- NEWS
Sunday, June 10, 2001
Langfield glad to take Juve route
By Scott Davie
The Dundee players were back in training yesterday after the shortest summer break in memory but Dark Blues keeper Jamie Langfield is delighted to be visiting Europe on business rather than pleasure.
The Tayside team are back in action against Sartid Smederevo in the Intertoto Cup with the first leg at Dens Park this Saturday followed by a trip to Yugoslavia the following weekend.
Victory in that will hand them a glamour tie against German giants 1860 Munich in the next round, with the ultimate prize being entry to the UEFA Cup.
It means a return to competitive matches just three weeks after the end of last season and at a time when the country's professional footballers usually expect to be soaking up the sun.
That should all add up to some tired players taking part in a competition Scottish clubs normally ignore but Langfield is relishing the team's first crack at European football in over 25 years.
He said: 'We might only have had a short holiday but this is a worthwhile exercise for the players, club and the supporters if we are going to keep progressing.
'It's over 20 years since Dundee played in European football and, even if we don't make it to the UEFA Cup, it will still have been a good experience as far as I'm concerned.
'A lot of people are criticising the move but Juventus used the Inter-toto Cup to get into the main competition a couple of years ago, while Chelsea and Aston Villa applied this season.
'If it's good enough for teams of that stature, then it is good enough for us and I know from personal experience just how important exposure is to different styles of football.
'I've been to the likes of Bosnia, Latvia and Poland as part of the Scotland Under-21 squad and I like to think I have learned a lot from seeing what goes on there.
'Now we will get the chance to play in at least a couple of competitive matches in European football with the prospect of a good few more and adding to my football education is better than a longer holiday.'
Of course, Langfield is only playing now because of a freak accident to Marco Roccati as the Italian was injured in the warm-up at Celtic Park back in April.
The youngster was outstanding in Dundee's win at the same venue last month and has changed his mind about wanting away after originally being overlooked by manager Ivano Bonetti.
The Italian brought in Roccati as replacement when Robert Douglas moved to Celtic fearing Langfield was too inexperienced but the goal-keeper always believed he could cope.
He added: 'Everyone used to think that you had to be quite old to be a good goalkeeper but, thankfully, that is no longer the case as a lot of people have proved that if you are good enough you are old enough.
'Ryan Esson and Paul Gallacher are both first-team regulars and doing a great job with Aberdeen and Dundee United, even though they are still with me in the Scotland Under-21 squad.
'Top keepers the world over are getting younger and there is no reason why the position should be any different from any other on the park.'
Bonetti is obviously a convert to Langfield's way of thinking as yesterday he added 20-year-old Argentinian Julian Speroni to the squad as understudy to his new first choice after Roccati's recent departure.