Kenneth Perez Questions Ro-Zangelo Daal's Hype After Stellar Performance

Kenneth Perez is not buying the Ro-Zangelo Daal hype. Not yet.

The 18-year-old AZ forward lit up Sunday’s 5-2 win over Go Ahead Eagles with two goals and a standout display, sparking a wave of excitement around Alkmaar’s latest attacking prospect. On ESPN’s “Dit was het Weekend”, presenter Wouter Bouwman rolled out the praise after watching Daal’s highlights. Perez immediately hit the brakes.

“Take it easy, man. I’m really going mad from all that nonsense about multi-talent, great talent,” Perez snapped. “He’s a young and decent player. Let’s wait and see what it all becomes. All those superlatives about ordinary players... Calm down, please.”

No soft landing. No half-measures. Perez simply refuses to label Daal a top talent on the back of one explosive afternoon.

Bouwman then raised another angle: international football. Daal is already on the radar of the Curaçao national team, a path several Dutch-born players have taken. “He can also wait a bit longer for the Netherlands,” Bouwman suggested, hinting at a bigger stage down the line.

Perez’s answer was brief, and telling. “Well…” A shrug in one word.

Not everyone is as cautious. Arie Haan, reporting for De Telegraaf, looked at the same performance and saw something entirely different. The former Ajax and Netherlands midfielder went so far as to include Daal in his Team of the Week.

“They kept trying to block off the outside. Then he just went inside,” Haan explained. “He played brilliantly. It’s good for Xavi that another winger is emerging who is developing so spectacularly.”

Where Perez urges restraint, Haan is already thinking in Oranje terms and effectively nudging national team coach Xavi towards Alkmaar. For him, Daal isn’t just a bright spot in one Eredivisie match; he’s a potential solution for the national team’s flanks.

According to Algemeen Dagblad, Daal has already made it onto a “watchlist” compiled by Xavi and his staff. He is not alone there. Fellow forwards Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink and Shaqueel van Persie are also reportedly being monitored by the Spanish coach.

So the picture is split. On one side, a seasoned analyst warning against crowning another “wonderkid” too soon. On the other, a former international and a national coach quietly circling his name.

For Daal, the noise is only getting louder. The real question now: can he keep playing at a level that forces even the sceptics to change their tune?