• Home
• /
• Football

Hooijdonk Reveals His Secret

DUBAI - In his hey day, Pierre van Hooijdonk broke rivals’ hearts with his unique free-kicks. In fact, such was his brilliance that the former Dutch striker, during his glorious career, scored a staggering 335 goals, many of which came from the free-kicks.

Hooijdonk, who is playing for the Celtic Legends in the inaugural Emirates Dubai Football Sevens, revealed the secret to his success. “When I was a kid I always tried to put the ball where I wanted to. I always hit the ball with the inside of my foot because that way you become more accurate. I could hit it quite well. So my balls didn’t lose the power and they were accurate. That made the difference,” the former Celtic striker said at the Sevens Ground on Friday.

“Many people can actually bend the ball over the wall. That’s not difficult. But you have to hit the ball over the wall and then get it to drop. It’s a combination that many players find complicated. But I managed to do that.”

Hooijdonk, who played for the Dutch national team in the 1998 World Cup, said he always liked taking free-kicks in pressure situations. “I liked to take free-kicks in pressure times. Because it was something I knew I was good at. So when you know that you don’t feel the pressure. So I always loved the pressure moments…”

The 40-year-old says his style was very similar to that of David Beckham. “My style was the same with Beckham and Juninho. Roberto Carlos was another great free-kick taker. But his free-kick skills were completely different. My technique is similar to Beckham’s.

“There were some others as well, like Pirlo, Sneijder, you know, they can hit my type of free-kicks. Carlos’ was all about power. I could not hit like that. Our skills are different, you know.”

During his eventful career, Hooijdonk wore the colours of 10 clubs. He says he enjoyed playing football everywhere. “Celtic was a special club for me. But they are not my only favoutite club, you know. Because every where I played, I had fantastic time, you know. Even at Nottingham Forest I had one fantastic season, second one was terrible (laughs), but the first one was special. I played one year for Benfica and I did well. I was second in the goal-scoring charts. Feyenoord was also special because we won the Uefa Cup. Even at Fenerbahce, I had a good time,” he said with a smile.

Hooijdonk, who scored an impressive 14 goals from 46 matches for the Netherlands, says the current Dutch squad will need ‘luck’ on their side at the World Cup.

“Of course, we have some great players, you know. Players like Robben, Sneijder, Van der Vart, but that doesn’t guarantee you anything.

“You need that little bit of luck. In the last tournament, we got knocked out even after playing well. If you look at Italy four years ago, for me they were lucky against Australia. Then actually played well against Germany and won that semifinal. And then they ended up winning the World Cup.”

The flamboyant Dutchman says he is enjoying the sevens football.

“I played one sevens tournament in Scotland. It was a part of the British competitions. But the rules were different there. The striker had to stay at the other half of the field, so I didn’t like the rules there.

“But here the sevens event is fantastic. The field is big. When a team scores the first goal, you get massive gaps in the midfield. I think sevens football will be popular in future.”

Vettel Could be the Surprise this Year: Fittipaldi

James Jose

ABU DHABI - Formula One legend Emerson Fittipaldi said that the new rules and the return of Michael Schumacher was great for the sport and tipped Mercedes GP Petronas to be strong contenders for the championship.

Fittipaldi, who won the Formula One crown in 1972 and 1974, also said that Sebastian Vettel could be the surprise of this year’s championship.

In an interview, Brazilian Fittipaldi, who won the CART Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice, spoke on a variety of topics like safety, new rules and fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa.

Excerpts:

MOTIVATION THE KEY FOR SCHUMI

If he is motivated enough to win, then his comeback would be a great thing for the sport. He is physically fit. He is up against some really good and young drivers. Mercedes GP Petronas will be very competitive. They won last year as BrawnGP. Schumacher will have good equipement at his disposal. But since he has been away, it will take at least two to three races for him to get used to the traffic. I feel after two to three races, Schumacher will be back again.

Massa is motivated. He has recovered 100 percent. He has established himself into the Ferrari team. He wants to win the championship. For us Brazilians, we hope that he can win the championship. He is capable of it. And he is capable with the Ferrari team. We hope that he can win the championship for Brazil.

• Football