Cammy Kerr admits he was starstruck taking to the stage for his testimonial celebration alongside a host of Dundee favourites.
The 26-year-old was joined by former team-mate and captain Charlie Adam, ex-Dee Steven Milne and Hall of Famer Julian Speroni.
But it was the star attraction who brought out the nerves in the boyhood Dee at the ‘Cammy meets Claudio’ event last month.
Claudio was none other than World Cup star Claudio Caniggia, lighting up Duck Slattery’s Showbar with tales of his time with the Dark Blues.
Despite only playing 21 times for Dundee at the turn of the century, the former Argentina ace holds legendary status among Dees.
‘Overwhelmed’
The first @CKTestimonial event took place this evening ‘Cammy meets Claudio’
At the end of the event Cammy presented @caniggiaclaudio with his Hall of Fame award on behalf of the club #thedee pic.twitter.com/wOmfuKut63
— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) May 28, 2022
Kerr was only a small boy during Caniggia’s time at Dens Park but admits the nerves were jangling when he met the 55-year-old.
“It was amazing,” Kerr said of the testimonial event.
“I had spoken to him online before he came up.
“He said he was looking forward to it and that we would have a great day.
“I was nervous as it was my event and I was sitting there with Caniggia, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
“It is still a bit surreal that it happened – but what a day, it couldn’t have gone better.
“He touched on the Maradona stories. Caniggia said Maradona got this kind of reputation of partying and this and that.
“But he said he was really just a lovely, honest guy who was a great pal of his.
“It wasn’t a sad moment in the day but when he touched on that, the crowd took it all in and realised how close a friend he was.
“But there were loads of great stories from him and I was just thinking, ‘I can’t believe I am sitting on stage with Claudio Caniggia’, but it was great fun.”
Speroni and Sara
The Argentina connection was strong with Dundee during the Bonetti era.
It remains so, with the newly-minted away kit for this season paying homage to the classic sky blue and white stripes of the national team.
Buenos Aires-born Speroni stayed on at the club beyond the departure of the Italian brothers before joining Crystal Palace in 2004.
His own testimonial with the Eagles saw the London side take on Dundee at Selhurst Park.
And the retired goalie brought in another Argentine favourite of the Dark Blues support on the night in the shape of striker Juan Sara.
“Speroni is also a class act and a top person,” Kerr added.
“There was a point in the day when he was speaking about one of the questions and he mentioned Juan Sara.
“Someone started singing the Juan Sara song and everyone joined in. Speroni began filming it with his phone and sent it to Juan.
“He replied back, saying, ‘My goodness, I can’t believe I am still viewed in this way’.
“He was overwhelmed with that – it was just amazing.”
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