Against Slavia Prague, 22-year-old Sinisterra is again looked at with suspicion. Among others by Lex Schoenmaker, Feyenoord’s all-time top scorer in a European context. De Hagenaar scored nineteen goals for the Rotterdam team in the European Cup I, the current Champions League and the UEFA Cup, spread over four seasons. “That record will stand for a while. If you are successful at Feyenoord, a transfer is never far away. My most successful season with Feyenoord was of course 1973-1974, when we won the UEFA Cup and I scored nine goals in 11 games.”
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Exactly that annual record could become a prey for Sinisterra this season. Although he is not really known as a goalscorer pur sang, the Colombian knows how to find the goal frequently this season. At the premiere of the Conference League, Sinisterra has eight goals in thirteen matches before the start of the quarter-finals.
“I hope Luis can already improve my record in the double against Slavia Prague, because that means there is a good chance that Feyenoord will be in the semi-finals. Sometimes this third European tournament is sometimes disparagingly, but if you see the long road Feyenoord has had to travel to get here, they deserve all the credit for that,” says Schoenmaker, who still has warm feelings for the top club from Rotterdam. -South. „ADO is my club, but I had a great time at Feyenoord. At that time, we had a team in Europe to take seriously. With Rinus Israël, Wim van Hanegem, Wim Jansen, Wim Rijsbergen, Theo de Jong and Jan Boskamp.”
Lex Schoenmaker does have a tip for Sinisterra: “The finesse of the finishing can be improved.”
AP
Shoemaker can enjoy Sinisterra. According to the 74-year-old former attacker, it is not so remarkable that he scores a lot. “Perhaps he has scoring qualities as a winger, but I see him more as a winger who pulls in. He’s not really a left winger who is stuck on the line, makes his move and then comes with the cross, like Coen Moulijn and Jørgen Kristensen did in my day.”
According to Schoenmaker, Sinisterra is someone of the action, to then look for the target. “It is very special that he combines his speed with a very short passing action. As a result, he can be decisive even in a small space in a crowded penalty area. He remains calm in front of the goal. The finesse of the finishing, that could be better.”
According to the Hagenaar, an agreement with the striker Schoenmaker is that the Colombian scores just as easily with the left as with the right, and is a strong header. “Although he is a lot smaller than me.” Initially, after coming to Rotterdam four years ago, Sinisterra needed time and effort to get involved. “Not so strange for a 19-year-old kid from South America. He had to overcome quite a few obstacles. The public did not like it immediately and was quite biased. Martin van Geel got it and you often heard: ‘it must be nothing’. That approach by the outside world of new players at Feyenoord has changed under trainer Arne Slot.”
Luis Sinisterra and his teammates during the training session before the game against Slavia Prague.
AP
For a young player, getting a chance and trust from the environment, especially from a coach, is important. “Jaap Stam really saw it in that boy when he came to Feyenoord. Although Stam left quickly, Sinisterra continued that upward trend and has grown to its current level. Don’t forget that he was sidelined for a long time last season with a serious knee injury. He has come back from that setback stronger. For me, he can no longer be ignored and is the man who makes the difference in Feyenoord’s attack. It does not matter to him whether Bryan Linssen or Cyriel Dessers is in the striker. Although the first Sinisterra may have relieved a little more in the defensive work.”
“By the way, do you know why I really think Sinisterra is a complete attacker? For the qualities mentioned earlier, but also for its overview. Because even when he flashes through it, he sees what is happening around him. Just look at his statistics as an assister, six in the Eredivisie and five in Europe.”
According to Schoenmaker, this makes Luis Sinisterra a complete attacker and although he will not be able to manifest himself with Colombia at the coming World Cup, the resident of The Hague expects that he will already be an interesting option for clubs from the major leagues next summer.