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Quiet rise
Speed and dedication has paid off for Cocu
Posted: Thursday June 25, 1998 09:34 AM
Special from L'Equipe, the French sports daily After
starting to play for the Netherlands
in late 1996, a misleading Philip Cocu has become one of the teams' key
players. Cocu has discreetly taken a major role in a team that
comprises players with very strong personalities. "You can get noticed by
putting yourself at the disposal of the team," he said. But his
happy face and cool attitude hide the fact that he owes his spot on the
squad to his willpower and that it took him two years to convince coach
Guus Hiddink that he could be useful to the team. The 28-year-old
didn't have any more time to waste, because he hadn't exactly gotten a head
start. His father, a former goalkeeper, had pushed him into
soccer, but he played for small teams and wasn't headed anywhere until he
started playing for Herbert Neumann in Arhnem. It didn't take the
German coach long to realize that the talented left-handed Cocu deserved
better than to attack on the wings and pass the ball to a striker.
"Sometimes I got the ball only one or twice in 30 minutes. So I dreamt
awake. Neumann positioned myself differently so I could get more balls. And
since I'm not the type that will run away from responsibilities, I
blossomed in that new role," Cocu said. The biggest club in the
Netherlands, Ajax, became interested in him, but it was PSV Eindhoven that
parted with the money his former team was asking for. That was in 1996, and
his career really took off.
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Cocu scored the Netherlands' first goal in the World Cup against South Korea (AP) |
He played his first match for Hiddink
in a 0-1 loss to Germany in
April, won the Netherlands Cup in May and played in the European
Championships in June. "When I went to PSV, I adapted very well.
And very quickly I improved a lot, I elevated my level of play. It all came
naturally," Cocu said. His quickness and how he gets along with
PSV teammate Wim Jonk accounted for Hiddink's decision to make him a sure
starter. On June 20 against South
Korea, Hiddink needed someone at his old position, on the left wing,
and Cocu answered with the Netherlands' first goal in the World Cup. "I
didn't take a big risk. I know very well what he's capable of. He can play
everywhere," Hiddink said. His polyvalence hasn't escaped Louis
Van Gaal's notice. After his Spanish league title with FC
Barcelona, getting Cocu became the Dutch coach's top priority. No
matter how good his three years in Eindhoven were to Cocu, his transfer
didn't take long or a lot of money to settle. "His kind of soccer
corresponds better to my disposition," Cocu explained. "Barcelona wasn't a
money matter, I've always liked that club. It's a team that plays
aggressively and I'm more at ease in this type of situation. And with Van
Gaal, I think I'll keep on improving. I know the pressure is tremendous, I
know I'll have to fight for a spot, but that's the kind of challenge I
like. I lived the same when I went from Arhnem to Eindhoven."
Copyright 1998, L'Equipe
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