The duo of promising players of Trenčín defender Róbert Mazáň and midfield Stanislav Lobotka spent the last week in the academy of Ajax Amsterdam. After the welcome training with the U18 team, they spent the remaining time in the team of U19 led by one of the best shooters of the Dutch football history Dennis Bergkamp.

“The training center was excellent. That wasn’t a surprise for me. What surprised me was the atmosphere. There was almost a family environment,“ said Mazáň and Lobotka continued, “It wasn’t a problem for Bergkamp to patiently explain things that we didn’t understand. On the other hand, we felt that the players respected him a lot. He’s a unique personality though. The team accepted us and often gave us necessary encouragement.”
 
The trainings lasted two hours and were highly intensive. “We worked with the ball mostly. We also played a practice game against the U18 team. I think that it went quite well,“ commented the promising left defender and U21 national player whose experiences with the first team of AS helped him manage his internship in the top European club.

“It was quite quick. They tried to play constructively in all situations, but they were also still very aggressive,“ said Lobotka and concluded, “We know what we have to work on. On the other hand, this stay helped us to increase our self-confidence. Not only have the tournaments in the Netherlands, but also the last week confirmed that we can play football.”