Van Hanegem: notorious mastermind

Willem van Hanegem and Ove Kindvall vs Celtic in 1970s European Cup final.

Feyenoord celebrates it’s 100rd birthday this year. The AD newspaper publishes regularly on the club and this wonderful blog steals the best articles . This time: Willem van Hanegem, the man who could do it all…

Nowadays, we know De Kromme as the barking, not biting, elusive football analist or disappointingly performing football coach.

But whenever he enters De Kuip – like last week when Feyenoord played his team FC Utrecht – he is being cheered and applauded passionately. Willem van Hanegem (68 years old) is the hero of the man of the street.

Willem made his mark at Feyenoord in the 1960s and 1970s. In those days, Holland had two football phenomenons… Jopie from Amsterdam (Cruyff) and Willem from Rotterdam (born in Zeeland). Willem was tall, slow, well-built and had those remarkable crooked legs. An anti-hero, it seemed. But he would become the football here of many a generation, in Rotterdam and in Amsterdam.

Willem van Hanegem led Feyenoord to two European cups. The EC1 against Celtic in 1970 with the likes of Ove Kindvall, Rinus Israel and Franz Hasil. And the EC3 in 1974 against Tottenham Hotspur. A firm header in 1970 against AC Milan in the semis and the Beckham-banana free-kick on White Hart Lane. A London newspaper tagged Willem “the Mastermind”.

“Willem van Hanegem demonstrates that magic exists…”

The player Van Hanegem played 298 games for Feyenoord and 42 times for Oranje. That number should have been higher, but in 1978 his former coach Ernst Happel told De Kromme he wouldn’t be a starter in his Oranje at the WC1978. Willem decided to pull out of the tournament, not capable of taking a seat on the bench. The whole nation watched an interview with Willem and Kees Jansma (current Oranje press-chef) in which Willem burst out in tears…

Willem played 41 European games for Feyenoord and scored 18 times. Pretty prolific for a midfielder.

Amsterdam born film maker and fan De Putter: “They say some players have the ball tied to their feet with a leash? Well, Willem’s leash was the longest. When he played, you felt he always had the ball. He was everywhere. And if he didn’t have the ball, it was him who had just set up the attack or he would be the one repossessing the ball. He seemed slow and maybe he was, but he thought fast and knew where the ball would come. So by thinking quicker than others, he could compensate his lack of speed.”

“Nowadays, players have specialities. Van Nistelrooy is the finisher. Van Persie has the free kick. Robben can take on players. Van Bommel guards the balance and repossesses. Vennegoor is the header-specialist. Willem was able to do all this and more. A pass over 40 meters, right on the collar. Scoring goals. Making the play. Sliding-tackles. You name it. The number of goals he made as a midfielder is out of this world.”

The whole nation is filled with 40+ers who name Willem as their idol, more so than JC. And his results as coach (of Feyenoord) were not too shabby either: winning the title and a couple of national cups. And his moods and aloofness is admired more so than merely accepted.

De Putter: “He is charismatic and genuine. He never had media coaching, like all contemporary coaches and players. Willem is the real deal. His only problem is, his heart is too big.”