Gio van Bronckhorst, Barça's talisman who coaches Feyenoord
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, known as Gio, appeared in the press room of the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples facing Glasgow Rangers, under the authorship of CIRO FUSCO for EFE. The former Barça defender, nicknamed “the talisman”, now manages Feyenoord.
The origin of the nickname and the Champions story
THE CHAMPIONS RIVAL goes back to 2006, when Alejandro Echevarría gave him the nickname after participating in the 13 matches that Barça won against Arsenal in Paris. Gio played all the games and only missed the last 21 minutes of the first leg against Chelsea.
Mark van Bommel, Gio van Bronckhorst and Henrik Larsson pose with the trophy, recalling the victory. In March, the press highlighted that the Dutch defender was part of the virtuous circle started in 2003 under Joan Laporta, alongside Ronaldinho and other teammates.
From Barça to Feyenoord and the upcoming duel
Barça exercised the purchase option for 1.5 million, but Gio left for free to Feyenoord in 2007, a year before his contract ended, thanks to a clause that allowed him to settle his family. His second son, Josua, was born four days after the Paris final.
After retiring in 2010, the Dutch international was congratulated by Wesley Sneijder and Bemy de Zeeuw after scoring the 0‑1 in the semifinal of the South Africa World Cup. He was captain in the defeat to Spain and experienced another loss at Euro 2000 against Italy.
He became “the talisman” again when, as a spectator, he attended the Barça‑Arsenal Champions match (4‑1) in 2010 and the Barça‑Liverpool match of 2019, where Messi scored from a free kick. That shirt stayed in Rotterdam, in the house of the Feyenoord coach.
For the first time he will face Barça, a club he dreamed of playing for since 1995. The young Feyenoord prospect recalls Hristo Stoichkov practicing free kicks at La Masia, now turned into a concrete parking lot.
Feyenoord believes that Gio will become their talisman again and hopes that his Champions experience will boost the team in the upcoming match against Barça.