In Mönchengladbach, Luuk de Jong was one of the biggest transfer flops in recent years. Now he became the hero of Sevilla FC when he won the Europa League in Cologne.
Cologne (dpa) - He had given an interview in German, but "Lucky Luuk" didn't want to go into his unhappy time in Mönchengladbach.
"That this game took place in Germany is something special," said the Dutchman after his big day at 3-2 (2-2) with FC Sevilla in the Europa League final against Inter Milan: "Because it's close to mine Homeland." Gelderland, where de Jong grew up, is around 200 kilometers from the final venue in Cologne.
Because he was the first player to score two header goals in a European Cup final, de Jong was the match winner in the end. Whereas the Inter-striker Romelu Lukaku, who was apparently intended for the role, was unlucky with his own goal to make it 2: 3 in the end. And by skipping the award ceremony, he presented himself as a bad loser.
De Jong, meanwhile, appeared as a humble winner who has seen other times. At Borussia, de Jong is remembered as one of the biggest transfer flops of the past decade and a major misunderstanding. As a million dollar, by the way, because he came from Enschede as a 21-year-old in 2012 for around twelve million euros and two years later went to Eindhoven for less than half the price. In between, he only scored six times in 36 Bundesliga games.
The situation actually got lost at an early stage. Gladbach manager Max Eberl, otherwise known primarily as the discoverer of unpolished diamonds, had apparently not brought coach Lucien Favre the type of striker he had wanted. And so, less than two months after de Jong's arrival in Germany, today's Dortmund coach complained that they had strikers who were too similar and that the mix wasn't right. De Jong, considered sensitive, became a doubter. In the last 17 games for Gladbach he didn't score at all and even in the six-month loan deal with Newcastle United he remained without any league hits.
He only blossomed back home in Eindhoven, the Dutch media celebrated him as "Lucky Luuk" after good games. As the top scorer in the Eredivisie, he dared to jump abroad again to Seville in 2019. But he wasn't really happy there either. Until this final tournament of the Europa League came, de Jong scored the 2-1 winning goal in the semifinals against Manchester United as Joker. And after the starting line-up nomination in the final, he thanked them with a double pack, and the record winners played a key role in bringing Seville the sixth title in the small European Cup.
The Dutchman is an "unexpected hero" wrote the newspaper "Diario de Sevilla": "He has shown inconsistent performances in the league. But all of this is now taking a back seat. Football is so idiosyncratic." The hero found the hymns of praise uncomfortable. "For me, the team always comes first, not the question of whether I score goals," he said. "But helping the team to win a European Cup with goals is of course an incredible feeling."
Meanwhile, the de Jong topic seems to have long since been ticked off for the Gladbach company. Until Sunday noon there was no public congratulations, at least on social media.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200823-99-274614 / 2
Preview on uefa.com
Instagram post from de Jong