Sunderland duo Robin Roefs and Granit Xhaka open up on World Cup excitement ahead of group openers
Robin Roefs and Granit Xhaka are among several Sunderland players in action at this summer’s World Cup.
Sunderland pair Robin Roefs and Granit Xhaka have both expressed their excitement as they prepare to get their respective World Cup campaigns underway with the Netherlands and Switzerland.
For Roefs, the North American tournament will represent his first as a senior international, and speaking to the Black Cats’ official website ahead of a Group F curtain-raiser on Sunday evening, he said: “It’s a huge thing for me and something I have dreamt of since I was a kid. I have watched so many games of the national team during the World Cup and the Euros in the past with my friends and family, so for me to be a part of it now is amazing.”
This time last year, Roefs was still on the books at boyhood club NEC Nijmegen, and reflecting on his sudden rise to prominence in both the Premier League and at senior international level, he said: “It’s been a crazy 18 months for me.
“Everything has gone so quick and until recently, I would never have even thought about going to the World Cup. It was a really nice first season with Sunderland. I settled in really well and I was happy with the trust I got from everyone at the club and the supporters.”
What has Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka said about the World Cup?
In terms of major tournament experience, Sunderland skipper Xhaka very much lies at the other end of the spectrum. The veteran midfielder will be competing in his fourth World Cup this summer, and looks set to add to the 146 senior caps he has already amassed - 145 more than his Dutch clubmate.
Nevertheless, the 33-year-old has made it very clear that he cannot wait to get started when Switzerland begin their own bid for glory with a clash against Qatar on Saturday night. He said: “I’m very excited. It’s another tournament for myself and it’s always special to wear the shirt. Hopefully it’s a big tournament. The first one in Brazil [the 2014 World Cup] was very exciting because it was my first, but every tournament is special and we’re looking forward to that.”
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On his role with the national team, Xhaka added: “It’s great to captain the team. There is a lot of responsibility and we’re really looking forward to it. We respect everyone in our group, but we have the quality to play a good tournament. We have many good players. Like Sunderland, we are a group who fights together and a family, and I hope we show this. There’s just over eight million people in Switzerland, so we aren’t a big country, but we know the target and I hope we can do something special.”
The rest of Switzerland’s group is comprised of hosts Canada and fellow European side Bosnia and Herzegovina. For their part, Roefs and his Netherlands teammates -including Brian Brobbey and Lutsharel Geertruida - will come up against Sweden and Tunisia, alongside Japan, between now and the end of the group stage.
Other Sunderland players involved at the World Cup are: Wilson Isidor (Haiti), Omar Alderete (Paraguay), Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Habib Diarra (Senegal), Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), Nilson Angulo (Ecuador), and Noah Sadiki and Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo).
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