Latest news with #WillemII
The National
5 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Celtic target addresses transfer links as Telstar exit confirmed
The Moroccan striker helped his club win promotion back to the Eredivisie for the first time since 1978 after he scored home and away against Willem II in a promotion play-off to take his tally for the season to 25 goals in 45 games, including five in the six play-off games. He's out of contract and has been linked with a move to the Hoops, Schalke and NEC Nijmegen, with Parkhead spies reportedly having watched him in recent matches. And the 25-year-old made it clear he will have plenty of offers. He said: "I knew this would be my last match in the Telstar shirt, so I gave it my all and didn't want to get knocked out this time. Read more: "I'm completely exhausted. Even if they have to take me off the field on a stretcher, I just wanted to go to the Eredivisie with these guys so badly. "NEC would really like to have me, that's true. That's one of the clubs I can go to, but there are more clubs in the running. "I'm going to enjoy the celebration and then I'll slowly make a decision together with my agent. "This is really deserved, we fought so hard for each other."
Daily Record
30-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Celtic transfer target Youssef El Kachati makes exit vow with 'fantastic step' tease as Lagerbielke stay ruled out
The Telstar frontman has been touted as a potential option for the Hoops this summer Reported Celtic target Youssef El Kachati is supremely confident of a big move this summer amid interest from several clubs in the Dutch forward. The 25-year-old - who has also been linked with Hannover and Schalke - has scored 13 goals in 29 appearances this season for the Dutch second tier side and netted in Thursday's 2-2 draw with Willem II in their relegation play-off final to win promotion to the Eredivisie. Brendan Rodgers is the market for a new frontman this summer and has been linked with a host of names including Brondby's Mathias Kvitsgaarden and Slovan Bratislava striker David Strelec. And while he is focused on helping Telstar reach promotion to the Eredivisie for the first time in their 61-year history, El Kachati is '100 per cent certain' he will be on the move when the window officially opens next month. Speaking after the draw with Willem II, he said: "I think it is 100 percent certain that I will make a fantastic step this summer. "But first I want to leave something behind at Telstar that will make them never forget me. "I think it is very important that I end my time here well. If I can shoot Telstar to the Eredivisie, then I will do that." Elsewhere, Gustaf Lagerbielke is set to head back to Celtic this summer, with FC Twente's departing transfer chief admitting a permanent deal for the centre back is unlikely. The Sweden international made 32 appearances in all competitions to help his team to a sixth place finish in the Eredivisie. Former technical director Arnold Bruggink confirms the likelihood of Lagerbielke remaining in the Netherlands beyond the end of his loan is not high, despite the side's need for defensive reinforcements. He said: "Lagerbielke will most likely go back too. That's what it looks like at the moment. "Two central defenders, one of whom has to be a real leader, as far as I'm concerned. "The profile you're looking at is that of Robin Pröpper. "You need a leader from the back, which will give you a lot more stability. "You need players who can also make others play better football. That's what you need in that position."
