FC Cincinnati captain Kendall Waston said he grew up watching Jaap Stam play in Italy’s Serie A. At the time, Waston was a little boy, and Stam was one of the world’s top defenders.
Now, Stam is Waston’s coach, but they’re still waiting to meet in person with the head coach still in Europe.
“Well, (it’s) a little bit strange,” Waston said of the situation. “It was a little bit weird (meeting on Zoom) because this is obviously the first time these things happen, but now we just welcome him and we as players are waiting to have the head coach and the assistant back to Cincinnati.”
FCC announced Stam’s appointment last Thursday, as well as announcing that Said Bakkati had left Feyenoord to be an assistant coach in the Queen City. The duo – and general manager Gerard Nijkamp – are all in the Netherlands awaiting word when they’ll be able to arrive in the U.S..
Waston said he’s looking forward to working with Stam once he can arrive stateside.
“He’s going to bring a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience because he played in top teams,” the Costa Rica international said. “I remember when I was small and I used to watch AC Milan and he was there. He’s going to bring all that experience he had in his career. Anytime that we can add to our career is best.”
