Memphis Depay World Cup 2014: Netherlands Forward Adviced Against Moving From PSV

Memphis Depay has been advised against moving away from the Dutch league next season by his manager.
Memphis Depay World Cup 2014: Netherlands Forward Adviced Against Moving From PSV
Memphis Depay of the Netherlands looks on during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Round of 16 match between Netherlands and Mexico at Castelao on June 29, 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Updated:

Memphis Depay has been advised against moving away from the Dutch league next season by his manager.

Depay, 20, has attracted the interest of English clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, but PSV boss Phillip Cocu has advised him against moving.

“No one has contacted us and he has a contract [until 2017] here so we should not get ahead of ourselves,” Cocu told Voetbal International.

“I let Memphis know that it would good for him to have another year here.

“He has only one full season behind him.

“I think you need a certain foundation before making the next step.

“That is independent of the qualities that a person has. Therefore, he must stay at PSV at least one more year.

“There is no concrete interest so I’m assuming he will report for pre-season training later.”

Cocu himself played in Holland until he was 27, before moving to Barcelona in 1998.

See an AP story below.

Dutch Queen Maxima Has Split Semifinal Loyalties

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The World Cup semifinal could produce some split loyalties in the House of Orange.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife, Argentina-born Maxima, could face some minor matrimonial tensions on Wednesday when the Netherlands takes on Argentina in Sao Paulo.

At least that’s what photo manipulators on Twitter would have the world believe.

Doctored images began circulating online as soon as the Netherlands completed its dramatic World Cup quarterfinal win over Costa Rica, setting up the semifinal with Lionel Messi’s Argentina lineup.

One shows a couple lying in bed, facing away from one another, looking angry. The faces of Willem-Alexander and Maxima have been edited into the image of marital disharmony.

Another shows the king and queen’s mansion in the wealthy village of Wassenaar draped in orange flags on one side for the Dutch and blue-and-white flags for Argentina on the other.

The photos are fakes, but emotions could well run high when the king’s country plays his wife’s country of birth at football’s global tournament.

The Dutch government information service confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Monday that the couple will not fly to Sao Paulo to watch the match.

Publicly, at least, Maxima is a fervent fan of her adopted country.

Earlier in the tournament, she joined her husband in Porto Alegre to watch the Netherlands gritty 3-2 win over Australia — a match at which the naturalized Dutchwoman Maxima unabashedly cheered on the team and visited the changing rooms afterward to congratulate the players.

Photos showed the royals, draped in orange scarves, with the players and congratulating midfielder Wesley Sneijder on his 100th international appearance.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Maxima is the daughter of a former agriculture minister in Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship. She met the then-prince Willem-Alexander while she was working as a banker in New York. The couple has three daughters.

The vivacious Maxima, who speaks fluent Dutch, has been credited with giving the sometimes dour prince a popularity boost by injecting a touch of Latin flair into the royal family.

The prince, a former member of the International Olympic Committee, has long been a regular fixture watching Dutch athletes, from footballers to speedskaters to field hockey players, in action. His wife has enthusiastically joined in since their marriage in 2002.

If the Dutch manage to beat Argentina, don’t bet against the royal couple being in the Maracana for the World Cup final — their official diary is clear from July 9 through to July 17.

 

Larry Ong
Larry Ong
Journalist
Larry Ong is a New York-based journalist with Epoch Times. He writes about China and Hong Kong. He is also a graduate of the National University of Singapore, where he read history.