Ortwin Linger (17 September 1967 – 10 June 1989) was a Dutch

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. During his career he played for

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982 ...

. He was a passenger on Surinam Airways Flight PY764 when it crashed in Paramaribo on 7 June 1989. He died three days later, at 21 years of age, due to his injuries suffered in the crash. He went to the same high school as

Steve van Dorpel Steven ("Steve") van Dorpel (13 December 1965 in Amsterdam – 7 June 1989 in Paramaribo) was a Dutch footballer. During his career he played for FC Volendam. He died at the age of 23, killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in Par ...

, who also died in the crash. Linger was born in Paramaribo, but grew up in Amsterdam, in the Bijlmer area. He started his football career at amateur side FC Abcoude and later at JOS Watergraafsmeer where he would play until he was 16 years old. His next step up to a professional career was joining the youth squads of

. His dream came true after he was promoted into the first-team squad and he made his professional debut. He was invited by

Colourful 11 Surinam Airways Flight 764 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname on a Surinam Airways DC-8-62. On Wednesday 7 June 1989, the f ...

founder

Sonny Hasnoe Sonny is a common nickname and occasional given name. Often it can be a derivative of the English word "Son", a name derived from the Ancient Germanic element *sunn meaning "sun", a nickname derived from the Italian name Salvatore (especially in N ...

to be part of the team travelling to Suriname to play in the "Boxel Kleurrijk Tournament" against three Surinamese teams. His friend, AFC Ajax goalkeeper Stanley Menzo, was also called up, but was told to stay with his club. Menzo, however, ignored this edict and went as well, taking an earlier flight. On 7 June 1989 Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crashed during approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, killing 176 of the 187 passengers on board, making it the worst ever aviation disaster in Suriname's history. Among those killed were 15 members of the 18-member Colourful 11 contingent. Linger initially survived the crash, but could barely be identified at the hospital. On 10 June 1989, three days after the accident, Linger died of his injuries. His identity was later confirmed by his uncle and Stanley Menzo, who recognized his leg muscles and his jaw line. In the following days Linger's relatives were supported by Dick Advocaat, who was his manager at HFC Haarlem and who had a close friendship with his mother.

References

Linger at AndroKnel.nl

* Iwan Tol: Eindbesteming Zanderij; het vergeten verhaal van het Kleurrijk Elftal () {{DEFAULTSORT:Linger, Ortwin 1967 births 1989 deaths Footballers from Paramaribo Dutch footballers Eredivisie players Footballers from Amsterdam Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands HFC Haarlem players Men's association football defenders JOS Watergraafsmeer players Footballers killed in the Surinam Airways Flight 764 crash