Remko Pasveer has no plans to stop as a football player yet. The Ajax goalkeeper will turn 38 next month, but is not worried about his fitness and enjoys working with his teammates. Pasveer can often be found in the gym and feels in the dressing room of Ajax one of the guys, he says in an interview with Football International. Pasveer, who has become Ajax’s first keeper this season due to André Onana’s suspension and Maarten Stekelenburg’s groin injury, prefers to continue ‘for years to come’.
“A few years ago I remembered Edwin van der Sar who continued until his fortieth, when I got this question. That’s how I am still in it”, the routine makes clear. In the summer Pasveer came over from Vitesse, where he was already known as a training animal. “On the first training day, I received a photo of the gym from people within Vitesse: ‘Where are you now? The room is empty’, was the message. I was indeed always there to be found,” he indicates. . When Pasveer is asked why at his age he doesn’t choose to ‘enjoy a little more’, he certainly emphasizes enjoying football.
“Definitely. For me, I enjoy working with the team, with the keepers around me, and wanting to show the best every day,” Pasveer answers. “For example, I can really enjoy those young guys here. Someone like Jurriën Timber. Still so young, but so calm how he stands his ground.” Pasveer knows that the outside world automatically focuses more on attackers, but “really enjoys guests like Mazraoui and Martínez” in the defense. “I have that now more than ten years ago, for example. At that age you are still busy with your own career, now you have more eye for the bigger picture.”
“Without compromising my own drive,” Pasveer adds. “I want to try to enjoy being here as much as possible, but the most important thing is that I perform. It’s about winning games and keeping the zero.” The question is how long he will remain Ajax’s first keeper, because André Onana’s doping suspension is over on 4 November. Pasveer himself is not yet concerned with this issue. “The trainer will probably have an idea and have that in his head, but for me it is just a matter of showing that I am stable.”