Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey is not just earning admiration from clubs with his performances for the Netherlands at the World Cup. He’s also winning over the biggest cynics in the Netherlands.
Rafael Van der Vaart can be firmly put into that category, if his latest comments are anything to go by. Voetbal Primeur relay those today following an appearance on NOS.
Shining at the World Cup
Brian Brobbey has established himself as one of the stars of the summer so far with him performances for the Netherlands to date.
While he’s yet to convince Ronald Koeman to hand him a starting role, he’s already on three goals in three games after strikers against Tunisia and Sweden.
His latest impressive performance came against the Tunisian side as Koeman’s side progressed to the knockout stages in impressive fashion.
His displays have already been earning transfer admirers, despite Sunderland planning to block any efforts for the 24-year-old. But it is his personality off the pitch that has really impressed Van der Vaart.
Van der Vaart impressed
Brobbey provided a short, unenthusiastic response to questioning after the win on Thursday, much to the former midfielder’s amusement.
“If you go on a date and talk like that, she’ll walk out on you, I suppose,” he said.
“I think it’s absolutely brilliant. What a lovely bloke he is. And if he does well, then interviews like this will be even more fun, of course.”
Brian Brobbey, for his part, wasn’t particularly interested in talk of him being a new Dutch hero after the game.
He’s instead just focused on continuing to improve after an impressive first season with Sunderland and flying start to the tournament.
“I try to remain important to the team,” he said.
“I have received some nice messages from family and friends, but that’s it. It’s a World Cup, so you want to make your mark. I’m given the chance to start, so you want to make a difference by scoring goals. It’s really nice when that works out.”
