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Steve Bottjer ,

September 19, 2011 Email Steve Bottjer



With six goals scored in seven league matches, it will be interesting to see just what Danny Koevermans can do when he is fully match fit. The current MLS Player of the Week, who joined Toronto FC during the summer transfer window, admits that he is still working to gain full fitness and that it is entirely probable that TFC fans won’t actually see him in his top gear until next season. “I don’t think the match fitness will be 100% until the end of the season because I just came in at the end of July and after every game right now you are almost dead, which is of course a bit of an exaggeration. But you do have to give everything in this league, because everybody is so quick and strong that it is a fight every time out. So I’m getting there. Today I can say that I don’t feel so much pain because I scored twice (against Colorado) and the team won, which makes it a very good day,” said Koevermans at BMO Field following his two goal performance in Toronto’s win over Colorado on Saturday. With the Dutch big man scoring twice on perfectly delivered crosses by Ashtone Morgan and Nick Soolsma, many TFC fans are likely hoping that the team’s midfielders and wingers have figured out exactly how to get balls to Koevermans in the right spots for him to finish him. That’s was actually an idea that the Dutch Eredivisie veteran was quick to play down even when he was basking in the glow of a brace and a Man of the Match performance. “That’s something that everyone asks about after a day like today. Because on Wednesday we were nothing and we got blown away by Pumas. Every game is different, of course, and today it looked like we were finding each other and that we played a good game as a team. We were better than Colorado – we were lucky that Eckersley got the ball off the line in the last minute – but there is no doubt that today we deserved the win. I’m just trying to give my best and today was a day in which it was all sorted out. The crosses come and I was in the box and I put them in. But against Pumas, for example, I also went into the box and the keeper got them. But today I was quite wise and I am the celebrated guy, but the next game it could be somebody else. Of course, I can’t lie when I say that I am really happy today,” said Koevermans. Ask the former PSV and Sparta Rotterdam striker how his new league compares with that of his Dutch homeland and Koevermans will be quick to admit that many of his countrymen are very unaware of just how competitive the football is in Major League Soccer. “It’s very physical (in MLS). You have to always keep going and the guys are so quick and so strong here. They don’t really talk about this league in Holland, but they think it is a Mickey Mouse league. But that’s so not true. It’s a hard league and it is so difficult to beat an opponent as a team. I think the level here is really good and it’s underestimated and I like playing in this league.” With every match in the MLS being a genuine battle and with victories quite hard to achieve, one could be forgiven for assuming that Koevermans was quite to delighted to sign as a Designated Player at the exact same time as fellow DP Torsten Frings, with the pressure of lifting Toronto out of the league basement being spread over the shoulders of two European saviours. While the Netherlands International only has complimentary things to say about his German teammate, he also flatly stated that he is not overly fond of the Designated Player label. “I hate the word Designated Player. It doesn’t put pressure on us. We just came here and we were glad that we could come here, otherwise would not have signed. We are just giving our best for Toronto and we do what we do. People always talk about the Designated Players and highlight that, but we are just players on TFC.” While Koevermans isn’t enamored of the idea of being highlighted as an MLS salary rule exception, one thing he is quite happy about is the opportunity to play for his former teammate, Toronto FC Head Coach Aron Winter. “Of course I like it. I’m glad that he called me and that I could join TFC. I played with him ten years ago in what I think was his last year in professional soccer. And when he came to our team, I was so proud that I was able to play with such a great player. And now tens year on, he is my coach. That’s how things can go in soccer. It is always easier when you know someone. I was out of contract in Holland and he gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to join TFC. And I’m so glad that I did it.” The addition of Koevermans was a move that gave Winter three Dutch forwards that he could deploy in his favoured 4-3-3 formation and 6 foot 3 centre forward admits that, while it was not fundamental on the pitch, it is nice to have a few Dutchman on the TFC player roster. “It has not made it easier (to adjust to TFC and the MLS). Of course, it meant that we could speak Dutch sometimes, but I am the type of guy that can communicate with everybody. If they weren’t here it would have been a pity and, of course, it’s nice that they are here because we can then have some Dutch laughter and jokes. And don’t forget Elbekay Bouchiba. I played with him as well and he got injured at the start of this season. It’s a little bit of a Dutch clan, but we are all wearing the colours of TFC and we just want to win. We’re four Dutch guys who give everything for TFC.” With only four league matches remaining in 2011, Koevermans admits that while Toronto will need a miracle to qualify for the MLS playoffs this year, qualifying for them next season will be the main goal of the team that has been markedly improved since he joined the club. “As I already said, it is so hard to beat a team in MLS. We just hope that with the team we have right now that we can beat a lot of teams next year and get into the playoffs.”