This interview originally appeared in the Everton v Crystal Palace match programme.
Maarten Stekelenburg is casting his mind back to his early teenage years, recalling his first encounters with a legendary footballing figure who, even now, has had a lasting influence on his career.
As a fledgling goalkeeper, advancing at speed through Ajax’s celebrated youth setup, he would position himself in the best possible location on a first-team matchday at the Amsterdam Arena. Surrounded by 50,000 partisan supporters, attentively studying his hero-turned-mentor.
“The first time I met him, I was a ballboy around the pitch,” Stekelenburg vividly remembers.