Maarten Stekelenburg would not have dared to dream prior to last season that he would be the first choice under the bar of the Dutch during the European Championship. The goalkeeper, at 38 years the oldest player in the final round, became the first goalkeeper of Ajax due to André Onana’s doping suspension and was promoted to the Dutch after Jasper Cillessen was removed from the selection due to a corona infection. In conversation with the General Newspaper Stekelenburg says he sees his base place as ‘a kind of reward’.
“If someone had said before this season that I would be the first goalkeeper at the European Championship, I would have laughed at him,” Stekelenburg admits, adding that he has had a ‘great season’ at Ajax. On Sunday, Stekelenburg was under the bar during the opening game of the the Dutch against Ukraine (3-2). the Dutch’s first goal against, a placed long shot by Andriy Yarmolenko, was reminiscent of a shot by Kaká that kept Stekelenburg out of his goal in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup. He laughs gently at the comparison, but disagrees.
“You really can’t compare Sunday’s shot with Brazil 11 years ago,” he says. “I have become calmer since that World Cup. I have much more experience, I am eleven years older. And I have experienced everything once, that is an advantage. I still feel good physically.” Stekelenburg, for example, knows what it’s like to be ‘on each other’s lips 24 hours a day’ with his teammates. “In the current situation, a long period, because going to your wife and children in between is not an option. As long as you win, that’s no problem. But you have to work hard to keep winning.”
“There were plenty of situations against Ukraine that could be improved, we realize that very well. But it is very nice that we have won the opening game,” concludes Stekelenburg. The the Dutch squad will play in the second group match against Austria on Thursday and close the group on Monday against North Macedonia.
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