A win and a goal on home ground. Teun Koopmeiners was smiling after Juventus’s 2-1 victory at AZ Alkmaar, the club where he grew up and where his brother Peer plays. It was an emotional evening in which he starred with the first Juventus goal and an excellent performance overall. He spoke afterwards about it all, including the splendid choreography the Dutch fans made for him and Peer.
“A Beautiful Evening”
Speaking to Sky Sport, visibly smiling, Koopmeiners said: “A beautiful evening. We won, which was important. There was a lot of emotion. The fans’ choreography, with a photo of him and his brother Peer… I did not know about it! Did the atmosphere charge me up more? No, I always want to give my maximum. The goal certainly helped, and perhaps also the fact of playing against my brother… a little match within the match. I am happy with how it went, with the victory and the goal.”
“I Told Peer: It’s 2-0, Right?!”
Asked whether he had spoken to his brother during the match, Koopmeiners gave the best lines of the night. “In the first half he played a lot on the left and I did not see him much. Then in the second half I touched him and told him, ‘It’s 2-0, eh?!'” He laughed as he said it, though the scoreline had gone only to 2-1 after Meerdink’s late goal.
He then turned to his father. “Our father is a psychologist, but there is a problem: he is too nervous when we play, and especially tonight because both sons were on the pitch. I think after 20 minutes he went to the car! Peer was a bit angry at the moment of my goal, but that is fine!”
It picks up the family thread from the pre-match press conference, where he said his mother was not as nervous as his father and grandfather. His father is a psychologist, so the joke that he could not handle the stress of watching both sons is warmly done.
“I Must Stay Calm in My Head and Give Everything”
On his own form, he was measured. “I think I have played well in the last matches. I have to give everything every day, even in training, and also against Fiorentina. I have to stay calm in my head and give everything.”