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Virgil van Dijk: How Liverpool captain became world's best
Suddenly he was back where it all began. Last month Virgil van Dijk made a secret visit to his old Dutch club Willem II to bring back a youth football said: "It's my way of giving back and helping nurture the next generation of world-class talent. This tournament gives rising stars the platform they need to take the next step towards their dreams."Fittingly, the next edition of the 'Virgil Legacy Trophy' in September will feature all of the clubs where Van Dijk played in his career, plus the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and it was in Tilburg, a Dutch city in the southern province of North Brabant, where the current Liverpool captain gained invaluable insights about football and he prepares to lift his second Premier League title with Liverpool, we look at how the 33-year-old centre-back learned from early setbacks to become one of the best in the world. 'Some youth managers even saw him as lazy' Van Dijk joined Willem II's then-acclaimed academy in 2001 as a was a club that had defied the odds just a few years earlier by finishing second in the Eredivisie in 1998-99 and reaching the Champions after his arrival, Jan van Loon was installed as academy director."There was actually no striker who stood a chance against him," Van Loon said. "He was physically strong and he had a natural talent to take balls off opponents at exactly the right moment. "I remember in games we would sometimes say to him: 'Watch out Virgil, there is an opponent behind you.' He would be very relaxed, like: 'Yeah, OK, no worries.'"I recall a game against Ajax, where he would mark their best player. We were saying 'make sure he doesn't touch any ball,' and that's exactly what Virgil would do."Yet there was still room for improvement, Van Loon, added: "So now and then he could come across as laconic, a bit too easy going. Maybe at times some youth managers even thought of him as lazy."That image was partly created by his timekeeping, as Van Dijk would sometimes arrive late for training sessions. It even got to the point where some coaches wondered whether the young defender should remain at the club. But when Van Loon took a closer interest in the young footballer, he also gained insight into Van Dijk's personal life. He said: "His parents were divorced and at times he had to look after his younger brother and sister. Sometimes he had to take them from school and make them lunch, before jumping on the bus to Willem II. "That meant he could be late now and then, and if I asked him about the reasons he would always explain in detail what had happened. "One time I remember his little brother had asked him for peanut butter on his bread, something he had to go and get in the supermarket - and subsequently he just missed the bus. That period has shaped him both as a human and footballer." 'It takes a village to raise a child' Van Dijk's impressive performances finally saw him offered a chance to play for the second team, when he was playing for Willem's on the day of the match he had to submit a report for school, which he hadn't completed. School was paramount for the club, so he risked missing his big break,"I said to Virgil: 'Let's look for a solution together'," Van Loon added. "He was really popular with his classmates, not because he was a footballer but just as a human being. "He asked a few of his peers and everything was done in time. Not that they wrote the assignment, but they did help him. The night before the game I got a message from the teacher saying everything was fine. "That teacher also played his part. That's why I always say it takes a village to raise a child. You need several people around you to push you in the right direction."Van Loon, who also had a spell as head of coaching at Arsenal's academy, noticed how Van Dijk nurtured his people skills by recognising who could help said: "He developed a skill to assemble people around him who would be best for his career. He would ask for extra attention from the best staff members, because he instinctively felt they could make him better. "That was very special, I also saw that with players like Bukayo Saka and Frenkie de Jong, who were also in the academy of Willem II."At the club there was an exercise physiologist, who knew how to relate strength training to the role of centre-back. When exercises were finished, Virgil said: 'No, we'll continue for a while.' There you could see his inner drive, even though some other coaches had an impression that he was lazy." 'My body was broken and I couldn't do anything' As a teenager, Van Dijk combined his time playing at the Willem II academy with a part-time job as a despite growing in stature and switching from right-back to centre-back, not everyone was convinced by Van Dijk at Willem and clubs hesitated to offer him a first professional contract."Inside the club there wasn't a unanimous opinion about him and I think Virgil felt that, that the opinions of the technical people were divided," Van Loon said. FC Groningen took the opportunity and signed a 19-year-old Van Dijk in 2010 - despite Willem finally making him an defender felt his own club were late with their offer and opted to take a different path in his made his professional debut in May 2011 and impressed in his first full season the year after - until serious illness stopped him in his took two trips to different hospitals to diagnose him with appendicitis, peritonitis and a kidney infection, and he had to be operated on straight Dijk, said at the time: "My body was broken and I couldn't do anything. At such a moment, the worst scenarios are whizzing around your head. For the first time in my life, football was very much a side issue. My life was at risk."At some point I had to sign some papers. It was a kind of testament. If I died, a part of my money would go to my mum." 'Probably the best I've worked with as a manager' The operation went well but, despite a quick recovery and some impressive performances, the top clubs in Holland didn't express a big interest. It was then Celtic signed him for about £2.5m in 2013."He came in the first day and trained. I had a chat with him and said 'enjoy yourself here because I don't think you'll be here long'," then manager Neil Lennon recalls."He's got pace, composure, physicality, technically brilliant. The progress was impossible to stop. He was such a good player - probably the best I've worked with as a manager."After two seasons, including two league titles and a Scottish Cup, Van Dijk moved to Southampton."I always thought he had the game and he's proven that," said Lennon. "He could play for any team in the world and I'm surprised Manchester United or Manchester City, Barcelona or Real Madrid didn't come in and buy him rather than Liverpool at the time."Van Dijk became the world's most expensive defender when he signed for Liverpool in 2018 for £ has since won the Champions League, Premier League, an FA Cup, two League Cups, the Club World Cup and won the 2019 UEFA player of the year award. He is now just one win away from his second Premier League Loon, said: "He has adapted to new and more challenging situations. He has become captain and the way he deals with the coaching staff and press is very impressive. "I'm very proud of what he has achieved. And he did it himself, there is no-one who solved things for him."He had to pull the strings and take the initiative. It gives such a boost to young people who may also start with nothing and who work to achieve their goals in life."
