It was the very last minutes of the match between the Orange and Senegal, but Davy Klaassen’s 2-0 was celebrated exuberantly in Hilversum. The Hilversummer, who was born in Hilversum, scored a typical ‘Davy goal’, according to his HSV Wasmeer youth coach. “Normally a player stops running, but Davy knows that anything is possible,” says Wendy van der Ploeg.
Full of pleasure, Wendy looks back at her youth’s goal. “My father was his coach, but I always helped a little,” she says, looking at his goal. The Van der Ploeg family has always been proud of Klaassen’s success. In the hall hangs a photo of the successful youth team Davy played in at HSV Wasmeer. “They won 8-2 against Ajax, that was really a Hilversum success.”
According to Wendy, the World Cup goal against Senegal was a historic one. “As far as I know, no Hilversum has ever scored at a World Cup.” After some research, the conclusion of the youth coach turns out to be correct: Davy is even the first player born in ‘t Gooi to score a goal in the final tournament.
Curious how Klaassen’s youth coach looks at his goal? Watch this video.
Youth coach of Davy Klaassen responds to World Cup goal – NH News
Not only the Van der Ploeg family was extra excited with pride after Klaassen’s goal. A little further on in Loosdrecht, the former gym teacher of the midfielder also sat with his hands in the air. “You score a goal like that on character,” said Koen van Praag, who gave Davy gym lessons at the Lorentz school. “You see him coming in and then you hope that he can give the game a nice twist and that certainly worked out yesterday.”
“We may have given him a good start, but then he worked hard for 19 years”
Nevertheless, Wendy and Koen remain modest about their share in the success of the Orange midfielder. “We may have given him a good start, but then he worked hard for 19 years to be where he is now,” says Wendy. Koen agrees: “He was already really alert before I taught him. So I only gave him gymnastics for a year.”
The Dutch will play against Ecuador this Friday. It remains to be seen whether Davy Klaassen has acquired a basic place in that match thanks to his goal.