'Dad at Messi's kitchen table, that's cool' February 13, 2021 10:40 AM Updated: February 13, 2021 11:21 AM Tim and his father Ronald, just before signing a contract with Barcelona. Image © Videoland What if your father becomes the coach of the biggest club in the world? A club where he was already a hero because as a player he ensured that FC Barcelona won the Champions League for the first time? Tim Koeman (31) is proud of his father Ronald. "But I prefer not to mention my last name when I introduce myself." It’s a week after FC Barcelona’s humiliation (2-8!) in the Champions League by Bayern Munich, in August 2019: Tim Koeman (31) receives a call from father Ronald. They’ll go to Barcelona, the city where he was born. "I remember exactly what he said: 'You have to come along and arrange it, but you are coming. Yes, we’ll fly tomorrow morning. 10 o'clock. Be there!" And so I went along ", Tim tells RTL Nieuws. In a private plane to Barcelona Father Ronald has just been approached by the club to become the new manager. Tim immediately drops everything, but of course that doesn’t happen automatically. "I have a girlfriend, a little one and - together with my sister - I own a cosmetics shop. But everyone cooperated. They also think you deserve it. I also liked that from Dad. He just imposes it. He didn't even ask. It was really his dream. And so he just wants his son there. " And so father and son Koeman go to Barcelona in a private plane. In their wake a cameraman who records everything for a documentary that will be released on Videoland on February 17th. Tim with his father on the plane to Barcelona. © Videoland Where it was a dream come true for father Ronald - he was the national coach, but he even stated in his contract that he could leave if 'Barça' would come knocking - it was certainly also for his son. "I have been a supporter of Barcelona all my life. My girlfriend and I also named our son ‘Xavi’. We wanted to give him a Catalan name, but also a bit after the legendary former footballer of Barcelona." He went through a lot with his father who played football in the Netherlands for clubs such as FC Groningen, Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord and worked as a manager in the Netherlands, England, Portugal and Spain. And until recently was the national coach of the Dutch national team. "It was of course very nice that he managed the national team, but this is so much bigger. Barça has about 100 million followers on Instagram. Everyone talks about this club", beams Tim. And he knows what he's talking about. In the imposing Camp Nou stadium, the letters: 'Mes que un club' grace the stands, which in Catalan means 'more than a club'. Not nervous about Messi Star player Messi has not met Tim since his father holds sway at Barcelona. "It hasn't happened yet. He's really living incognito. He's not going anywhere, sees nobody. At one time I dropped off my father at Messi's. He went there for a conversation. And then sits there at the kitchen table. Those are really cool things. Also nice to see that your father, Ronald Koeman, isn’t really nervous about that, but instead is looking forward to talking to Messi." Father and son Koeman in Barcelona. © Videoland The city of Barcelona is Tim Koeman's second home. He was born there in 1990 and lived there for the first five years of his life. In 1995 the family left because the father's career was elsewhere, only to return there for a few years in 1999. In the documentary 'Força Koeman' Tim drives through the neighborhood where he grew up. And memories surface. "That's where I learned to walk, cycled for the first time. Here is the little park that was in front of our house. We always went there to play. Me with my sister. So many beautiful memories. It really felt like coming home again. If you’re walking in some places, visiting the little establishments where you used to go. It’s as if you never left. So now I walk with my son through the park where I used to walk with my father. How beautiful is that? " Força Koeman For years Ronald Koeman (57) dreamed of a return to FC Barcelona. The club for which he, in 1992, 'singlefootedly' delivered the very first European Championship, with a canonball of a shot. That dream became reality in August when he signed a contract as a manager. A cameraman followed him around, that initial period at FC Barcelona. People close to Koeman also have their say in the documentary, such as his sons Tim and Ronald Jr, his wife Bartina, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay. This look at one of the largest clubs in the world can be seen in the three-part documentary Força Koeman, which can be seen on Videoland as of February 17th. Tim reminisces with a smile on his face. It also feels almost like a boys' dream story. "I used to come along to training in Barcelona on Saturdays. That was in the stadium. And the players were allowed to bring their children. We went to kick a ball. For example, I played football behind the goals with a young Sergio Busquets. He now plays in the first team." To add to that with a wink and a nod: "He made it a bit further than I did." It’s now almost impossible to imagine. Rumours The possibilities of the past versus what is now possible at the football complex. "Then the ball sometimes made its way onto the field with the first team, and then you just got the ball back. Now everything is sealed off. And taking your kid with you? That is completely unthinkable." Coincidentally, Ronald and his wife Bartina were already working on an apartment in Barcelona