Photo courtesy of AZ Alkmaar
ALKMAAR, Netherlands — After working solo to the side during his first proper training session with new club AZ Alkmaar on Friday, Jozy Altidore says his injured hamstring is gradually coming around.
The striker pulled up lame mere minutes into the US' victory over Jamaica in CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals exactly one month ago. He was originally slated to miss as many as six weeks, but got in several drills and plenty of running on Friday morning.
"It's getting better every day," Altidore told MLSsoccer.com. "They're doing the job of taking me step by step and making sure I don't have any setbacks. I got a few touches [during work with the ball]. It was good."
While his teammates scrimmaged over different field lengths, the 21-year-old was busy outside the lines with various No. 9 hold up drills, agility training and plenty of running.
Altidore was supposed to start up on Thursday, but manager Gertjan Verbeek "kidnapped" the squad as they readied for the practice pitch, taking them to beach in nearby Zaandam for a day of team-building exercises.
"It was cool," Altidore said. "You're doing all these things and you get the see the personalities on the team. It was nice. It's good for the team, good for the players."
Verbeek is also known to be good for players, but that is no surprise for the forward. The AZ manager also coached Michael Bradley at Heerenveen, and Altidore recently made sure to get the lowdown on his new boss before signing.
"I spoke to Michael quite a bit during Gold Cup about [Verbeek]," he said. "He had nothing but good things to say about him. Michael was great, he gave me lots of tips and pointers and how the coach does things."
Of course, this Verbeek advice ended up being the best thing Altidore walked away with from Gold Cup, where he was forced to be a spectator while archrivals Mexico pulled off their final comeback to retain the crown.
"It was tough watching the team struggle after we got the two-goal lead," he admitted. "But that's a part of football and you can't always win them. You just look forward to the next time, and whoever's playing tries to reverse it."
Whether Altidore is fit for selection when El Tri play the US in Philadelphia next month or not, he will spend the interim getting cozy with his new club. Having already lived and played in England, Spain and Turkey, Altidore says settling into daily life won't be any hindrance to achieving goals on the field.
"Once you've lived in Europe, it's a bit the same except the language," he said. "But it's even luckier [here in the Netherlands] for Americans because everybody speaks English. A lot of the people speak English from a young age, it's incredible how they learn it in the school system."
As impressed as he is with the worldly Dutch, he mostly appreciates being able to understand everything that is said in training and club meetings.
"About 85 to 90 percent of what they say [at AZ] ends up spoken in English," Altidore said. "That's important at this stage of my career."
The stage he refers to is one where he knows it's time to soak up the knowledge around him to fully deliver on his mighty promise. Altidore is convinced he has come to the right place to do exactly that and he can't wait to get started.
"I feel like every step I've taken in my career has helped my progression in some way," he said. "This is no different, but now it's the time to get stronger in my all-around game. This is a good place to do that, so I felt this was the proper next step for me. I want to be a complete striker in the area."
Altidore will miss the club's Europa League qualifying third-round opener against Czech outfit Jablonec on July 28, but could be ready for action by the time they kick off the new Eredivisie season with an August 7 visit from PSV Eindhoven.
