‘For Orange you don’t thank’
NOS Soccer–
“The honor is far too great for that,” the former Dutch national team striker continued. “It’s nice to be among your country’s best players, isn’t it? I thought that was great.”
‘Then you should quit nicely, a wise decision’
De Jong cited his physical condition, the time he wants to spend with his two growing children and his living memory of an EC and a World Cup as reasons. “It would have been a different story if I was a base player, of course that also plays a bit into it,” the PSV striker admitted.
Arno Vermeulen understands the choice: “It’s very personal. He sees more minuses than pluses under the line. Then you have to quit nicely. A wise decision.”
FC Twente coach Ron Jans also understands De Jong, especially in view of his fitness: “With this decision he can extend his career by two years.”
‘Luuk thinks he is better than he is’
Rafael van der Vaart is more on the Van Hooijdonk line and compares De Jong’s role with Van Hooijdonk’s role in the past. The role of pinch hitter. From 1994 to 2004, Van Hooijdonk played 46 international matches, 41 of them as a substitute. He scored 14 times. De Jong came to 39 internationals from 2011 to 2022, including 31 as a substitute. He scored 8 times.
“Pierre was behind Van Nistelrooij, Kluivert, Makaay a little bit, who knew his role,” Van der Vaart said. “He was the best pinch hitter we had. Luuk thinks he is better than he is. He doesn’t have Van Nistelrooij and Kluivert in front of him and wants to play more. That’s where it goes wrong. Because in Pierre’s role, he is the best.”
Van Hooijdonk: “You have to know your place. That’s important. I felt it was an honor to be on the bench for those greats.”
Watch the regular features in Studio Voetbal below: Frank Heinen shares a personal memory of Peter Ressel in End Signal and Hugo Borst talks about the “poverty in Dutch soccer” in The Wall Layer. Watch further excerpts about the goalkeepers of Orange and Ron Jans about his departure from FC Twente.
