Royston Drenthe and a tale of unfulfilled talent
Whatever happened to Royston Drenthe? The swift, skilful left winger was the star when the Netherlands last played England in the European Under-21 Championships, back in 2007. Drenthe’s name and story are bound to be mentioned during the TV and radio commentaries in another semi-final between the nations here in Bratislava tonight.
I’ll never forget that 2007 meeting. It started with Drenthe putting in a stepover, dropping his shoulder, wrongfooting Justin Hoyte and whipping in a cross. Leighton Baines did well to cut out the ball just before it reached Maceo Rigters, the tournament’s top scorer. All of England’s players, the likes of James Milner, Ashley Young, Mark Noble, Liam Rosenior, Nigel Reo-Coker, knew they were in for a tough night.
I covered that match in Heerenveen. It was famous for another fine performance from Drenthe. It was also famous – or infamous amongst those of us working to deadline – for the 32-penalty shootout, which finished close to midnight and finished 13-12 to the Dutch. Stuart Pearce was in the dug-out. Chris Waddle was in the stadium, doing Radio 5Live commentary. The script was written. And so it should have been for Drenthe.