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Calvin Bassey: Ajax Coach talks up Nigerian defender’s qualities
By Wale Mustapha
Nigerian defender, Calvin Bassey seems to have finally got his way to the good books of Ajax Coach, John Heitinga as dutch gaffer is convinced of Nigerian qualities.
Bassey joined Ajax last summer from Glasgow Rangers for a fee around over €20 million and had find playing times hard to come by as he failed to start Ajax’s last five matches in the Dutch top-flight.
The Super Eagles’ center back, however handed a rare start in Ajax’s duels against Hertha Berlin in the Europa League and against De Graafschap in the Dutch Cup and Heitinga lauds Bassey for adding more value team.
“In the beginning I chose to protect him a bit, then everyone was talking about his footballing qualities, now he is constantly praised for his defensive qualities,” Heitinga tells ESPN.
“He is still a very young boy, with a lot of stretch. He has a lot of potential, but his primary job is to take out his man first.
“He has a lot of speed, he has physical strength and he can defend in width. In the past period you have seen that we still needed him and he did that very well,” he concluded.
Bassey helped goalkeeper Remko Pasveer to keep a clean sheet as Ajax thrashed De Graafschap 3-0 to reach the Dutch Cup semifinal.
He is expected to be in Ajax’s line up on Sunday in the visit of Nimenjen at the Eredivise.
Source: All Nigeria Soccer
