Ajax player Sonny Silooy wanted to win everything as a little boy

Winner mentality

Already in the youth at Ajax, Sonny learned that only winning counts. “That was also the reason I wanted to play at Ajax. As a little boy I wanted to win everything.”

The Ajax of the seventies won everything they could win and Sonny had also envisioned that. The players of that time were not pampered as much as the players of today. Sonny still had to buy his shirt himself. “Occasionally when the opponent played in a similar outfit, we got spare shirts. We liked that, one with an Ajax logo and a back number. The normal shirts had no Ajax logo and no back number.” At that time, contributions had to be paid as well. “What was it? Twenty-five guilders, or so. Then you could also see the matches of the first team.”

Champion scale

The players of the first were his great example. He also wanted the championship plates they won. Not once, not twice, but several times. “I succeeded. Those were my goals as a professional footballer. Ajax demands more from its players. You always have to play at the highest level and win prizes.”

At our request, Sonny brought a whole bag of silverware. The European Cup of 1995 comes out first. “It’s a little dull, I haven’t cleaned it in a while.” He then unwraps the World Cup, a replica like the others. “My son wants to take this one, but I tapped it on his fingers this week. I said: you won’t get that, I’m going to continue for another forty years, you just wait a little longer.”

Fast

Silooy played in many places. “I came to Ajax as an attacker.” But his breakthrough came as a defender. “I was fast. I could correct a lot with my speed.” He knew exactly how an attacker wanted the ball. “A slow attacker wants to have the ball in his feet, never deep. A fast one always wanted depth. Silooy wanted that too. As a defender, he was known for his rushes to the back line and his customized cross. Perhaps the best known is the cross during the EC II final in 1987 against Lokomotive Leipzig. Marco van Basten headed in that cross and it remained with that one goal. Ajax won. According to Sonny Silooy, such a cross also feels a bit like scoring yourself. I do. That’s what you train for. Those are patterns, because Marco always had to walk to the first post. Behind that the second man had to stand and behind that the third. That was often the left winger. That’s how Cruijff wanted it.”

Injuries

Silooy’s career didn’t always go as planned. “I’ve been injured at the most unfortunate times.” For example, he missed an EC final with Ajax and he also had to miss the 1988 European Championship, which the Orange won. Silooy: “I had broken my eye socket in four places.”

He also missed a World Cup due to injuries. For example, Silooy, who played 25 international matches, never reached a final tournament. Except for the juniors in Mexico.

Nevertheless, he can look back with pride on a wonderful career. “You only really realize that when you have stopped. And that everyone is talking about it. It was normal for us, but winning the European Cup, certainly now, in this period, that is not so easy.”

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