Where are they now: Aron Winter

Aron Winter (42 years old) can look back at a tremendous career. He made his debut under Johan Cruyff in Ajax at a young age and was repeatedly named the best young talent by JC. His biggest strength – his versatility – would also become his biggest weakness. Winter would grow into the ideal 12th man for Oranje. Never good enough to start – there was always a player for any position that Winter could take who was just a tad better – but no one was as multi-functional as Arie, as he was called by the fans. And Winter never complained. Kieft, Witschge, Blind, Seedorf, Davids… They could all throw tantrums if they were left out of the starting eleven, Winter reluctantly accepted his status.
It would turn him into a one time record holder of caps (84) but many of those Winter was a benchwarmer. A hard worker with great lungs, tremendous vision, the capacity to sacrifice himself, goalscoring abilities and tough as nails.

Winter won the European Championship as a sub in 1988 and would play four EC’s and three WC’s (!!).

PAST

“I made it into Oranje at a very young age. I joined the group in 1987 and made my debut in March against Greece. I replaced Rene van der Gijp. I was thrilled to be in it and when you’re young, you tend to have less nerves. I just wanted to play football. When you get older, you realize more what’s at stake. That you play for something. You worry more and that takes away some of your energy.”

“I could never guess I’d be part of four EC’s (1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000) and three WC’s (1990, 1994, 1998). The teams of 1988, 1998 and 2000 were the top. Incredible talent, lads in their prime. In 2000, I retired. I couldn’t bring it anymore. It was thirteen years at Oranje, a long time. I was always involved in playing for a prize at club level and every second year you had to move straight into an EC or WC. I needed a break. A holiday every now and then.

“I never regretted that decisions, although I do sometimes think: I could have made 100 caps. In 2000 I wanted to break Ruud Krol’s international record. That stood since 1983! I grabbed that record in 2000 with one game and was Oranje’s record player for two years. Frank de Boer took it off me and then Cocu and Van der Sar took their turns. I don’t mind at all, I’m proud to have played with all of them in Oranje.”

NOW

“I retired in 2003 from pro football. The first months, I struggled. I missed the morning training, the fun, the laughter and the upsets… It suddenly was over and I missed it. Didn’t know what to do. I had the choice to go into commerce or to start as a coach. Ajax allowed me a trial job as a youth coach. And when the KNVB offered me the short cut trainers’ course, I was convinced. I graduated that same year.”

“And now I’m in my third season as coach of Young ajax. My status does impress the boys. They look up to you ans want to talk football all the time. It’s also an advantage that you can still play along and show them things. But things have changed. Today, the players think it’s cooler to nutmeg a player than to give the deciding assist. I don’t mind them nutmegging if it’s functional and technically a good option. No nutmegs when you’re trailing 1-0, I still need to repeat that.”

FUTURE

“The current team under Van Marwijk, De Boer and Cocu performs very well. They’ll qualify without a glitch. We’re a bit vulnerable in defense but the core is there. When you have Robben, Van Persie and Kuyt you’ve got a tremendous midfield. It’s not easy to be team manager, I tell you. I think the world of Sneijder, but he has to face the fact that he can be benched. That requires a professional attitude. I do understand his emotions, but it’s the team first!”

“Oranje doesn’t see Germany as an angstgegner ( fearsome opponent ? ) anymore. We have beaten them several times now. In 1988, in 1992 for instance. No, now it’s Brazil. And penalties! We played a great game against them in 1994. We were 2-0 down but came to 2-2. I scored the second. But they still managed to win 3-2. In 1998, I thought we had them too. They were tired in the end and we should have received a penalty on the Van Hooijdonk charge. In 2000 we gave the tournament away to France by not beating Italy. Again we got struck out by penalties.”

“It’s hard to predict the WC2010. It’s a long competition still… Who stays fit? How do players develop at their clubs. Most recently for the EC, Babel got injured and that could happen to any player. I’d say: potentially we have the right players to win the title. That’s the starting point. Than you need to create a team, a tactic, players need to leave their ego at home. Then there’s the draw. When will you draw Brazil? What can you do to beat them. You know their defense is weak and they build up over the flanks. So what do you do? Play 4-3-3 with wingers and put the pressure on!”