hopes to cure fear by quitting his job
The retirement plan is to fly into anonymityBy Matt Dickinson
DENNIS BERGKAMP BELIEVES THAT retiring from football could cure his fear of flying. The Dutchman has not boarded a plane for more than a decade, missing dozens of important matches, but he hopes that he can conquer his pteromerhanophobia once he is freed from the pressure to board team flights. “Hopefully I can do it in a quiet way and that will take away some of the fear,” he said. “Being in the public eye is part of it. It will be interesting to see how it feels in a year or two’s time.”
His phobia became so bad during his unhappy spell at Inter Milan that he was dreading the flight home during away matches in Europe. “Days before a flight I was thinking about it and getting really, really nervous physically,” he said. “Shaking and stuff. Then during the game I would be thinking already of flying home. So then it starts to affect your football and that is when I said, ‘No more.’ I had been doing it, but I was not happy at all.
NI_MPU('middle');
“It came during my career, so I always thought I would address it after my career. Maybe this is the opportunity to address the problem without the pressure that you have to be at this game or that.”
Success would allow Bergkamp to fulfil plans to travel to Africa, although his first post-retirement holiday is more likely to be in Cornwall. A father of four, he wants to spend some time exploring the country where he has set up home for almost 11 years.
Bergkamp is eligible for a fast-track coaching course in the Netherlands, starting in September, but he has no plans to stay in football. “The only thing I like about football is playing the game,” he said. “I can’t imagine working all hours as a manager although you have to be careful because Marco van Basten said exactly the same. He disappeared for a few years but then came back to manage Holland.
“A lot of people tell me with my vision, my way of playing, it would be a shame if that is lost even if I was just working with kids. That is the only thing that has crossed my mind but, next year, I want to get away from everything.”
MISSING OUT ON SEA LEGS
FEAR OF FLYING IS COMMON AND OTHER top-class players suffer from the phobia. At the less exalted levels, things are different. In 2001, Wayne Houghton, a Tiptree United defender, had a phobia that made him want to fly: fear of travelling by sea, which was a problem when the team had a match on the Isle of Wight.
DENNIS BERGKAMP BELIEVES THAT retiring from football could cure his fear of flying. The Dutchman has not boarded a plane for more than a decade, missing dozens of important matches, but he hopes that he can conquer his pteromerhanophobia once he is freed from the pressure to board team flights. “Hopefully I can do it in a quiet way and that will take away some of the fear,” he said. “Being in the public eye is part of it. It will be interesting to see how it feels in a year or two’s time.”
His phobia became so bad during his unhappy spell at Inter Milan that he was dreading the flight home during away matches in Europe. “Days before a flight I was thinking about it and getting really, really nervous physically,” he said. “Shaking and stuff. Then during the game I would be thinking already of flying home. So then it starts to affect your football and that is when I said, ‘No more.’ I had been doing it, but I was not happy at all.
NI_MPU('middle');
“It came during my career, so I always thought I would address it after my career. Maybe this is the opportunity to address the problem without the pressure that you have to be at this game or that.”
Success would allow Bergkamp to fulfil plans to travel to Africa, although his first post-retirement holiday is more likely to be in Cornwall. A father of four, he wants to spend some time exploring the country where he has set up home for almost 11 years.
Bergkamp is eligible for a fast-track coaching course in the Netherlands, starting in September, but he has no plans to stay in football. “The only thing I like about football is playing the game,” he said. “I can’t imagine working all hours as a manager although you have to be careful because Marco van Basten said exactly the same. He disappeared for a few years but then came back to manage Holland.
“A lot of people tell me with my vision, my way of playing, it would be a shame if that is lost even if I was just working with kids. That is the only thing that has crossed my mind but, next year, I want to get away from everything.”
MISSING OUT ON SEA LEGS
FEAR OF FLYING IS COMMON AND OTHER top-class players suffer from the phobia. At the less exalted levels, things are different. In 2001, Wayne Houghton, a Tiptree United defender, had a phobia that made him want to fly: fear of travelling by sea, which was a problem when the team had a match on the Isle of Wight.
posted by Articles and Thoughts at 8:44 AM
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