Max Verstappen makes no secret about his soccer fandom and his favorite club PSV. The Dutchman often plays soccer and follows the sport across various leagues. However, Dutch club PSV is where his loyalties primarily lie. He revealed how his father Jos Verstappen is the reason behind his love for PSV.
As quoted by GP Blog, Verstappen told Formule1.nl, “That started with my father when he was sponsored by Philips. At that time he was regularly invited to PSV matches and sometimes I accompanied him. Gradually a certain bond grows, a click, and you can also associate yourself with that club.”
Verstappen cited how his father Jos was often invited to the club’s games. Naturally, the father-son duo went together and the young Dutchman witnessed how PSV played and took a liking to it. Max also was present at the club’s 17th consecutive win recently in Eredivisie, pumped up and delighted over the same.
Curiosidade: O PSV, clube do coração de Max Verstappen, simplesmente venceu TODAS AS PARTIDAS do primeiro tudo do campeonato holandês.
17 vitórias em 17 jogos.@Max33Verstappen, quer torcer pelo Vitória também? pic.twitter.com/q399jPl2F0
— EFFE1 (@canaleffe1) January 14, 2024
The Red Bull driver also explained why he prefers PSV over another club called Ajax. He cited that the Ajax club’s mentality is different from PSV’s. So, it becomes a case of reliability for Verstappen. Couple it with his access to games due to his father and it made the 26-year-old a hardcore PSV fan.
Verstappen’s love for soccer is quite publicized. His exploits as a FIFA player have garnered him a lot of attention. Although, recently he had to take a gracious close defeat against a champion of the eSports game.
Max Verstappen runs close with a five-time FIFA champ
Max Verstappen played a round of FIFA against Dutch champion Koen Weijland. The latter is also a Viaplay presenter. Thus, the streaming brand posted a video of the duo’s match. Verstappen naturally chose PSV as his tea, while Weijland chose Ajax.
The Dutch F1 champion did a brilliant job of running close to Weijland. However, he had to take a loss of 2-0. Still, the Viaplay presenter was impressed at how impressive Verstappen was. The 26-year-old gave a fair fight to the might of the five-time FIFA champ.
Verstappen has been a hardcore avid gamer and often plays FIFA whenever he can. There were times when the Red Bull driver played the game in tense championship situations. The 2021 US GP is a classic case in point for this.
Max Verstappen playing FIFA all weekend and Winning Grand Prix is a Vibe. What a Lad #USGP pic.twitter.com/aTAqZOQnMn
— J (@kingJibz98) October 24, 2021
Verstappen played 14 hours of FIFA, before the crucial Grand Prix in Austin, as per Christian Horner. While any other driver would have been tense to defend his championship lead, the Dutchman seemed nonchalant to resort to FIFA. Eventually, he won his maiden race in the USA that weekend and extended his lead.