when the opportunity arose to become the club's coach. Construction went on industriously for two years. They wanted to go to Barcelona more often. When the previous trainer, Quique Setién, was fired, Koeman was also in Barcelona and rumours that he would become the new manager were already buzzing. "But that wasn't at all in our minds at the time", Tim knows. "Only on the day that my father received the key to the apartment, the chairman called: 'if he could come over for coffee'." Tim with his father in front of the apartment where they lived. © Videoland The Koeman family's current apartment is in the same neighborhood where Tim grew up: Pedralbes. A leafy area, with beautiful villas. Close also to the FC Barcelona stadium, Camp Nou. In the documentary, you see him enjoying it when he drives around. "This was our house there on the corner. And here was the little park. I remember it like yesterday." At the time, Ronald Koeman's house was really right next to the house of his then trainer: Johan Cruijff. "Cruijff didn't feel like he was Barcelona’s manager at all. It was just the next door neighbor. A great neighbor. He was crazy about children. We just went there to visit. Without my parents. Nice to play in the garden. Danny [Cruijff’s wife – E.N.] arranged for some delicious cookies. Awesome, that! And not many people can say that Johan Cruijff was their babysitter." The young Tim with Johan Cruijff. © Videoland He doesn’t know any better than having the spotlight on his father. It isn’t always pleasant, but he has learned to deal with the fact that it is almost always about his father. “I don't usually mention my last name. I always say, “I'm Tim.” Never say on my own that I am “the son of.” Always try to keep that as private as possible, moreover, it offers no added value to mention it. I also see the advantages of having a father like that. You just go places. I speak several languages. Still have more ‘ins’ than others do. But it’s difficult if he’s being criticised. That’s the real downside. As a family that really gets to you. As a fan of a club you are already nervous before matches. But with your father that is of course much, much worse. " Tim in suspense during Barcelona - Real Madrid (1-3). © Videoland He himself has never been granted a brilliant career as a player. Or you should consider Best Vooruit's first team, where he played football in the first division for several years, as a wonderful achievement. He was certainly talented, but the real drive which so typified his father was lacking a bit. “My father has an enormous winning mentality. I have a little less of that. I can also be satisfied with a draw. And I lack his perseverance. Do you want to reach the top? Then you have to do everything for it. I have that a little less. Some moments I do regret at times. If I had given up everything, I might have made it. But because of boyfriends, girlfriends and socialising I didn’t make it. The many relocations didn’t contribute either. Every time my footballing placed me in the spotlight, we moved again. My father also isn’t one to say, "Here is my son, he’s going to play with you in your youth department." At first we always went to an amateur club and then you always had to work your way up. It’s still easier if you go through the entire youth development program at Ajax or PSV.” 'My father still comes to watch' His brother, Ronald Jr., is a goalkeeper at Top Oss, a Second Division club [the Dutch version of the English Championship – E.N.]. But you can say that both sons have failed to fill the big shoes of father Ronald, brother Erwin and grandfather Martin. "I have never felt pressured by them. It also doesn't feel like they are disappointed. Grandpa always came to watch when he was around. You always got positive feedback. Never noticed anything negative. And my father still comes to watch. If he can ... Even now that I play in the fifth team. Usually he’s somewhere in the back, on its own. And now and then you hear that familiar whistle. Then my brother and I know enough: do your best or behave towards the referee. " Tim and his father Ronald in Barcelona. © Videoland Like his father, he has a good kick. A hard shot and a good long pass. “I really inherited that from my father. Even though I’m a lefty and my father right-footed.” To add with a grin: "He can really only stand on that left leg." Unlike my uncle, Erwin. He’s left-footed as well. My father has always said that as a footballer I’m more like Erwin, even though my father and I are both defenders and Erwin was more of a midfielder. " Future in Spain For the Koeman family, the future now seems to lie mainly in Spain. Should Ronald ever leave the local FC, then it is very doubtful whether they will ever return to the Netherlands. "My father and mother enjoy life so much," laughs Tim. "They really feel at home there in Barcelona. I also think that they will never come back. That they grow old together there. They have really become two different people. Such a different experience than before when my father was a player there. Now they can enjoy it more. Much more intensely. I really notice that in them. They take beautiful memories from the past and relive them now. And if at all possible, I also want to live there later. Such a good life. It also seems good for my children. Getting to know a different culture. And I think my parents would absolute love that too. Nice with the children and the grandchildren around them. " Trailer (YouTube): "Força Koeman"
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