Only a year behind now. Last year's December issue. Titled after the story written about our then National team coach Van Gaal. About his playing days, when he worked part time as a teacher, played at Sparta, a team that is one of the traditional teams in our country, but also worked for the players union, organised everything you can imagine off the pitch. Busy bee, future coach, everybody will tell you now. Good story on another former national coach: Frank Rijkaard, by Chris van Nijnatten. Interesting story about a forgotten goalie: Henk van der Bijl, who played for Feyenoord just after the Second World War. The best goalkeeper never to have played in the national team apparently. Serious author Voskuil apparently played in his youth as well, which might come as a surprise to many, he tells about those days. My highlight is the story by Hugo Borst, whose stories have been translated into many languages already. He writes an obituary before it is necessary. Great idea, it gives somebody old a chance to look back and see how he is looked upon. The subject is Valeri Lobanovsky, one of the best coaches of all time, though not often recognised as such. Well ahead of his time, he coached three Dynamo Kiev teams in three different decades to the top. Wins some European cups in the process. Coaches the best team in the Mexico '86 world cup, the Soviet Union, a team that trashed it's group, but mysteriously lost to underdogs Belgium. A coach who used science and advanced computers well before others thought of that idea. Lobanovsky, remember the name, you non-experts, one of these days he must have drunk his last vodka and the world will forget about him. Unless you read the story obviously.
gerbie) wrote, 
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