Piet Keizer

Petrus Johannes "Piet" Keizer (14 June 1943 – 10 February 2017) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a left winger.

Piet Keizer

Keizer in 1973
Personal information
Full name	Petrus Johannes Keizer
Date of birth	(1943-06-14)14 June 1943
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Date of death	10 February 2017(2017-02-10) (aged 73)
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Left winger
Youth career
1953–1955	Amstel
1955–1961	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1961–1974	Ajax	365	(146)
International career
1962–1974	Netherlands	34	(11)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Netherlands FIFA World Cup Runner-up 1974 West Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As part of the "Total Football" Ajax Amsterdam team of the 1960s and 1970s, Keizer was particularly notable during the successive managerial tenures of Rinus Michels and Stefan Kovacs (1965–1973). He is widely considered one of the greatest players in Dutch football history. Dutch writer Nico Scheepmaker once said: "Cruyff is the best, but Keizer is the better one".^[2]

Club career

Keizer totalled 490 official matches for Ajax, scoring 189 goals between 1961 and 1974.^[3] He played predominantly on the left-wing and with Ajax won three consecutive European Cups (1971, 1972, 1973), having lost the 1969 European Cup final to A.C. Milan. Also with Ajax, he won six Eredivisie titles, five KNVB Cups, two European Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup and one Intertoto Cup.

In August 1973, under new Ajax manager George Knobel, the Ajax players voted in a secret ballot for Keizer to be the team's next captain, ahead of Johan Cruyff. Just weeks later Cruyff left Ajax to join Barcelona.^[4]

International career

With the Dutch national team, Keizer played 34 times, scoring 11 goals.^[5] He made his international debut in an 8–0 friendly win against the Netherlands Antilles in 1962. Keizer was selected by Netherlands manager, Rinus Michels, to play for the Dutch squad during the 1974 FIFA World Cup, but only started in the 0–0 draw against Sweden.^[6]

Keizer suddenly retired from football in October 1974, shortly after a row over tactics with Ajax manager Hans Kraay.^[4][5][7]

Personal life

On 13 June 1967, Keizer married Jenny Hoopman.^[8] The couple had two sons.^[9]

Keizer died after a long battle with lung cancer in February 2017.^[10]

Style of play

UEFA website has described Keizer as "the genius on the left wing, the skillful flanker, the superb foil to Johan Cruyff".^[11]

Cruyff, in his posthumously released autobiography,^[12] placed Keizer, as left winger, in his "ideal squad".

Honours

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73
• KNVB Cup: 1960–61, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72
• European Cup: 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73; runner-up: 1968–69^[11]
• UEFA Super Cup: 1972, 1973^[13]
• Intercontinental Cup: 1972
• Intertoto Cup: 1961–62, 1968 (Group A2 winner)

Netherlands

• FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1974

See also

• List of one-club men