Player on goal. A real nightmare for the team, and a joy to watch for football fans. Monday evening it happened again. In Jong AZ, Tom Kersens, who played in midfield and scored 1-0, finished the match under the crossbar. He replaced goalkeeper Kayani Zegen, who exited in the 88th minute due to a hand injury. Jong AZ had no further substitutions and so Kerssens had to score.
He kept a clean sheet and the reserves won 1-0 over Roda GC. The hero role for Kersence. In the past, there were many goalkeepers in Dutch football. One is just a little better than the other. So ESPN lists three prominent experts.
Lars Veldvik | AZ – PEC Zwolle 2016
In 2016, it was striker Lars Veldwijk who wore the gloves during the match between AZ Alkmaar and BEC Zwolle. At that time he still had longer than Kersens. Micky van der Hart was sent off half an hour before the end. PEC had already made three substitutions, meaning the club's top scorer at the time had to take a shot on target.
“It didn't go too bad,” Veldwijk said after the match. The striker was right, because to the surprise of many, he managed to make a number of saves. Veldwijk was no stranger to goalkeeping. “I was a goalkeeper for a year at E1,” said Veldwijk, not that it felt natural. “I laughed a little bit about that, because of course he doesn't look like a long sweep in the goal.”
Feldwijk sat at 3-1 and immediately had to concede a penalty from Vincent Janssen. He was in the right corner, but was unable to save the penalty. Despite a number of saves by Veldwijk, Arizona pulled off another goal, finishing 5-1.
Ricky van den Berg | ADO Hague – Ajax 2010
The most outstanding goalkeeper in Dutch football is and remains Ricky van den Berg. On 4 April 2010, Ajax visited The Hague and during this tense match, starting goalkeeper Robert Zwinkels was injured, causing Barry Deteweg to score. He dropped the ball in the 75th minute and punched Demi De Zeeuw, which then resulted in a red card.
As a result, the moment came when Van den Berg was allowed to take his place between the post and the crossbar, which he had hit so often in his career. ADO had taller men in the team like Timothy Derijk, Pascal Bouchart, Christian Kohm and Kees Luijks, but Van den Berg, in his own words, was 1m 78 and taller.
A 0-0 draw had to be defended. Van den Berg made some stops, but fell to the ground in the 93rd minute when Toby Alderweireld's powerful strike into the top corner disappeared. ADO lost 0-1.
Fred Rotten | Feyenoord – FC Twente 1991
In 1991, Fred Rutten was also sentenced to take over as goalkeeper for FC Twente in an away match at De Kuip. Goalkeeper Hans de Koning received the red card in the 84th minute by bringing down Gaston Taument, who penetrated the ball. There were no more substitutions, so it was Rutten who could start. He did well and kept the score at 1-0, preventing the loss from getting worse.
Zombie specialist. Friendly twitter guru. Internet buff. Organizer. Coffee trailblazer. Lifelong problem solver. Certified travel enthusiast. Alcohol geek.