Barendrecht, Netherlands – This is a hot Saturday in May, one day before the final round of EREDVCAnd seven pitches are packed in the VV Smitshoka south of Rotterdam. Children of all ages are playing football at different levels of competition.

Inside the house, one of his young teams is celebrating his league winning: The tradition states that they are given a huge fries plate, followed by taking a photo with a trophy. They have 1,275 members, and the teams include players between 6 and 65 years of age, the older generation playing football in an area which was the farm 80 years ago.

10 minutes drive is far away BVV BARENDERCTTheir nine pitch are also packed; The club house is also hot with some of his 2,300 members. It is just a small snapshot of the Netherlands amateur football scene, and it is in the suburbs of Rotterdam here where Inter Milan and Netherlands Right Back Denzel Damfrees Mastered his craft.

On Saturday, 29 -year -old Damfrees will start for Inter Milan in the final of the Champions League, and then on the World Cup qualifier in June. But when his Dutch team companions came through the academy route from a young age, the best brain -shaped in the game, Dumphs, a decade ago, were enjoying football with their friends on Saturday morning, who slipped through the academy net.

He joined Smitshok at the age of 7 and played there till the age of 16, told his comrades from an early age that he would one day play for the Netherlands. They laughed at him, but he never doubted himself. “He was a child who is actually standing behind his dream and is willing to do anything for it,” said his first coach Peter Van Der Penene of ESPN.

It is through hard work on the amateur football scene and immense self-confidence that he has moved forward to be one of the world’s best fullback. But it began in this corner of the Netherlands, on Old Farmland, south of Rotterdam.

There are graduates dumphems, Anwar L. Gazi and shirts on the wall of the Barandrect’s club house. go ahead Eagles Ahead Finn stockersSmitshoek, who also counted pre-IPSWICH Fullback Fabian Wilnis and PEC Zwolle Dialon vent Among their alumni, their board room has two dumpries shirts, one from Inter Milan and the other from PSV Eindhoven. In terms of 2025, he is a unicorn. “We have often seen him, argued with him, but we did not think Told de Vocosurent In 2018. “There was a lot of doubt about his football properties. A person can be physically stronger at the age of 15, but this benefit often disappears at the age of 18 years.”

Van Der Pennen says, “Perhaps what to do with his technical qualities and its height at that time.” “But he had other qualities that he had ignored. He was fast and impressive. Every rival was afraid of him.”

Hollywood superstar Danjel Washington’s name dumphems, played for Smitshoka from 2002 to 2013 (bar two years when he played for a nearby side Spartan’20, only to return to Smitshoka). He then went to the Barandrect from 2013 to 2014.

The dummuffe bedroom was in the attic of his parents’ house, and on the slow walls, he attracted his expected Xi for the weekend match. “When we were training a specific skill and did not work enough, he always wanted to do it again until it did not work,” Van Dere Pennen says. “When he was replaced, he was never satisfied; he always thought within himself that anyone was taking her place. But with a surgical face he came to the side reluctantly.”

Van Der Penen remembers a match where he already had the championship, and was winning, but still Damfrees chased a wrong pass. “He failed to keep the ball inside, and fell on his knees, slamming the grass, even though the match was already won easily,” says Van Der Penen.

ESPN’s own coach Leslie Sazas told ESPN, “He was never a man like Messi, but he was always sure about his ability and he was confident that he would reach the top.” “He was very active, he never stopped running. If he took to a corner, he would try to go to the box again.”

Dummfrees regularly visited the house for dinner during the week, but Sazs is remembered a day at the age of about 17 when he turned down fries and mayonnaise – Wednesday staple – as he started taking nutrition seriously. “He said,” No, no, I want vegetables. ” “His colleagues at that time said how Damfree will leave the weekend parties, instead focus on their fitness.

Jordan Decker, who is the coach of Smitshok Under -14, played with dummphry at the age of 10 to 14 years. The team performed an all-out-out of 3-3-3–3-4, with dumps at the center.

“There was a match where we were winning 5-4, then a late, late equalizer,” Decker. “Denzel was angry; he grabbed another defender from the screen of the neck and overthrow his shirt.” On another occasion, when he was 14 years old, Dummfrees wore a Ajax kit for a session – it is a fannord country, remember. Decker says: “His coaches were unhappy and asked him to clean the training area, but Danzel was on his bike while riding a house directly.”

