With Cooky Voorn, it’s always Saturday

Column in AD.nl

The youthful fans in Katwijk were all eyes for Dirk Kuyt. Kuyt was practicing his finishing skills. He hit every ball hard and high in the net. But I was watching Cooky Voorn. Dick “Cooky” Voorn.

Assistant to Bert van Marwijk. Sure, Frank de Boer and Phillip Cocu get all the exposure. They sit next to Bert on the bench. They are recognized by the foreign media. And they work with the players on specifics. Cocu talks to the midfielders about the running patterns. De Boer practices the long ball with Loovens and Mathijsen. Braafheid may have to learn a thing or two about slidings and Cocu talks to Van Persie and Sneijder about when to time the pressure play.

And Cooky? Cooky puts the pylons in it’s place. 12 Pylons in a straight line and oops…! One isn’t straight in line! Needs to be put back. He’s smiling. He’s enjoying himself.
Voorn measured the exact meters between the pylons and was happy with his work.

Check out Cooky Voorin on the internet. Wikipedia has four lines of text on him. “Assistant to Bert van Marwijk” it says. Quite a contrast with, let’s pick on at random, Frank van der Struijk of Vitesse who has a hefy biography on wikipedia.

Checking old football magazines, you’ll find old team foto’s of Fortuna Sittard. The first professional football club where Cooky started his career, being “Bert’s assistant”. Short trousers. Trainings jumper half open. Smiling. Who’d have thought Cooky would make it in pro football? Bert moved to Feyenoord and seemed to have forgotten Voorn, but when Bert moved on to Borussia Dortmund in Germany, he was smart. He called his old assistant Voorn. Cooky is Bert’s consiglieri. In the scary world of professional football, egos and politics, Voorn is the ideal, loyal assistant. “A friend, very close friend,” Bert would say. And loyal indeed. Cooky would drive the car to Dortmund allowing his boss some off time in the car.

When Bert went back to Feyenoord, he knew he could demand to have Feyenoord sign Voorn as well. And now Cooky is an actual KNVB coach. With a good salary, status and the best footballers of the nation in his stride.

But Cooky hasn’t changed at all. Cooky is friendly, happy-go-lucky and confident. Cooky is Cooky. Like the old youth coach we all know at amateur level. He’s got a big bag of balls and whenever Sneijder forgets how to tie his shoelaces, Cooky will do it for him with a passion.

I can see him, in an Ford Focus with eight F-juniors behind him, on the road to an Easter tournement iin Wenum Wiesel.

Frank and Phillip will talk to Bert about tactics. About setpieces, patters, triangles, ball circulation and the moment of pressure. Cooky listens in, but says nothing. But Cooky makes sure there’s coffee. Cooky will sense that Braafheid is a bit insecure, or that Loovens wears the wrong tie or that Huntelaar feels left out. Cooky understands which dvd’s the lads want in the bus. Cooky feels the grass and ponders which shoes to use. Cooky makes sure Robben gets the first massage.

Cooky brings football back to it’s essence. For some, it’s Bernabeu, San Siro or the Emirates Stadium every week or so. For Cooky, it’s always Saturday morning. Meeting in the cantine, downing a quick coffee (milk and sugar) and buying some lollies for on the road. Nervously, Cooky counts the heads in the bus (Van Persie, Sneijder, Mathijsen, Stekelenburg? Ah, Stekelenburg, Gio, …).

When we go to South Africa, we’ll have Frank, Phillip, video analists, cooks, nutrition specialists, Kees Jansma and the press officers, physical conditions coaches, physios, doctors…. And Cooky Voorn from Berg en Terblijt.

I think we’ll win the World Cup this time around…