René van de Kerkhof

Reinier "René" Lambertus van de Kerkhof (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛiniːr rəˈneː lɑmˈbɛrtɵs fɑn də ˈkɛrkɦɔf];[2] born 16 September 1951) is a Dutch former football player, who played as a right winger for FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national football team.

René van de Kerkhof

Van de Kerkhof in 1975
Personal information
Full name	Reinier Lambertus van de Kerkhof
Date of birth	(1951-09-16) 16 September 1951
Place of birth	Helmond, Netherlands
Position(s)	Right Winger
Youth career
	FC Twente
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970–1973	FC Twente	99	(34)
1973–1983	PSV	278	(85)
1983–1984	Apollon Smyrnis	23	(3)
1984–1985	Seiko	20	(9)
1985–1988	Helmond Sport	61	(8)
1988–1989	FC Eindhoven	30	(3)
Total		491	(133)
National team
1973–1982[1]	Netherlands	47	(5)
Honours Men's football Representing  Netherlands FIFA World Cup Runner-up 1974 West Germany Runner-up 1978 Argentina European Championship 1976 Yugoslavia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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. 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 Argentinians 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.[3]

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. [4]

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