Chelsea playmaker on dealing with that Ajax semi-final defeat, his tough upbringing in the Netherlands and clashing with Van Basten
One moment, Hakim Ziyech had scored the goal that put a brilliant Ajax side 3-0 up against
Tottenham on aggregate and seemingly guaranteed their place in the 2019
Champions League final. Just over an hour later he was left beating the ground in angst at the manner in which they had thrown it all away and, 18 months later, the pain needs little coaxing to the surface.
“For a child’s dream you just stole it down to the ground,” is what he thinks of the Lucas Moura-inspired comeback that took Spurs to what was, it turned out, a dull showpiece in Madrid. “It is hard, it is painful. It’s crazy what happened at that time, it’s hard to accept. You don’t always get what you deserve; you have to take that as a lesson and I did. Now I know always that the game is not over until the referee whistles.”