AJAX coach Frank de Boer savoured playing in Paradise as
a player and he expects his charges to do the same tomorrow against Celtic in
the UEFA Champions League clash.
The Dutchman twice tasted defeat at Celtic Park during
his spell as a Rangers player almost 10 years ago, but he still enjoyed the
experience of playing in front of such an amazing atmosphere.
And he wants his team to be inspired by the noise of the
Hoops support rather than be intimidated by it
"When you are young, you want to play in this kind
of stadium and this kind of atmosphere," he said. "It has to give you
more adrenalin in your body to perform better.
"If you´re playing worse than your normal level,
maybe you´re not good enough to play at this level.
"Of course, you can be nervous but when the referee
starts the game, you have to get rid of the nerves and enjoy a great stadium
and a great pitch.
"The atmosphere is still in my mind. For me, it was
a great adventure," he added.
Ajax have picked up one point in the group while Celtic
have yet to get off the mark, and both sides will be desperate to pick up full
points tomorrow to maintain their hopes of extending their European adventure.
"If we lose tomorrow it will be difficult to play in
Europe after the winter break," added de Boer. "We will really want
to win but both teams want to win so we will see what happens."
The Scottish champions will be without the services of
suspended captain Scott Brown and Kris Commons, who was forced off against Hibernian
at the weekend with a hamstring injury.
De Boer acknowledged that the pair were influential
players for the Hoops but wanted to focus on his own side and how they
approached the game.
"Commons and Brown are both key players for Celtic.
Commons is quite technical player so they are very important for this team but
they still have quality players left. I don´t know if it´s good for us but we
just need to concentrate on this game.
"The most important thing that I always say to my
players is to try and play their own game. We have to show guts – that what we
want to see.
"We are doing better in each match we play and when
you keep on playing better a result will follow suit."
Celtic will be looking for Georgios Samaras to produce
another memorable European performance, and the Ajax boss identified the Greek
striker as one of Celtic´s main attacking threats.
"Samaras is one of the key players with his strength
and height," said de Boer. "He´s a very important player because if
they can´t build from behind, the first ball will be to Samaras.
"He´s so strong it´s almost impossible to win that
first header with him, and you need to be very good to win the second ball and
if you are not standing at the right places it´s going to be difficult. In central
defence they have quality players and the goalkeeper as well
De Boer is an admirer of Celtic´s recent achievements on
and off the field and reckons little separates the sides.
"They have had some good results in the Champions
League and so they are doing quite well," he added. "They are a
healthy club and with great fans. They are an example how to run a club.
"The level between both clubs is even. They are
playing at home with the fans behind them so maybe they are favourites but
tomorrow we will see."
Influential defender Niklas Moisander, who picked up an
injury last week,will have his fitness
assessed in training tonight.
Culled from Celtic Website
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