The Kitchen Champion Division has been used as a nursery for national and international talents for decades and this season too, many football players with potential are walking around on the second level. Voetbalzone, the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division, highlights one of these talents every week, this time focusing on Devin Haen, who made his official debut and first goal for De Graafschap in the first weeks of the season.
By Chris Meijer
Devin Haen may have already made De Vijverberg explode with joy, but after training he just takes the bus home. First to Ruurlo or Lichtenvoorde, and then transfer to the bus to the home of Zieuwent. “We still have to. I’m only seventeen, aren’t I,” Haen responds with a grin. He shrugs. A day after he scored his first goal for De Graafschap as a substitute and thus decided the home game against NAC Breda, he faced the peers of FC Den Bosch again with the Under-21 at an abandoned sports park. Something different than an almost full Vijverberg. “It just goes on,” it sounds sober. “I’ve had a lot of nice messages from people that they had seen it. It’s all fun to read.”
His first goal in professional football is the crown on an excellent start to the season for Haen. That actually started for him at the end of May, when he signed his first contract with De Graafschap. “I also saw the contract as a reward. So it was a moment that I thought about the fact that I could just start making minutes this season. That has also happened now. That contract was the moment when I thought: now it’s all going to start. De Graafschap showed confidence and I have to show what I have in the next three years,” says Haen. Together with Ebbe Wenting, Philip Brittijn and Ezra van der Heiden – players who are also part of the ‘golden batch’ within the youth academy of De Graafschap – the young striker was given the opportunity to show himself to trainer Reinier Robbemond in the preparation by fully to train with.
Last season, Haen already trained with the first team of De Graafschap a number of times, but now it felt something different. “I was more like a youth player then. That is still the case, but I have already made minutes. Well, that does feel different. In the beginning I thought: well, now I can train with the first. Normally you only see those guys on television and suddenly I was in between. That was a bit of a switch, but now I get on well with those guys and it’s always fun. Also in training, it was more a matter of getting used to,” he explains. “When I trained for the first time, I was like: well, this is a different level. It all went a little faster: you have to act faster and see it a little faster. They expect just a little more from you. Now I’ve been training full throttle for two months and I notice that I can keep up well, it all feels good.”
Robbemond used Haen in a slightly different role for the time being, as an attacking midfielder. “It took some getting used to, I had never played there before. It’s something different, although you can still get in front of the goal. It felt right in the preparation. I came in as a striker against NAC, that’s the best thing there is. If it has to be ten, I don’t mind either. Then I can show myself. Strike is the position where I prefer to play, but you also have Joey Konings and Danzell Gravenberch. At ten you now have Opoku. It’s just nice that I can play in more positions, because then you have a better chance of minutes.” That turned out, because Haen already made his official debut in the first league game of the season. He came in as a substitute against Roda JC Kerkrade 24 minutes before the end. “I didn’t expect it so soon. Actually, I was sitting pretty quietly on the couch, until the trainer suddenly said: ‘Devin, warm up’. Well, I didn’t see that coming. Not that I got in at all.”
Haen cheers after his goal against NAC Breda.
“It gave a mixed feeling, because you lose 0-3. But yes, on the other hand I did make my debut and I had already worked very hard for that for a number of years. It’s great that I was able to score minutes straight away in the first competition match,” says Haen with a smile. After he stayed on the bench for ninety minutes against MVV Maastricht, he again got playing minutes against NAC. Actually mainly to help defend the 1-0 lead, but in injury time he popped up in the penalty area to stab a cross from Mees Kaandorp in the right corner like a real striker with one foot movement. “The last thirty minutes NAC came up with a lot, so it was mainly defense. We had one outbreak and it came in. Personally, it’s a great moment, because to be able to score there is something you do it for from an early age. If that happens so quickly, that’s fantastic.”
Afterwards, Haen was pushed forward by his teammates to lead the festivities with the fans. “That was a bit strange, with the youth you normally play for fifty people. Now I was suddenly pushed forward like that. That’s a bit different from normal.” Normally Haen was used to being on the other side, as a supporter in the stands. “I have been a fan of De Graafschap since I was a kid and I was in the stadium. To be able to play for the club you used to play at such a young age is a dream come true.” Once Haen – who has been playing in the youth of De Graafschap since he was 11 – was close to leaving Doetinchem for the time being, when he was allowed to complete an internship at PSV at the age of sixteen.
Elias Sierra outpaced Haen in the exhibition game between Heracles Almelo and De Graafschap in preparation for this season.
“Everyone was positive: the scouting, the head of youth academy, the trainers. But it was ultimately canceled due to financial reasons. Because if I had made the move to PSV, I should have gotten a contract. That was a new rule, if you come from a smaller professional club. I had no qualms about going back to De Graafschap. That’s just my club, I think it’s fantastic to play for De Graafschap,” says Haen. He has already been able to report a few times at a training internship of representative youth teams and is currently part of the selection of Under-18s, as one of the few players who does not play for a Dutch top club or abroad. “Those guys who come from the big clubs are together a lot. You get used to that and as you get older, you get to know those guys. I really see those internships as an extra reward.”
With his debut and his first goal, Haen has fulfilled two important goals early in the season. “Now I have to work as hard as possible to be able to make more raids. A basic place would be nice once, but I’m not really working on that yet. I just have to hope for as many minutes as possible for the time being and then we’ll see further after that”, he formulates somewhat soberly and modestly. As a kid of the club, his ultimate short-term dream is clear. “Yes, that is to contribute to the promotion of De Graafschap. That’s what you do it all for. I hope it will work this season.”
Name: Devin Haen
Date of birth: June 18, 2004
Club: The County
Position: rush hour
Strengths: purposefulness, insight, versatility
Voetbalzone is the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division
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