Ricky Had No Time To Be Tourist

Feb 24 2008 By Gavin Berry

RICKY FOSTER refused to capture his Bayern Munich experience on video - unlike his team-mates - to avoid looking like a tourist.

But the full-back left the Allianz Arena clutching Marcell Jansen's top and cherishing a host of memories from this season's Euro campaign.

Some of the Dons players can look back on the images they captured on their camera phones as they wandered around Bayern Munich's magnificent stadium before kick-off.

But Foster, who scored in the emphatic win over Copenhagen at Pittodrie, admits he has his own highlights from the UEFA Cup run firmly stored in his memory bank.

The 22-year-old said: "I didn't take my camcorder out before the match as I didn't want to look like a tourist and I was trying to focus on the game.

"Anyway we have to remember it was a whole campaign and not just the Bayern game and formethe away tie in Dnipro to qualify for the group stages was the highlight.

"I got an assist for Darren Mackie's goal which ultimately took us through so that was special and when the final whistle blew it was the best feeling I've ever had in football.

"Playing in the Allianz Arena was also amazing.Whenwe lined up in the tunnel the thing that struck me was Bayern's sheer size. Even our biggest guys looked small compared to them.

"You have to try to learn from these experiences, the way they use their body to shield the ball and how comfortable they are in possession "I asked Jansen (below) for his jersey as he's one of the top players in the world and I wanted something to remind me I'd gone up against him.

"But just to play against guys of such quality was the best memory of the night."

Foster is refusing to blame the Euro campaign for Dons' domestic slump and insists they must get back on track at Kilmarnock today.

He said: "We've played a lot of games in Europe then not done so well in the league so people will relate the two but I don't think it has hindered us. We just haven't clicked in the SPL.

"It's difficult to go from the high of Bayern Munich to playing Kilmarnock but we're professionals and have to get on with it.

"You go to places like the Allianz Arena, Panathinaikos and Atletico Madrid and they're great stadiums, great atmospheres and you just want to play at arenas like that again.

"That's the motivation for us to go to Rugby Park and pass the ball as we did last Thursday night and if we do so we can hurt Killie and go on to win the game."