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How religion helped Hearts' Kabangu defy Covid coma
Elton Kabangu was in a coma for 16 days after contracting Covid-19 [SNS] Scottish Cup semi-final: Hearts v Aberdeen Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Saturday 19 April Time: 12:30 BST Coverage: Watch live on BBC One Scotland, BBC iPlayer or the BBC Sport website & app; listen on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland Advertisement When Hearts striker Elton Kabangu talks about things being in the balance and the chances of success rated at 50-50, the presumption might be he is talking about Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, when he's actually talking about his chances of surviving a lung infection during Covid times. Three years ago life was decent for the Belgian of Congolese descent. He was a Willem II striker back then. Mid-20s, a few goals in the bank in the Netherlands, a reputation building slowly. Then, bang. Sense of smell, gone. Then, muscle pains. Then, exhaustion. Then, blood coughed up. Then, intensive care. He remembers his mother's presence looking in at him through the window and then nothing. "I was in a coma for 16 days," he says. "I had an infection on my lungs so, yeah, 16 days. I just remember arriving at the hospital and being really sick and then I woke up and I was at zero. I had to try to fight back from the most difficult time of my life. Advertisement "It's not nice to think about everything, but I'll share my story. I'm not ashamed. It was a battle for me, but I'm a believer in Jesus, so I know it's part of the plan. I accepted it. I survived it. I came back and that's the most important thing for me." Kabangu is 27 and his time in football has been a character test, from FC Eindhoven, to Willem II, to Union Saint-Gilloise and now to Hearts on loan, brought in when his name showed up well in the data of the club partner, Jamestown Analytics. Eight goals in 14 games. Not bad, but could be more, he says. Two against Brechin, two against Dundee, two against St Johnstone, one against Kilmarnock and Ross County. Nothing against a top-six team. "I'm a striker and I've been important but I want to be more important," he said. Advertisement "I had a good period and now it's less goals, but I'm still confident. I'm not worried about myself, about my work ethic, because I know what I can bring and I will try to bring it." Changing that recent run (no goals in three and only one in seven) against Aberdeen at Hampden on Saturday is the target. It's a game to help "save our season," he says. And, for Hearts, it's a season most definitely in need of saving. Missing out on the top six in the league was a grim failure. Kabangu only joined in January, but he's been around long enough to know that it's nowhere near good enough for a club of their size. He says he hardly left the house for a day or two after the 0-0 draw with Motherwell that confirmed their bottom-six fate. Advertisement "It's a hard question to say what went wrong because we worked very hard and I've seen everyone focused. It's just painful. The fans are angry and I'm also angry. "We have to demand more and we have to do more, but I cannot stay in disappointment. I see so much more potential in this team and in this club, so when you don't achieve those goals, it's painful, that's the truth. "But after that you need to accept the reality. We have a semi-final and that's important. We need to look forward." Faith was always a part of who he is and is one of the reasons why his closest friend at the club is Beni Baningime, another player whose life is steered by his belief in God. That and their shared Congolese heritage. Advertisement Since his weeks in a coma the spiritual side of his life has increased. "I have to say it is more now. Obviously, when you survive a coma, you understand a lot of things. For me, there is no other thing than Jesus Christ. "He's my saviour, so I try to spend most of the time with him, with my Bible, reading and understanding his words. It's more than important for me. It's a question of life. "In the morning, I pray. Then, when I arrive at the club, I have my Bible and I read. After training, I go home. I have my Bible and then I worship. "In the evening, I pray. That's what I try to do. I pray and read God's words. When I arrived here, I met Beni, my Congolese brother and my Christian brother. We have pretty much the same life. We spend our life with Jesus and we try to read and worship as much as we can." Advertisement His life in Edinburgh is good, but he doesn't know how long he will be here. He has another year to go at Union and Hearts would have to buy him out of that. So he's living in the moment and thinking only of Aberdeen and this Hampden semi-final. "My Hearts debut came against Aberdeen, a 0–0 draw. I had an opportunity to score. They're a good team, but we have enough good players to think that we can win. We have to have that belief."
