Jan van Beveren: the crucial absentee…

It doesn’t matter how many Ronaldinho’s, Messi’s, Gerrard’s, Pato’s or Biseswar’s we have to discuss, the 1974 Oranje team will always titillate us…

In 2009, we’ll keep on looking back to that ultimate WC in Germany, mainly because the Dutch played their best football ever then and there. One of Holland’s greatest, however, wasn’t there.

Jan van Beveren, the crucial absentee. Thanks to Harry Walstra of the www.wkfinale74.nl website. The Best Website on that one particular game, alas…all in Dutch (and German ).

Matty Verkamman writes: “He is the ultimate goalie, gracious and elegant. Athletic and stoic. Jan van Beveren was a gem to behold in the goal. Still, he’d never reap the fruits of his talent and the generation he was part of. Johan Cruyff, Piet Keizer, Willy van der Kuylen, Willem van Hanegem, Jan van Beveren…they’d never win a prize with Oranje…”

Jan van Beveren starts his career in Emmen, with the amateurs. Most goalies start out as players until they’re told they’re not good enough. “Try it on goal, matey…”. Not with Jan. He knew from day 1 that he wanted to be a goal keeper. “I’d seen photo’s of goalie who could glide horizontally to the bar to stop balls from going in. That was the ultimate. That was what I wanted.”

When 18 years old, he joins Sparta and Long John immediately pushes Pim Doesburg out of the Sparta goal. A year later, Jan would make his debut for Oranje. A star was born.

The 23 year old in an interview after having missed the WC1970 in Mexico. “We played England before 100.000 and we lost. And we lost because some players didn’t want to put themselves out. They were only talking about money money money. Why? If you play for your nation, who cares about money? The money will come. We had to qualify and with that fact, we could have taken care of ourselves financially. But no, some players refused. So here we are. Watching the Mexico WC on telly. Frustrating! I’m sure these same players feel that way too now, and I hope they will do their best to get us to the WC1974 in Germany.”

It’s clear who those players are. One Johan Cruyff deliberately missed a qualification game because he wants to go to Milan to buy shoes for his wife Danny’s shoe-store. Ajax would reach the EC1 finals in 1969 while Feyenoord would win the first EC1 ever for Holland in 1970.

Oranje could have done so well in 1970, with the following line up:

==========Van Beveren============
Suurbier===Israel===Laseroms===Krol===
Jansen===Van der Kuylen—Van Hanegem
Jan Mulder===Cruyff===Piet Keizer=====

Jan van Beveren moves to PSV Eindhoven and Oranje qualifies for the WC1974 against Belgium. Van Beveren plays the first leg, but is injured for the second. He’s replaced by Piet Schrijvers.

Van Beveren appaers to suffer from serious groin injuries. He’s still the big man in the classics of PSV against Ajax and Feyenoord, but after the game against Ajax in Amsterdam, the goalie almost crawls to the PSV bus in pain. The Ajax fans laughed at him, ridiculed him and called him a sissy.

Van Beveren is fit right before the WC. PSV plays a European game against Cruyff’s Barcelona and Van Beveren rules. When Michels selects Long John for a friendly, Van Beveren asks to be played one half only. Michels refuses and tells him he plays 90 minutes or he doesn’t play at all. Van Beveren keeps on making his point and The General sends him home. Cruyff and other Ajax players would criticize Van Beveren in the media for “not having what it takes to win prizes…”.

Van Beveren wouldn’t travel with Oranje to Germany and Jan Jongbloed is the surprise new goalie.

After the WC1974, Van Beveren is selected for Oranje again and plays some matches. However, when the PSV goalie openly criticizes the unique position JC has in the Oranje squad, a meeting is called. The Ajax clan tells Van Beveren to stop criticizing them in public. Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens play hardball. Van Beveren and Van der Kuylen go home, or we go home.

Van Beveren and Van der Kuylen go and despite a late rescue attempt by Voetbal International’s Cees van Cuilenborg, the rift is there to stay. Team manager Georg Knobel doesn’t want to interfere and Van Beveren’s Oranje career is over.

As off 1974, the fans in the west of the Netherlands (Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht) boo Van Beveren when he plays there with PSV. Despite winning the EUFA Cup with PSV in 1978, he will never gain real popularity among the football fans. He does play one more Oranje game. Former Military Team manager Jan Zwartkruis talks the PSV goalie to return. In 1977, he defends the goal against Germany. Right before the WC1978, he decides to retire from international football.

Jan van Beveren in Camp Nou

In 1978, Studio Sport invites Jan van Beveren as their studio guest to co-commentate the Holland – Peru match. Van Beveren drives off to Hilversum, but once he’s there he hears about death threats on his family. “Don’t you talk negatively about Oranje, or we will burn your house down, kidnap your kids and kill you…”. Jan was willing to do the show anyway, but the NOS decided to cancel his stint.

When he contract at PSV was over, in 1980, Jan packed his bags and left for the USA. He would play there a couple of seasons and was the first goalie ever to be voted The Player of the Year in the US.

Van Beveren still lives in Florida, where he works as a stamp-collector… (There’s probably a fancy word for it, Finn?).