Huntelaar hoping for a thriller at Villa
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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Klaas Jan Huntelaar is looking forward to a dose of English passion as his AFC Ajax side visit Aston Villa FC in the UEFA Cup, saying the atmosphere at matches in England "cannot be compared with any other country".
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Atmosphere
The 25-year-old Dutch international is an admirer of the kind of support seen at Premier League stadiums and hopes that Villa Park will provide a suitably dramatic backdrop to Thursday's meeting of two former European champions. "People in England save up their last penny to buy their season tickets," he said. "I am really looking forward to the game. There is going to be a nice atmosphere, a beautiful stadium and a good pitch, I hope."
Tight contest
Huntelaar is not expecting the Group F opener in Birmingham to be an easy assignment, but feels Marco van Basten's men will have their chances. "Aston Villa are a really good side and doing pretty well in England," he said. "It certainly won't be easy for us. We have to play compact football and will have to be ruthless with any opportunities we get. Most of the time you get some space against English teams, and I think Dutch clubs have had pretty good results against English sides in the past."
Cvitanich fit
Ajax striker Darío Cvitanich will travel to the Midlands having overcome a hamstring injury, along with defender Gregory van der Wiel who was suspended for Saturday's Eredivisie home win against FC Groningen. The two will threaten the places of Dennis Rommedahl and Siem De Jong in the starting XI, while Van Basten's Villa counterpart Martin O'Neill also has decisions to make as he has all but long-term absentee Wilfred Bouma, the Netherlands defender, available.
'Big occasion'
European nights have been few and far between for Villa since they got to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in 1997/98 and O'Neill – who guided Celtic FC to the final in 2003 – is keen to put them firmly back on the agenda. "It's absolutely great for [Villa]," said the 56-year-old, whose team were held to a goalless draw by Portsmouth FC on Saturday. "It is a big occasion for us. I am hoping this is the start of some really decent European nights for the foreseeable future – not just this year but something we want to bring to the club long term."