Jurgen Ekkelenkamp is making a name for himself at a Serie A club – which is ironically where he exploded onto the scene against.
The 25-year-old has admitted life at Udinese has finally allowed him to shed the tag of ‘Cristiano Ronaldo thrower’ that made him a cult hero in the Netherlands.
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It was against a club in Italy in which Ekkelenkamp made his Champions League debut in Ajax’s 1-1 draw with Juventus in 2019.
Ronaldo scored in Amsterdam, but ultimately fell flat on his face as his Juve side were eliminated after a 2-1 defeat in the second leg.
The 41-year-old had already been shocked late in the first meeting after he was tugged to the turf by Ekkelenkamp as he looked to join a late counter-attack.
The interaction went so viral that Ekkelenkamp’s Wikipedia was instantly changed to ‘Ronaldo-gooier’ (Ronaldo thrower), while articles in the Netherlands also referenced the nickname as well.
Ekkelenkamp reacts to Ronaldo foul
“It was a big moment, a little bit,” he joked in an exclusive interview with eSPORTY.com during Udinese’s International Media Days event. “But they didn’t talk really about it here.
“In the Netherlands really a lot, it was really a big thing. But yeah, Ajax didn’t play a lot in the Champions League semi-finals, quarter-finals.
“So it was, of course, a really big game. So I think almost every Dutch people, they watched the game, of course.
“And then I made a little bit important foul [on] him. And then it went big.
“I saw somebody run, I knew it was him,” Ekkelenkamp continued. “And I saw him running very fast so I knew he went for the goal.
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“And then I thought, yeah, maybe better to do this foul!”
Ajax even clipped up Ekkelenkamp’s foul on Ronaldo as part of a public plea for their then-star to be called up by Ronald Koeman.
However, Udinese’s No.32 is still yet to play for the senior Netherlands side, largely due to his country’s strength in depth in his position.
One of those include his former Ajax teammate Ryan Gravenberch, who has transformed himself into a holding midfielder at Liverpool.
“To be honest, no,” Ekkelenkamp admitted when asked if he was surprised by Gravenberch’s switch from box-to-box to a holding role.
“I really saw already that he could be a really good six, because he was always very strong in the duels when I already played with him.
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“And I saw him already not really attacking midfielder, but a little bit less attacking.
“So I was not really surprised that he’s playing now in the six position.
“Very strong midfielder, and he can turn so easily with the ball,” he added on Gravenberch. “He’s a really good player.”
Ekkelenkamp has had his fair share of facing ‘really good players’ as well as playing with them, as was the case at youth international level.
The 6ft 2in ex-Antwerp star started alongside Gravenberch for the Netherlands Under-19’s in a 4-1 defeat to England in 2018.
The marks of which are still recalled by Ekkelenkamp eight years later, as he instantly recalled the chasening encounter at St George’s Park.
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“The first half was maybe the worst first half ever in my youth days,” he revealed. “We only defended after 45 minutes.
“We had 1-0 for us, and we watched each other, [thinking] ‘How is it possible that we are leading with 1-0?’
“It was not bad from us [but] they [England] had so many good players. [Phil] Foden was really good.
“But you had also the central defenders, [Jonathan] Panzo.
“He was also really good from the back, so our strikers had a really difficult time.
“And then you had Sancho. You had this No.10 from midfield. He played in Manchester, a little one [Angel Gomes].”
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The-then Manchester trio of Foden, Sancho, and Gomes all went on to earn a combined 74 England caps.
However, Panzo, who only recently joined Monaco from Chelsea, now plays for Birmingham City in the Championship and has never featured for the Three Lions at senior level.
“I was surprised,” Ekkelenkamp said of the London-born centre-back.
“He was really good in the younger days. Yeah, it was a crazy game.”
