In terms of European football, Kiki Musampa may not have seen all that there is to see, but the dreadlocked Dutchman has treaded the boards in many of the continent’s big leagues. Starting out at Amsterdam icons Ajax, just as that team lifted the Champions League trophy in 1995, the attacking midfielder then moved to Bordeaux in 1997, not long before that the club became French champions.
He was then on his way to Spain with Malaga and then with Atletico Madrid. A two-season spell in the Premier League followed with Manchester play bazaar After short spells in Turkey with Trabzonspor and back in the Netherlands with AZ Alkmaar, Musampa finds himself in the K-League with FC Seoul.
It has been quite a story but a new chapter is about to begin and it is safe to say that it will not read like anything else that has gone before in the 30 year-old’s career.
How old were you when you joined Ajax?
I started when I was 12. Before that I was playing amateur football for a couple of years. I was lucky to be scouted by Ajax and then I joined the youth academy.
Some would say that you had the perfect football education…
Yes. I must say that it has been an education that I have used all the way through my career. There are so many things that I have always kept with me and used in different countries and different football cultures. I am very grateful to Ajax.
Is there any special thing that you remember from your time with Ajax?
The special thing is that football is first of all a team sport. Every player is part of a team; we were never allowed to forget this. It is the most important thing because sometimes you go somewhere and you see that some players have forgotten it. But it was precisely that which made Ajax a successful team. We had no real star players, we knew what we had to do and we knew that we always had to play for the team. That’s how we all became, in a sense, stars.
You were at the club when they won the 1995 Champions League. What do you remember of that time?
I was joining the first team, just 17 years old and without a contract but I was in the squad and training every day with the guys and for me at the time, it was like a dream coming true. Back in those days Ajax was a huge team and everybody wanted to play for Ajax, as a young kid that was all you dreamed about. So one day to be training with all these people was great.
Who was the best or your favourite player at the time?
They were all so good and all had different qualities. The best thing was the older players would help the younger ones, not leave them on their own but try to teach them. Danny Blind and Frank De Boer were especially good.
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