Hard Gras 23 (01-085)

[gerbie]

The Euro 2000 special from the Football quarterly. Some interesting stories, some superfluous. I could have done with a summary of all the European championships. The poetry isn't exactly brilliant either this time. But the background story on Edgar Davids is very interesting, the author, Chris Ruesink, looking for the roots, the playgrounds in Amsterdam Noord. His old school teacher, the other boys who played on the street with him, his first club, not completely coincidentally also the first club of Kluivert. Not one word could have been left out, the story helps you understand a bit of the psyche of the best Dutch player at the moment. Another highlight is the story about Hagi, the Romanian midfieldstar. Who needs running, if you can walk everything and still shine on the field. Stories on Matthaus (by Simon Kuper), Beckham (Jimmy Burns) and Raul (Edwin Winkels) complete the issue. Not their best issue, but for once I can understand that they did not have a choice, ignoring the Euro 2000 tournament, held in this country, wasn't possible. I didn't see any of the usual previews and I don't think I have missed anything.