Rob de Wit (born 8 September 1963) is a Dutch former
football player.
Career
De Wit made his debut for
FC Utrecht in the 1982–83 season. He was a member of the Dutch squad at the
1983 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fourth edition FIFA World Youth Championship tournament, hosted from 2 June to 19 June 1983 in seven venues in Mexico — Guadalajara, Irapuato, León, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca — w ...
. He was transferred to
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
Amsterdam two seasons later, July 1984, as successor of left wing attacker
Jesper Olsen
Jesper Olsen (born 20 March 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He is best remembered for representing Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United of England. He was a regular player for the Danish na ...
, who left to
Manchester United. At Ajax, he quickly became a crowd favourite, and played nearly all of the matches, the 1984–1985 and 1985–1986 seasons. On 1985-05-01, still in his first season at Ajax, De Wit made his debut for the
Dutch national team in a
World Cup qualifier against
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. Nearly two weeks later, De Wit scored the winning goal against
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
(0–1 away win), which won the Netherlands a play-off match against
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
for the
1986 FIFA World Cup.
De Wit's career came to an abrupt end in 1986, due to a
cerebral hemorrhage while on holiday in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. At first, the consequences didn't seem to be serious. After an unsuccessful treatment in
Sweden, it became clear that Rob de Wit would never play professional football again. He sustained two more cerebral hemorrhages later in life: one in 1993 and one in January 2005.
De Wit played 103 league matches in four seasons, scoring 23 goals.
References
External links
Statistics of Rob de Witfor the
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wit, Rob de
1963 births
Living people
Dutch footballers
FC Utrecht players
AFC Ajax players
Eredivisie players
Netherlands youth international footballers
Netherlands international footballers
Footballers from Utrecht (city)
Association football wingers