Jürgen Klopp often falls into enthusiasm, but the words he uttered when he said goodbye to Georginio Wijnaldum from Liverpool FC were extraordinarily loving, even for the former Mainzer's circumstances. "What this wonderful, happy, selfless person has done for our team and the club, I cannot put into words, because my English is too bad for that," says Klopp. "He is and will remain one of the architects of our success - for now and always." More praise is hardly possible, and the current European Championship now shows that the captain of the Dutch national team is not only happy and selfless, he is also a very thoughtful one Human.

In 2019 Wijnaldum once said that he would go to the locker room immediately to work towards a game being abandoned if he were ever racially insulted in a stadium.

Now Holland will play against the Czech Republic in Budapest on Sunday evening (6 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ARD and MagentaTV), and the 30-year-old midfielder is very worried about the Hungarian head of state after all the discussions about the rainbow symbolism Victor Orbán and reports that Kylian Mbappé was racially insulted at the venue.

“To be honest, I thought a lot and I said to myself: Gini, you will play in Hungary next Sunday.

What are you going to do when it actually happens? ”He says.

His announcement two years ago could ultimately provoke undesirable reactions.

"Leading role for UEFA"

“I don't know how to react,” he says, “maybe supporters of the opponent think: The Netherlands are better.

If we speak racist now, they will leave the field. ”In order not to get into a personal conflict, Wijnaldum made a clear demand:“ UEFA must play a leading role and protect the players.

They should be the ones who say, 'If something like this happens, we'll quit the game.' "

That puts the association under a lot of pressure.

Especially since Wijnaldum will wear a “special OneLove captain's armband” with which he wants to set an example “for solidarity and thus against exclusion and discrimination”.

The captain of the Netherlands, who grew up in a colorful neighborhood in the middle of Rotterdam, takes his role as a leader very seriously, off the field and on the lawn anyway.

He has already scored two goals in the course of the tournament, and with 25 goals in 78 international matches, he has surpassed Dutch legends such as Marco van Basten, Dirk Kuijt and Ruud Gullit.

Ronald Koeman, who coaches FC Barcelona, ​​would have liked to bring the 30-year-old midfielder to his club in Spain, the negotiations were close to being concluded.

But Wijnaldum signed an apparently much better paid contract with Paris Saint-Germain and will do the work for the stars in the storm there in the future. Former England international Gary Neville describes the Dutch strategist as an “unsung hero” and says: “You don't watch him and think: He's doing everything extremely well. But he is a selfless and extremely important player because he fights for his colleagues right away. ”That fits: Wijnaldum is considered to be the champion of the penultimate pass before goals and chances.

He has the talent to make others shine, even someone who isn't there.

Not he is the real captain of the Dutch, but Virgil van Dijk, who missed the European Championship due to a cruciate ligament rupture that has not yet fully healed, says Wijnaldum.

The two of them talk on the phone almost every day, and they may also have discussed how to deal with the problem of racism that could loom in Budapest.

The Dutch don't really want to be stopped by such things after the team continues to play in the possibly easier half of the tournament tree and people like Wijnaldum, Frenkie de Jong or Memphis Depay get better from game to game.