The Kitchen Champion Division has been a breeding ground for national and international talents for decades and this season there are again many footballers with potential at the second level. Voetbalzone, the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division, highlights one of these talents every week, this time focusing on Bart van Rooij, who has played himself in the spotlight at various clubs at NEC, but preferably with his own ‘team of friends. ‘goes to the Eredivisie.
By Thijs Verhaar
“Six times”, Van Rooij answers without thinking. Indeed, he saw his own name back in the Team of the Week six times this season and is according to that Opta after Siebe Horemans of Excelsior (7 times) the most successful right back of the entire Kitchen Champion Division, while he can even call himself the most stable player in his position based on all match averages combined. “Nice is not it? That’s good to hear.” The nineteen-year-old promise remains sober under those digital expressions of praise, really only values what his coach, teammates, family and friends say. “That’s the most important thing for me, but I still check who’s in it every week. There are quite a few guys from the team who stand out, so that’s nice to see ”, Van Rooij refers to left back Souffian El Karouani (7), right winger Elayis Tavsan (5) and central midfielder Jordy Bruijn (4). “It’s funny to challenge each other with that, but in the end the match result is all that matters. Then it is a bonus if it also yields some recognition in the form of such a nomination. ”
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It is also a reward for the strong development that Van Rooij, a fixed value in the main squad since he was seventeen, is going through this season. He joined the people of Nijmegen at the age of nine and grew up with a group of talents who have been known for years as a Golden Generation. “For example, I have been part of Dirk Proper’s team and with Souf and a number of other guys there is a lot of own talent active in the first ”, said the right back. “Of course it also has to do with the situation within the club. If there is no money, you have to look at other options and our batch came at exactly the right time, ”he says. Due to the precarious financial situation, NEC has been fully committed to the youth academy for years and thus wants to create a core that is strong enough to promote to the Eredivisie in a responsible manner.
That could just happen this season, because the Nijmegen team has nestled in the subtop with fresh, attacking football, so that participation in the play-offs can hardly escape them. Van Rooij acknowledges that his club is in good shape, but does everything he can to keep his head from wandering. “So I don’t keep an eye on potential opponents or anything like that. First close the competition properly and then we see how the flag hangs. I just hope by then we are in good shape flow that we can take to the knockouts. In principle, everything is possible, because I see the follow-up competition as a big madhouse. It can always go in any direction and especially now because it is always about a match. We have to make sure that we do it all ready and peak at the right time. ”
Bringing the club back to the highest level is something that has been happening at Van Rooij all year round. He fell in love with the club in his youth when he attended matches against Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord as a youth player in a packed Goffert. “That made me really love this club, although as a Dutchman I don’t really come from an NEC family. Nowadays it has grown like this, because my family sees every match and is very sympathetic. ” In addition, there is no doubt this season whether they will see him in action, as the right back made the most minutes of the entire selection. “Only against FC Eindhoven did I get a few minutes of rest at the beginning of the season and I play everything else. Very nice that I have so much confidence. ”
Van Rooij was missing only thirteen minutes in 33 full rounds of play, with which his first goal has already been achieved. He became a permanent fixture in Rogier Meijer’s team last season and wanted to establish himself as a mainstay of the team this year. “In terms of playing minutes it is going great, but my statistics could be a bit better”, it sounds critical. The right back was good for three hits this season, while he scored his second assist against Excelsior last weekend. “With a bit of luck there could have been more. That is something I am working hard on. I really want to be decisive for my team and I see Denzel Dumfries as an example in this. Look how important he is to PSV ”, said Van Rooij, who also indicates that he is also paying attention to AZ’s backs. “I think that’s a great team to watch anyway and I get extra inspiration when I see how important Owen Wijndal and Jonas Svensson are made.”
AZ completes transfer from Sam Beukema: “ It really couldn’t be better ”
AZ announced on March 31 that 22-year-old Sam Beukema will be active in Alkmaar for five years after the summer.
