Robben hails `great season, great Bayern'

Katwijk (The Netherlands), June 5 (IANS): Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robben entered the training camp of the Dutch national team in Katwijk with a big smile on his face, after a day of festivities in Germany.

Last Saturday Robben added the German Cup to his trophy list, after having already captured the German title and the Champions League this season. Club legends like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, currently CEO of Bayern, even called the team the greatest Bayern Munich ever.

“It has been a great season,” Robben told Xinhua. “We have shown now this season, especially in Europe, that we have a great team, but to speak about the greatest Bayern ever that is up to the experts. We do our job on the pitch and this season we played some very good football.”

For Robben the season had not started that well, with the winger even losing his regular starting place. However, the season ended on a high with the 29-year-old forward scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund (2-1). Last year he had missed a decisive penalty in the final against Chelsea.

“In the end for me the most important thing was that we won prizes,” said Robben. “I played my part and I did my job. Nothing more special than in other years, but of course in the end we were a bit more successful.”

Robben moved from Spanish giants Real Madrid to Bayern in 2009 and witnessed positive developments in Germany.

“I think especially the last two, three years you can see a very big improvement in Germany, not only the national team, but also the clubs, the Bundesliga has improved a lot,” he said. “In the next few years you can expect a lot from Germany, from the national team but also from the teams playing in Germany.”

About the development of the Dutch team, Robben is more reserved, although the Netherlands are under guidance of new coach Louis van Gaal almost certain of qualifying for the World Cup.

“With the Dutch team we are still developing, improving in our way to the World Cup,” he said. “Of course we had to build a little bit a new team with a new coach. We are halfway now. It is looking pretty good. Hopefully we can play a lot of games next year so we can improve a lot and hopefully we will be ready in Brazil.”

Robben was allowed to skip the last Dutch training Monday before moving to Asia. The Dutch team will play Indonesia June 7 in Jakarta and China June 11 in Beijing.

“Last summer with Bayern Munich we were in China as well,” he said. “We played two games and it was amazing. It was a warm welcome from the fans and it is always good to see that the fans are everywhere.”