{"id":384043,"date":"2011-04-21T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T13:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/21\/%e2%80%98nigel-de-jong-was-public-enemy-number-one%e2%80%99-%e2%80%93-manchester-city-midfielder-reflects-on-aftermath-of-world-cup-final-challenge-on-xabi-alonso\/"},"modified":"2011-04-21T13:12:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T13:12:00","slug":"nigel-de-jong-was-public-enemy-number-one-manchester-city-midfielder-reflects-on-aftermath-of-world-cup-final-challenge-on-xabi-alonso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/nigel-de-jong-was-public-enemy-number-one-manchester-city-midfielder-reflects-on-aftermath-of-world-cup-final-challenge-on-xabi-alonso\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Nigel de Jong was public enemy number one\u2019 \u2013 Manchester City midfielder reflects on aftermath of World Cup final challenge on Xabi Alonso"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<h3>By Stefan Coerts<\/h3>\n<h4>21 Apr 2011 14:12:00<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n<div readability=\"65.4084985836\">\n<div readability=\"17.6377952756\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\" 2010 FIFA World Cup Final,Nigel De Jong,Xabi Alonso,Netherlands v Spain(Getty Images)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/5088103615_news.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>2010 FIFA World Cup Final,Nigel De Jong,Xabi Alonso,Netherlands v Spain(Getty Images)<\/p>\n<h4>Related Links<\/h4>\n<h4>Teams<\/h4>\n<h4>Players<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p><span readability=\"26.7456521739\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-gb\/people\/netherlands\/4138\/nigel-de-jong\/national\">Nigel de Jong<\/a> admits that he felt like &#8216;public enemy number one&#8217; after his ferocious challenge on Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso during the 2010 World Cup final.<\/p>\n<p>The Manchester City star was heavily criticised for his reckless challenge and De Jong feels that some people went too far with their comments on his actions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I had a feeling that people were after me and tried to damage me. Nigel de Jong was public enemy number one at some point. People treated me like I was some sort of a criminal who was involved in war crimes,&#8221; said De Jong to <em>De Volkskrant<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The referee obviously could have given me a red card for the foul. It really didn&#8217;t look good when I saw the challenge. I never saw him Xabi Alonso coming though and was completely focused on the ball.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>De Jong also briefly looked back at his tackle on Newcastle United forward Hatem Ben Arfa earlier this season, which resulted in a broken leg for the Magpies&#8217; new signing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That was just an unfortunate tackle. Of course, it was really sad that he broke his leg, but I never even had the intention to hit him. Nobody really believes you though when you try to explain what happened.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old midfielder recently secured a spot in the FA Cup final with Manchester City after their Wembley win over rivals Manchester United, and is still in the race for Champions League qualification with Roberto Mancini&#8217;s side.<br \/><em><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/5088103615_news-150x150.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>See the original post here:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-gb\/news\/2896\/premier-league\/2011\/04\/21\/2451754\/nigel-de-jong-was-public-enemy-number-one-manchester-city\" title=\"\u2018Nigel de Jong was public enemy number one\u2019 \u2013 Manchester City midfielder reflects on aftermath of World Cup final challenge on Xabi Alonso\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2018Nigel de Jong was public enemy number one\u2019 \u2013 Manchester City midfielder reflects on aftermath of World Cup final challenge on Xabi Alonso<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> By Stefan Coerts 21 Apr 2011 14:12:00 2010 FIFA World Cup Final,Nigel De Jong,Xabi Alonso,Netherlands v Spain(Getty Images) Related Links Teams Players Nigel de Jong admits that he felt like &#8216;public enemy number one&#8217; after his ferocious challenge on Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso during the 2010 World Cup final. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-384043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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