Piet Keizer
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Peter 'Piet' Johannes Keizer | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
Peter ("Piet") Johannes Keizer (born June 14 1943 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch professional football player. Having played 364 matches for Ajax, from 1961 to 1974, he is the fourth most capped player for Ajax (in terms of league appearances). He played on left-wing and with Ajax won the European Cup three consecutive times (1971, 1972, 1973), having lost the 1969 final to A.C. Milan.
Piet Keizer and Johan Cruijff were known as the "royal pair", or "the starter and the finisher". Keizer had a gift for not being noticed, but then striking with uncanny precision. His hallmark moment came in the European Cup final against Internazionale in 1972, when Keizer crossed the ball with a deadly precision and Cruijff only had to tap it in.[citation needed]
Keizer was, for much of his career, in the shadow of his famous team member Johan Cruijff, but still some experts say Keizer was a better player then Cruijff was.[citation needed] An argument brought to an end the combination of Keizer and Cruijff in 1974, and Cruijff left for Barcelona leaving Keizer with Ajax. Keizer celebrated the move of the then Barcelona coach Rinus Michels by dancing upon a table. It seems there was no love lost at all between Cruijff or Michels. It would turn out to be the final season for Piet Keizer.
With the Dutch national team, Keizer played 34 times, scoring 11 goals. He played for the Dutch team that finished as runner-ups in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, although he had a minor role. Michels was coach, and after an ineffective game by Keizer against Sweden, he was dropped for the remainder of the tournament.
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