Frenkie de Jong hasn’t had the best year. The FC Barcelona player has long been hampered by injuries and missed several months of competition with the Blaugrana. His physical problems also caused him to miss the Euro with the Netherlands. Back in the selection, 14 months later, the former Ajax Amsterdam player spoke in a long interview for International Voetbal over these complicated months.
“ I spend a lot of time on my ankle. Now I have to take care of it a lot more. Before, I didn’t even think about my ankle before competitions, now I take care of it before training and competitions. I have to put ice, I have to make additional preparations for training… I remember that moment (his ankle injury against Real, last April 21). I was eager to play the matches against Real Madrid and PSG. I wasn’t 100% recovered so I wasn’t confident going into the match. I had some doubts. Of course, I will do things differently today (…)indicated the man with 220 matches played with Barça, who was able to count on the support of those close to him. I never felt like I had to stop playing football. It was quite difficult, but I received a lot of support. From my wife, my son, my family and my friends. From time to time you talk about it in detail with someone and the support from the people around you is very nice. »