In 2014, when Damfrees was 18 years old, Sparta Rotterdam Took a pant on it. (He also represented Aruba twice against Guam in Friendly.) He played in the reserve – where he learned properly to Michael Rezigar from Ajax Champions League winner and Michael Rezigar from the Netherlands – before signing a senior contract. “He is stronger than me and has a lot of lungs capacity. He can go away,” Razigger said at that time.

Damfrees quickly received praise from elsewhere. Sparta Coach Alex Pastur, “They have a lot of conditions to reach the full top.” Said at that time“Just look at her body. If you can come half 80 times … are things that eventually fall for the world’s largest clubs.” Herenwen Then in 2017 signed it for a fee of € 750,000. After a season, PSV paid € 5.5 million for its transfer, with both the Barandrect and Smitashok earned € 90,000 (compensation for the work for pro -amateur clubs for supporting players). Smitshoek spent that windfall on rebuilding its club house.

Dummfrees proceeded to become the captain of PSV. “Denzel was not a player with a velvet technology, but he had an iron-firm mentality and firmness,” says van der Penen. In 2021, Inter Milan raised her for a fee of € 14.25 million. He has represented the Netherlands in two Euros and the 2022 World Cup, won Scudeto with Inter Milan last year and helped him to the final of the Champions League in the term, including scoring twice in the semi -finals. BarcelonaBut despite the academy system, he has done all this, which guides and molds young players in a professional environment. Mathies de ligate D. Tocomst (Ajax’s academy) came, where he was educated and received full -time, expert guidance on every aspect of his development as a player. Meanwhile, dummies undergo training twice a week after school and do not help on nutrition and fitness on Saturday, simply the knowledge of volunteer coats helps them.

Damfrees themselves said A 2019 interview With Voetbal International: “Those who did not see it in me were limited in their eyes. They saw me only at that time, but they should have looked forward. They should think, ‘How can they develop?’ I think everyone should have that approach, and should not limit themselves to anything. “

Damphries still keep their roots closed. His parents live close to Smitshoka. He works on agitation training with Leslie Sazs’s brother, Errol – Errol goes to meet him in Milan in every fortnight. Damfrees invited him as his guests, and to return to the matching leg in Milan. “He is always working on himself,” says Sasas. “So he made it.”

After that day he started against his Netherlands Germany In October 2018, he was opening the pitch number 9 in the borexrator. This year, after his under -16 side won the league, he sent a video message, in which he was well wishes in his career. “I still meet Kipenwell (Hans bumps) watching him playing, “Sasas says.” He did everything to become a star. ,

At the end of this season, 10 players between the ages of 9 and 17 will move from the Barandrect to Pro Clubs, with Sparta Rotterdam three. On Saturday morning, both Smitshoaye and Barandrech usually have five scouts. They are looking at the players at the age of 6, looking at them to give prizes to one of the supporters Erandivisi sides away from their friends and amateur teams. Both clubs have relationships with Fayenod, but it does not prevent Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax, PSV and countless others from sending eyes and ears to find the next star of Netherlands.

This is a football arms race. According to sources, some scouts use crooked ways to operate in an agreed manner to do things, who say they need to contact the first club before talking to parents to woo their sons and daughters to join their attached team’s academies. But among all these talented youth, only one will make a pinch, many will be abandoned.

“The thing is that with these young players, there is no natural progress – some peaks quickly, some extreme late,” Lean Wose, the facility manager of the blessed and the interim chief of the young coaching, Lean Vose. “They need space to grow.” Nevertheless, with every intake, Scouts will ignore many of them in favor of playmakers. “These people forget things like the importance of power and winning the mindset,” Sazs. “There are a lot of players like Danzel, who just need time, but scouts will not see it. They just look for the players like Franki de JongDanzel needed a place to talk. ,

In 2022, on National Football Day in the Netherlands, Dutch players wore shirts from their first football club. Damfrees opted for Smitashok’s orange. According to the club’s representative Marsel van Den Eagenden, the youth program of the club is now called “Oranje to Oranje”, which reflects the journey of Damfrees from Smitshok to Netherlands. In the barrandrect, they still use dummies as an example, which inspire children playing there every weekend.

But those who have seen dummies from amateur rank to the peak of the Champions League, do not think we will like it again. Crowds to bring talented children into academies, and what they are looking at means that the dumphs will remain an outsider.

“Children do not find the place they need to grow in football,” Vose. “If they are technically talented, they will be brought to an academy, they are in the system. Any incorrect step, and they are outside. If they have physical characteristics, but not yet skills, they will be lost. The set that Danzel set was his self-confidence and mentality. It is very rare.”