai, who could not find it with the trainer and took a ‘wrong turn’. Then the former attacker fell into a gigantic black hole. “After my career went wrong, I was so sad that I became a heavy drinker to forget,” admits Kandhai. He has since stopped drinking. “My mother passed away in 2018. Just before her death, she said to me: ‘Oh, promise me you won’t touch that bottle again.’ I promised her that and I will never do that again. ”
“When I see Devyne playing football, I can enjoy it and I am a proud father”, he continues. Rensch this season played twenty official matches in the main force of Ajax for the time being. “I am happy that my son gave me pleasure in football again, because that has been away for many years. I haven’t watched football for four, five years. I couldn’t watch boys of my class, who had less talent, playing football on TV. That was too painful. It’s getting a bit normal now, but at first I was bouncing. If the game was at seven in the evening, I was nervous from the moment I woke up in the morning. ”
Rensch thinks his mom and dad have more competition nerves than he does. “I have a bit of tension, but not very much. I also make sure that I am always well prepared ”, says eighteen-year-old Rensch, who can play as a right back and center-back. “I think my best position is left central defender. Everyone has dreams. I want to be the best defender, a special defender. ”