In that respect, he thinks that Sam Beukema has done an excellent job with his summer transfer from Go Ahead Eagles to the Alkmaarders. “With a five-year contract too, so that is a very good opportunity for him. I think he can play there immediately and otherwise he also has Young AZ to fall back on if the step is too big to take immediately ”, he analyzes. Van Rooij calls Beukema the ‘absolute top’ of the Kitchen Champion Division, which also included Micky van de Ven of FC Volendam and Jan-Paul van Hecke a season earlier as excellent defenders. “Whether I also fit in that list and can already make a nice step? I don’t know if I can say that I am at a comparable level, but I would think very carefully if I receive an offer to join that list. ”
In any case, it would not be a surprise to general manager Wilco van Schaik if Van Rooij followed their example and made a major transfer. In 2020 he already predicted that the right back would reach the national top and maybe even more, while at the beginning of this month he indicated once again that the ‘performances of the fullbacks have certainly not gone unnoticed in the transfer market’. At the same time, he adds that there must be a solid offer on the table and the defender also indicates that he is not just saying ‘yes’ to a step up. “Of course I think about the future, but NEC is also working on great things and I like to be a part of that. It is true that a number of clubs are following me, but I have no idea how concrete that is. ”
The right back still has a contract until the summer of 2022 and indicates that he would love to be active in the Premier League one day, but in his ideal image he will first gain experience in the Eredivisie. “Promotion can therefore influence my future. If it is possible to go to the highest level with NEC, I would absolutely love to. It would be great if I could arrange that with my friends ”, it sounds determined. “Yes, that’s how I really see it. We have been a friend team for years. We spend a lot of time together, we spend all day together. That makes this club extra nice for me, ”says the nineteen-year-old, who lives with his parents about twenty minutes’ drive from the stadium. “It is even possible to cycle on a nice day, haha.”
With a smile, he agrees that the extra exercise may have helped him grow such enormous lung capacity at such a young age. “I have a very good balance between recovery and intensive training and I already have a lot of walking ability,” he analyzes his strengths. After two or three games in a week, he sometimes still has a hard time, but he is also digesting that better. “That’s why I ever want to play in the Premier League, because such a tough competition seems great to me,” says the defender, who gets some great stories about the Italian league from his 36-year-old teammate Édgar Barreto. There, after his first stay at NEC, the Paraguayan was active for ten years at the highest level at Atalanta, Palermo and Sampdoria.
“It’s fantastic that he has returned to our club. He has so much routine and, just like Rens van Eijden and the other experienced guys, he helps me with all kinds of things. I love to be able to talk about football with Édgar. That makes me really happy ”, beams Van Rooij. He calls the refined midfielder the ‘daddy’ of the group. “He is very personally involved with everyone, always pats you on the back when you need it and he just brings so much quality to the field, unprecedented. It is really nice to see up close how easily he still plays football ”, says Van Rooij, who until last year gained extra experience with the Dutch youth teams. “I joined the Under-18 for the first time and also played some European Championship qualifying matches with the Under-19, but now everything has been stopped because of Corona for more than a year, of course.”
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In December, Van Rooij also belonged to the team composed by Voetbalzone of the most promising players from the Kitchen Champion Division.
The right back therefore finds it difficult to estimate whether he is still in the picture for the representative teams. “You just don’t know without selection moments. We do have a group app that I’m still in, but it actually only makes official announcements about cancellations and things like that. ” For example, Van Rooij & Co were already told that a European Championship and a World Cup had passed their noses. “Those could have been great experiences, so you are disappointed with that. I hope it will be possible to play again soon and hope that I will still be there. Because you have to show yourself at the club, that is also something I would take into account with a possible next step. At NEC I know what I have and that it is going well, so that’s great. I do everything I can to succeed. ”
Nevertheless, he is still working on a backup plan, in the unlikely event that he does not have a successful career as a footballer. “In addition to the training sessions and competitions, I still have quite a bit of free time left and I spend that on a study in Business & Management,” says the second-year student of higher professional education, who also showed that he can learn very well at pre-university education for six years. “Now I have to admit that it is sometimes difficult to persuade me to take up my books, but it is never wrong to develop yourself in other areas as well. At the same time, it is clear that football comes first for me, so I don’t see a career in economics happening anytime soon. Actually, I hope that I will only benefit from my studies when I am about 35 years old. Before that, I have plenty of other goals to achieve, so let those play-offs come. ”
Name: Bart van Rooij
Date of birth: May 26, 2001
Club: NEC
Position: right back
Strengths: walking ability, participation pass, insight
Voetbalzone is the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division
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