Matthijs de Ligt put in a flawless shift in the Netherlands’ 2-0 win over Austria in their Group C encounter at the 2020 European Championships, but the only mistake from his night came in the post-match press conference when he accidentally forgot the name of his current employers.
Currently, a player for Italian outfit Juventus, de Ligt voiced his frustration at the fact that the Dutch looked to play a lot of long balls over the top in order to get behind the Austrian backline.
The Dutch centre back experienced what is known as a Freudian slip, when he said that it just feels weird to use long balls for a majority of the time when being an AFC Ajax player – keeping in mind the Dutch club’s identity of quick, positional play when it comes to playing football.
The interviewer on hearing his comment was quick to correct him by reminding de Ligt that he currently plays for Juventus – to which de Ligt looked very apologetic and quickly corrected himself by saying that he meant an “ex-Ajax player.”
De Ligt, now 21, spent 10 years of his career at the Amsterdam outfit, a spell where he made a name for himself by making his way up the ranks and captained the club to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2019.
De Ligt was influential in Ajax’s inspiring run until the semi-finals of Europe’s elite competition in 2019, a run where they defeated the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus before falling eventually to Tottenham Hotspur.
As a result, when the 21-year-old left for Turin, he was one of the most sought after young talents in the world – but since moving to Italy, he has not experienced quite the same amount of success.
De Ligt would defend himself by saying that his spell at Turin hasn’t been the most memorable one when compared to the club that made him a world-class prospect, but it is still a remark likely to incite the very passionate Bianconeri faithful.
Check out De Ligt’s adorable slip of tongue below –
Legend De Ligt, voor altijd Ajacied. #nedoos pic.twitter.com/8RGwDmLU2F
— Wijpie (@wijpie) June 17, 2021
🗣️Matthijs de Ligt: “Today we had to play long balls quite often, as an Ajax player it just feels weird having to do that all the time.”
— Football Talk (@Football_TaIk) June 18, 2021
🗣️Interviewer: “You play for Juventus.”
🗣️de Ligt: “Yeah, as an ex-Ajax player.” pic.twitter.com/jtp1ecSvv5
