A year ago Niklas Moisander would fight it out in worn down stadiums with the center forwards of FC Omniworld, HFC Haarlem and BV Veendam as a player of FC Zwolle.

On Tuesday he was a spectator at hit future working environment when he watched Dirk Kuyt and Didier Drogba score in the Champions League classic between Chelsea and Liverpool.

Next season the modest Finn will measure himself to those European top players.

The 23-year-old Moisander is the revelation of the season which AZ can crown with the league title when they beat Vitesse Arnhem on Saturday.

"I can not wait until it's Saturday," he says with a big smile on his face.

"You don't see it during training, but on the inside I am all excited. Not nervous, but relishing what's going to happen."

Two years ago AZ succumbed to the pressure at Excelsior when they squandered the championship on the last day of the season, but this time around the team is full of confidence.

"This week it will happen!"

After 28 years of championship parties in Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Eindhoven, this Sunday it will most likely be Alkmaar's turn to cheer the much wanted shield.

Moisander has noticed what is stewing in town: "People come up to me in the supermarket to wish me success."

On the edge of the training ground things are remarkably calm though, the Finn had to notice with disappointment.

"It's not that often that a club like AZ win the league, so I had expected more fans to come and watch the training."

Ajax signed Moisander and his twin brother Henrik in 2004 from TPS Turku in Finland.

Also because of a serious injury he didn't get past the second team in Amsterdam, but FC Zwolle offered him a second chance.

His coach in Zwolle, Jan Everse last season concluded that Moisander was ready for a higher level.

"I didn't even have to train 100% to be among the best players at Zwolle. But I am grateful to the club, as they gave me the chance that Ajax didn't."

At AZ as a center back Moisander impressed Louis van Gaal, who compares him to Frank de Boer.

Moisander is modest when he is reminded of his coach's compliment.

"It's far too early to say something like that. But our styles do compare as I too always try to find a decent solution to a situation instead of hoofing it forward. I am not too strong physically so AZ's way of playing suits me. At a smaller side like De Graafschap, who have to grind out results I probably wouldn't even start."

The sensational Champions League encounter between Chelsea and Liverpool sent shivers down his spine.

A year ago he played his games in the burrows of professional football and now the highest European stage is luring.

"On Tuesday I realized that one of these clubs could well be our opponents next season. I am really looking forward to that."

Fixtures - Results - Table - Topscorers

"The intellectualisation
of football has
always foundered
on a simple problem-
-the players. Doing
all your most
rewarding thinking
with your feet seems
to dull the philo-
sophical impulse.
Unless, of course,
you are Dutch.
According to legend,
Europeans played
a moronic, muscular
version of the world's
game, until Holland
proclaimed its vision
of total football in the
1974 World Cup,
and enlightenment
dawned."

From:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football