Wim Jansen
Wim Jansen
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Wim Jansen

Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius "Wim" Jansen (Dutch pronunciation: [ʋɪm ˈjɑnsə(n)]; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional football player and manager.

As a midfielder or defender, he spent most of his career at Feyenoord, winning honours including the European Cup in 1970. He earned 65 international caps with the Dutch national team and played in the teams that reached the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cup finals.

Jansen served in several roles at Feyenoord, including winning the KNVB Cup in consecutive seasons as manager in the early 1990s. He also won the Scottish Premier Division at Celtic in 1997–98.

He spent most of his playing career with his hometown team, Feyenoord, between 1965 and 1980. At Feyenoord, Jansen won four League Championships, one Dutch Cup, one UEFA Cup in 1974, and the European Cup in 1970 when Feyenoord defeated Celtic 2–1 in Milan. He scored once in the 1969–70 European Cup campaign, opening a 2–0 home win over A.C. Milan in the second leg of the second round, as Feyenoord overturned a 1–0 loss from the first game. He was the captain of their 1974 team which defeated Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 on aggregate.

After a brief spell in the North American Soccer League with the Washington Diplomats, he moved to Feyenoord's rivals Ajax, where he won a league title in 1981–82. His debut for Ajax was against his former club in De Kuip in December 1980; a fan of Feyenoord threw an icy snowball at Jansen's eye during warming-up which finally resulted in Jansen being substituted within 20 minutes into the game.

Jansen earned his first of 65 caps for the Netherlands on 4 October 1967, in a 2–1 loss away to Denmark in UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying. He scored his only international goal in his eighth game on 4 September 1968, a 2–0 win over Luxembourg in his hometown for 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Jansen played all seven games as the Dutch finished runners-up to hosts West Germany at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, and repeated the feat in 1978 as they lost to hosts Argentina. He committed the foul on Bernd Hölzenbein in 1974 which allowed Paul Breitner to equalise with a penalty as the Germans came from behind to beat the Dutch. He also played both games of their bronze-medal finish at UEFA Euro 1976 in Yugoslavia.

Jansen mostly played as a defensive midfielder or central midfielder, although he was also capable of playing anywhere in the defence, as a full-back, a central defender or even as a sweeper. A holding midfielder, Jansen excelled at breaking up attacking plays from adversaries, getting the ball from them, and covering for his teammates. Despite standing at 1.65 meters (5'5), Jansen's defensive skills along with his tenacity, pace, and incredible stamina allowed him to form a formidable midfield trio at Feyenoord with Franz Hasil and Willem Van Hanegem, and in the Dutch national team, with Van Hanegem and Ajax player Johan Neeskens. Jansen described his relationship with Van Hanegem as a "blind communication". Van Hanegem remarked that he received all the "smart balls" from Jansen and praised him as a versatile player, noting: "Wim could play anywhere, just not in goal. He was too small for that." Jansen also excelled in offensive duties, such as providing chances for his teammates to score goals. Johan Cruyff considered Jansen to be one of only four men worth paying attention to when they spoke about football. Ajax teammate Wim Kieft described Jansen as the "perfect professional".

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