René van de Kerkhof

René van de Kerkhof
Van de Kerkhof in 1974
Personal information
Full name Reinier Lambertus van de Kerkhof
Date of birth (1951-09-16) 16 September 1951 (age 73)
Place of birth Helmond, Netherlands
Position(s) Right winger
Youth career
Twente
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1973 Twente 99 (34)
1973–1983 PSV Eindhoven 278 (85)
1983–1984 Apollon Smyrnis 23 (3)
1984–1985 Seiko 14 (8)
1985–1988 Helmond Sport 61 (8)
1988–1989 FC Eindhoven 30 (3)
Total 505 (141)
International career
1973–1982[1] Netherlands 47 (5)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Netherlands
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1974 West Germany
Runner-up 1978 Argentina
European Championship
Third place 1976 Yugoslavia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Reinier Lambertus "René" van de Kerkhof (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛiniːr lɑmˈbɛrtʏs rəˈneː vɑn ˈkɛr(ə)kɦɔf]; born 16 September 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger for FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team.

Career

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Van de Kerkhof and his twin brother Willy were squad members of the Dutch national team that made the World Cup final in 1974 and became key players in the team that made the 1978 final, losing to hosts West Germany and Argentina, respectively. He also played for the Netherlands at the Euro 1976 and Euro 1980. Overall, van de Kerkhof appeared 47 times for his country, scoring five goals.

He is well remembered due to the incident before the 1978 World Cup final, when the opponent Argentina national team objected to the cast he wore on his injured forearm since it could have injured an Argentinian player. Despite the bandage having been passed by FIFA and worn in previous matches, the referee, Italian Sergio Gonella vacillated. The Dutch players threatened to walk off the field in protest, delaying the kickoff of the game. Finally an extra layer of padding was applied to the bandage as a solution, and the match could start.[2]

1978 was his most successful year, besides becoming runners-up at the World Cup, he also won the UEFA Cup, the Dutch championship and the KNVB Beker with PSV that year: "we had won everything possible – the title, the Dutch Cup and the UEFA Cup, and we had five or six players who had been runners-up at the FIFA World Cup in Argentina with the Netherlands. It was a beautiful period under coach Kees Rijvers", van de Kerkhof later would tell to Berend Scholten.[3]

Van de Kerkhof was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Twente 1970–71 Eredivisie 33 12
1971–72 32 10
1972–73 34 12
Total 99 34
PSV Eindhoven 1973–74 Eredivisie 31 20
1974–75 30 9
1975–76 34 8
1976–77 28 9
1977–78 29 10
1978–79 27 8
1979–80 29 3
1980–81 18 1
1981–82 29 9
1982–83 23 8
Total 278 85
Apollon Smyrnis 1983–84 Alpha Ethniki 23 3
Seiko 1984–85 First Division 14 8 6 1
Helmond Sport 1985–86 14 4
1986–87 23 3
1987–88 24 1
Total 61 8
FC Eindhoven 1987–88 11 1
1988–89 19 2
Total 30 3
Career total 505 141

Honours

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René van de Kerkhof in 1978

PSV Eindhoven

Seiko

Netherlands

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Rene van de Kerkhof – International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012.
  2. ^ Salvation army: part two. Guardian (4 June 2006). Retrieved on 8 November 2013.
  3. ^ PSV smell danger as Rangers visit stirs memories by Berend Scholten
  4. ^ "1978 Tournoi de Paris". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 February 2017.