In today’s Marca, in addition to the interview with Ruud van Nistelrooy, we also get an interview with Royston Drenthe, and it also made for compelling reading, because we find out a lot about his relations with his teammates!
Before the interview, some interesting notes:
- Drenthe played with an orange throughout the interview
- yesterday, Madrid’s players weren’t required to be sequestered before the game for the first time, so Drenthe said he would have a lazy day at home: his girlfriend, who used to work in a beauty salon in Holland, would wash his hair and his sister would braid it. Then at 8 pm, they would watch a Dutch TV program that searches for Michael Jackson imitators. Then a movie…
- the interviewer says he speaks Spanish well, although Drenthe claims he doesn’t.
- his full name is Royston Ricky Drenthe.
Q: How do you like to be called: Royston, Roy…?
A: In the locker room, they call me Malaguita. Iker gave me that name. It’s the name of a character from a movie, a thief [laughs]. From the time I was small, I’ve been called Roya, which is also what my friends in Holland call me. At home, my mother calls me Basha, which means “little boss” in Dutch, because I’m the only male in the family… there’s my grandmother, my mother, my sisters, and I have two daughters.
Q: How is it being a 22-year-old father?
A: It’s great! Jomaili is two years old and we have a special relationship. Lilai will turn one soon and speaks Dutch and Spanish.
Q: They told me that Drenthe is a character?
A: I like to joke around, and I have my personality and my style. If I want to wear pink pants, I’ll wear them. It doesn’t matter to me what people say. That’s the way I am. I have this hairstyle, and if I want to shave it off, I will, and if I don’t want to, then I won’t.
Q: They say that you’re the “happiness of the locker room” [don't know exactly how to translate 'alegría del vestuario'], that you make it comfortable.
A: That embarrasses me. I’m a normal guy. I don’t know why, but everyone is always joking around with me, especially Sergio Ramos, Iker, Kaká, Marcelo, and sometimes Raúl and Cristiano. They never stop… They’re quite annoying [laughs]. I say that with affection though!
One day, we had a team dinner. I told them I wouldn’t be able to go, because I was taking care of my daughters. At 10 pm, the phone rang. It was Sergio Ramos: “Malaguita, where are you?” I replied, “idiot, I can’t go.” After a while, the phone rang again. It was Sergio again. As my daughters went to bed, I was able to go to the dinner. As soon as I arrived, they started shouting at me, “come on, come on, sing a little.”
Q: Have you already recorded your rap album?
A: I’m doing that now, but it’s a lot of work, and I have football as well… I’ve written a song for my daughter. I wrote that in an hour, but other songs take me months. Music drives me, I always listen to my ipod before games.
Q: If you write a song about your team, you’ll sell a lot of records.
A: But it’s difficult for me in Spanish. Sometimes I’m in the locker room, and for example, if I see Higuaín with a blue boot, I can throw out a rap in a minute [smiles]. And you wouldn’t believe that it was just improvised!
Q: Have you made your teammates learn to like rap?
A: Right now, only Lass and Benzema listen to rap, and Cristiano, who likes everything.
Q: You’re a football player, a musician, but you could also have made a living skateboarding.
A: In 2002, I was the number two skateboarder in all of Holland. I’m good doing tricks and stuff with the skateboard. I don’t do it anymore, since it’s dangerous. I like all sorts of risky things that I’m not allowed to do.
