It is with great sadness that Feyenoord has learned of the death of former player and youth scout Joop van Daele. The born and bred Rotterdam native lived through the club's heyday in the 1970s and will go down in history forever as the man who brought Feyenoord the World Cup. Van Daele, whose funeral will take place without a public farewell and in private, was 77 years old.
Van Daele grew up in Rotterdam-Zuid, a stone's throw from De Kuip. He started his football career with the youth of RVAV Overmaas before making the move to Feyenoord in 1960. Although he never developed into an undisputed base player, he managed to play 164 games in the Feyenoord first team between 1967 and 1977 - mainly as a defender, but also as a pinch-hitter. In the latter role, he had his absolute highlight in the historic return in the World Cup double against Argentina's Estudiantes, on 9 September 1970 at De Kuip.
After the 2-2 in Argentina, substitute Van Daele scored the only and thus decisive goal that gave Feyenoord the victory and the prestigious World Cup with, as he often said himself, “a slide”. The extraordinary story was made even more legendary by a famous incident in which his glasses were taken off and smashed by the Argentines Malbernat and Pachamé, an event that is still much talked about 50 years on - as are the songs released about the incident.
Although inextricably linked with winning the World Cup, a historic achievement in Dutch football history, Van Daele won several other notable prizes with Feyenoord. Although he did not make minutes in the final, he was present as a bench player when Feyenoord won the European Cup against Celtic in a swirling San Siro. He also took the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord in 1974, and as a player he won a KNVB Cup and (by his own admission) two league titles - three if you include season 1968/1969 where he did not make any playing minutes for the first team in the league but did belong to the Feyenoord family.
'I am proud of all the awards,' Van Daele said of them in Feyenoord Magazine last year. 'Listen: I have won the European Cup, the World Cup, UEFA Cup and two national titles. What more could you want?'
Apart from Feyenoord, Van Daele also played for Go Ahead Eagles, Fortuna Sittard and Excelsior during his career. After his career as a player, he was an assistant coach and trainer at several Dutch clubs for several years. Later in life, he returned to the old nest at Feyenoord, where he spent some time as a youth scout and remained a loyal visitor and welcome guest at Feyenoord matches until recently.
The club will soon open an online condolence register for supporters to express their condolences. Feyenoord has also submitted a request to the KNVB to play with mourning bands during the match against PSV this Sunday.
Feyenoord wishes Van Daele's family and loved ones every strength with their loss.
