When the World Cup group draw was made, most intrigue and interest was in the match-up between the finalists of four years ago where Spain were victors over the Netherlands.
Yet as much attention as Andres Iniesta’s extra-time winner gained, so did Nigel De Jong’s tackle on Xabi Alonso in a bruising encounter in Johannesburg.
It was chest-high, studs-up, and the combative 29-year-old midfielder was subsequently castigated for only getting a yellow card instead of red.
And with the Group B opener on June 13 in mind, De Jong says: “Of course people will talk about the tackle again, it’s normal. When the group came out and we were the first game, I expected it.
“There was so much talking about it before, so much writing about it, and, after four years, people are now going to remind you about it. But you just have to deal with it.”
De Jong, who debuted at 17 for Ajax, a decade ago for his country and now stars for AC Milan, does not hide the fact he fights hard, but always strives to succeed.
With his father Jerry, a former Dutch international himself, an absent parent, it was Nigel – the eldest of five children – who looked after the family and is never shy to display commitment for club or country.
“The real people who know football, they see I give 100 per cent on the pitch,” he tells Sport360°. “I’m not a dirty player, I just try to give it my all.
“The people that know me, they know what kind of player I am. I never play to show myself in another way, to hurt anyone. I’m the same Nigel and same footballer as I’ve always been. I have been doing it for years and been successful at this level for years so I must be doing something right.
“I’m not an easy opponent for other teams, I’m a fierce competitor, and always try to win.”
No one would doubt that, and Spain can expect another battle in Salvador when they begin the defence of their title. So too other group opponents Chile and Australia.
“They are tough games, but I’m not afraid of anybody, and if you want to win something you have to beat the best,” adds a defiant De Jong. “These kind of groups, that’s football, but you have to beat the big teams to reach the final and that’s what we did in 2010 and that’s what we will try to do now.
“You have to understand, for a footballer this is the highest podium. Forget domestic championships, forget European Cups, forget individual prizes, the World Cup is the highest prize.
“Nothing is impossible, but you have to be realistic and this is a different Holland team to the one in 2010. It’s a team with less experience, but we have quality and we have to try to achieve the best possible.
“In South Africa nobody expected us to go through to the semis or the final. But in these kind of tournaments you have to grow and have to gel in the first couple of games. That’s why the group stage is so important.”
For all the world-class talent that has donned the Oranje jersey, their only success was the 1988 European Championship, and coach Louis van Gaal will face additional scrutiny and pressure given he takes over at Manchester United after the tournament.
But De Jong says: “Expectations are always high on us because of the football school of Holland, but I think this year there are less expectations from the country.
“There’s been changes, there’s less experience, and we can’t go there thinking about the past or losing finals. The only pressure is what you put on yourselves.”
De Jong is not one to shirk a challenge, nor any issue, however controversial. The recent racism furore during Milan’s Serie A game at Atalanta – which saw bananas thrown at team-mate Kevin Constant – has not yet abated, but he is typically forthright about the topic.
“For me, there are worse things in life, people dying every day or fighting for their lives, and you don’t let this get into your head or affect you, because that’s what they (racists) want,” adds De Jong. “It’s ignorance.
“Racism, discrimination in general, all kinds of abuse, it still exists and will exist in the next 50 years. But, as a federation, you have to do something about it.
“It doesn’t matter how many messages we send out, and a lot of big players and campaigns have sent this message out, it’s about the federations, UEFA and FIFA who are in control of this. You need higher sanctions. A financial penalty, maybe you suspend the fans for one game, that doesn’t mean anything.
“You see in America, with the NBA and the Los Angeles Clippers situation [where owner Donald Stirling has been banned for life and could be forced to sell his team for racist comments], they don’t make any jokes when it comes to racial abuse and dealing with it. You have to make a decision to show it has no place in football.”
De Jong has strong opinions to match his character, and Milan – who finished eighth in Serie A after Clarence Seedorf replaced Massimiliano Allegri as coach in January and is now set to be replaced by Filippo Inzaghi – should take heed of words about his future.
“I’ve got one more year left on my contract and there’s a World Cup now so you never know,” he says. “I feel really happy at the moment at Milan, but you have to have everything next to each other to stay, you have to see about the [next] coach and what’s going to happen around the club.
“I’m not so young anymore, 30 in November, and have to think about the next step in my career. For me, it’s important to know what the situation is going to be at the club.
“It’s been a really disappointing season when you see where we are in the league.
“Milan are one of the biggest clubs in the world and always have to compete in the first three places, always you have to fight for the championship.
“We changed coaches, but we are up and down, up and down. A club like Milan, there is no time to gel, you have to perform immediately because of the pressure that is on us. I will stay calm about my future and see the expectations for the team and me next season.”
And if he moves?
“The Premier League is one of my favourite competitions and I had a great time with Manchester City,” he adds. “From the big countries, big competitions, Spain is the only league I haven’t played in.”
Spain, it seems, is a country never far from his thoughts.
DE JONG ON…
Best moment: It has to be the Premier League title in 2012 with Manchester City.
Worst moment: Losing the World Cup final with Holland in 2010 to Spain.
Best team-mate: I played with some marvellous players, but David Silva, the little genius… the magician, and Yaya Toure.
Toughest opponent: Ze Roberto when he was at Bayern Munich, a fierce competitor.
Hobbies: American Football, I like the NBA, and my car business, Continental Cars, now in our eighth year in Hamburg.
On Mario Balotelli: I thought I was rid of him at City, but then he came to Milan! He’s doing great. A lot is expected of him, a lot of pressure, but hopefully he improves even more and does well with Italy in the World Cup and comes back to Milan for the new season and helps us to do better.
