Robin Gosens and the deal that put him on the road to Germany stardom
almost 3 years in The guardian
Transfer to second-tier Dutch club Dordrecht transformed a player set to face England at Euro 2020, his coach there recalls
On a Tuesday night in October 2013, Harry van den Ham went on a scouting mission. He was trying to get Dordrecht, an unfashionable club 10 miles outside Rotterdam, promoted but felt his side needed something extra in midfield to keep up the heat. The game pitted Vitesse Arnhem’s reserve team, Jong Vitesse, against Jong Top Oss and the missing piece quickly became apparent. “I watched him play and he had such drive, commitment, he gave everything in every duel,” he says of his first encounter with Robin Gosens. “I learned that he was German: he was a typical German player, and that’s what I needed in my team.”
Gosens was 20 and could hardly have imagined that, seven and a half years later, he would be one of the star attractions in a Germany side preparing to face England at Wembley. It had been an unusual journey to Vitesse, who picked him up from tiny VfL Rhede after spotting him during a game in which he shone despite feeling the effects of a night out, but he was yet to make the step to senior football when Van den Ham pitched up. Continue reading...
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