“The more we talk about mental problems, the more it will help others”

“As a football player you have to, naturally, deal with a lot of performance pressure. This includes pressure coming from the club, but also from fellow players and yourself. I have mostly tried to deal with these pressures on my own. In retrospect, I would have liked to have had more support on that front during my career.”

“However, there was one fellow player during my time at Feyenoord who noticed that I was getting nervous before an important European match. I remember that he said to me: ‘Regi, what is the worst possible thing that could happen today? We lose the game and tomorrow will be another day.’ With those simple words, he immediately took a lot of tension away from me.”

“Since that day I have been approaching many situations the same way. I can still get nervous when I step outside of my comfort zone, but I also try to look at the positive sides of every difficult situation. I tell myself that I need those moments, in order to grow. All of the books I have read about growth and the human being, reinforce/strengthen my view on that.”