Sarina Wiegman steps out onto the dew-soaked grass. Tracksuit on, stopwatches primed, it’s time to go to work. Her players stand, ready; a bag of balls awaits the morning workout. Wiegman has that serious expression she wears every morning, but being so focused, she doesn’t notice the faint sniggering from those who call her ‘boss’.
Here at Dutch club ADO Den Haag, Wiegman’s second as a manager, players have planned a practical joke. Merel van Dongen, a brilliant full-back and future international, has a twin sister. That morning, her non-footballing sibling Sanne has put the training kit on, jogged out in her twin’s place and will partake in the session. It’s a risky ploy. Wiegman is all about success. Football is serious. Winning titles is serious.
Training begins. Before a ball is kicked, the players start with some core stability work. Wiegman strolls around her players, checking their form. She stops at who she believes is Merel. Something’s not right. Merel has done this drill a thousand times before. Why, this morning, is she not doing it correctly?
“Merel, push up those hips,” she snarls. “Higher! Higher!” Cue hysterical laughter, but Wiegman is still in the dark. “Why is everyone laughing?” she asks, before refocusing her mind on the job at hand. It’s only later, when she spots Sanne running away towards the car park and Merel attempting to join the group by stealth, that the penny finally drops. She has been had.
That morning, Wiegman laughed with her players. She agreed it was the best practical joke they’d ever played, but as her career has progressed, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if she admitted that they taught her a valuable lesson. Details. Always look for every detail and don’t miss a thing.
Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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NINE REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR COPA AMERICA
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30 GREATEST PUNDITS EVER
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Forty years ago, Michel Platini's Euros-record tally propelled France to glory on home soil... and he wasn't even a forward. No player has ever had a finer European Championship - now, in his own words, he recalls it to FFT
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Gareth Southgate has been labelled a cautious coach in recent major tournament near-misses - in Germany he might just be more adventurous, which brings risks but also potential reward
GEORGIA ON THEIR MIND
A Frenchman, an Englishman and a local genius walk into a Caucasus country to qualify for a first major tournament - is this a joke? Not for Georgia, who are dreaming big
SYIVINHO KING OF ALBANIA
The former Arsenal defender was an unexpected appointment last year, but he guided the Balkan nation to Euro 2024 - and now he tells FFT that he wants to spring another surprise...
CAPITAINE LEADER LEGENDE
Kylian Mbappe wrote his name into history at successive World Cups. Now France's captain and desperate to break his Euros goal drought, can he make it to the Berlin final and succeed where Zinedine Zidane failed 18 years ago?
JUDE AWAKENING
Three years ago, Jude Bellingham briefly became the European Championship's youngest ever player - now, after a superb debut season at Real Madrid, he's ready to make a greater impact
VIVA RONALDO
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal career was as good as over when he was dropped at the last World Cup - instead, CR7 goes to Euro 2024 as their main man once more, aged 39. Will this be the end, and can he make one last pitch to be considered the greatest?