BBC News
18-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How religion helped Hearts' Kabangu defy Covid coma
Scottish Cup semi-final: Hearts v AberdeenVenue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Saturday 19 April Time: 12:30 BSTCoverage: Watch live on BBC One Scotland, BBC iPlayer or the BBC Sport website & app; listen on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland When Hearts striker Elton Kabangu talks about things being in the balance and the chances of success rated at 50-50, the presumption might be he is talking about Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, when he's actually talking about his chances of surviving a lung infection during Covid years ago life was decent for the Belgian of Congolese descent. He was a Willem II striker back then. Mid-20s, a few goals in the bank in the Netherlands, a reputation building slowly. Then, of smell, gone. Then, muscle pains. Then, exhaustion. Then, blood coughed up. Then, intensive care. He remembers his mother's presence looking in at him through the window and then nothing."I was in a coma for 16 days," he says. "I had an infection on my lungs so, yeah, 16 days. I just remember arriving at the hospital and being really sick and then I woke up and I was at zero. I had to try to fight back from the most difficult time of my life."It's not nice to think about everything, but I'll share my story. I'm not ashamed. It was a battle for me, but I'm a believer in Jesus, so I know it's part of the plan. I accepted it. I survived it. I came back and that's the most important thing for me." Kabangu is 27 and his time in football has been a character test, from FC Eindhoven, to Willem II, to Union Saint-Gilloise and now to Hearts on loan, brought in when his name showed up well in the data of the club partner, Jamestown goals in 14 games. Not bad, but could be more, he says. Two against Brechin, two against Dundee, two against St Johnstone, one against Kilmarnock and Ross County. Nothing against a top-six team. "I'm a striker and I've been important but I want to be more important," he said. "I had a good period and now it's less goals, but I'm still confident. I'm not worried about myself, about my work ethic, because I know what I can bring and I will try to bring it."Changing that recent run (no goals in three and only one in seven) against Aberdeen at Hampden on Saturday is the target. It's a game to help "save our season," he for Hearts, it's a season most definitely in need of saving. Missing out on the top six in the league was a grim failure. Kabangu only joined in January, but he's been around long enough to know that it's nowhere near good enough for a club of their size. He says he hardly left the house for a day or two after the 0-0 draw with Motherwell that confirmed their bottom-six fate."It's a hard question to say what went wrong because we worked very hard and I've seen everyone focused. It's just painful. The fans are angry and I'm also angry. "We have to demand more and we have to do more, but I cannot stay in disappointment. I see so much more potential in this team and in this club, so when you don't achieve those goals, it's painful, that's the truth."But after that you need to accept the reality. We have a semi-final and that's important. We need to look forward." Faith was always a part of who he is and is one of the reasons why his closest friend at the club is Beni Baningime, another player whose life is steered by his belief in God. That and their shared Congolese his weeks in a coma the spiritual side of his life has increased. "I have to say it is more now. Obviously, when you survive a coma, you understand a lot of things. For me, there is no other thing than Jesus Christ. "He's my saviour, so I try to spend most of the time with him, with my Bible, reading and understanding his words. It's more than important for me. It's a question of life."In the morning, I pray. Then, when I arrive at the club, I have my Bible and I read. After training, I go home. I have my Bible and then I worship. "In the evening, I pray. That's what I try to do. I pray and read God's words. When I arrived here, I met Beni, my Congolese brother and my Christian brother. We have pretty much the same life. We spend our life with Jesus and we try to read and worship as much as we can."His life in Edinburgh is good, but he doesn't know how long he will be here. He has another year to go at Union and Hearts would have to buy him out of that. So he's living in the moment and thinking only of Aberdeen and this Hampden semi-final."My Hearts debut came against Aberdeen, a 0–0 draw. I had an opportunity to score. They're a good team, but we have enough good players to think that we can win. We have to have that belief."
