Piet Velthuizen made his comeback in an official match on Sunday after 1170 days. The 34-year-old goalkeeper was picked up transfer-free by Fortuna Sittard and immediately deployed, but had to stop the fight against FC Groningen (1-0 loss) for 23 minutes. Sjors Ultee takes the blame. “I am responsible for that”, says the trainer of the Limburgers opposite Algemeen Dagblad.
Fortuna Sittard struggled with a goalkeeper problem, because first choice Yannick van Osch is injured and his replacement Alexei Koselev did not want to play due to an upcoming transfer to the Japanese Júbilo Iwata. Ultee decided to throw Velthuizen, who is absolutely untrained, directly in front of the lions. “In hindsight I should not have set up Piet, even though he left an excellent impression in training”, says Ultee, who still had to bring in Koselev for Velthuizen after 23 minutes.
Fortuna postpones the problem for at least a week when transferring to Japan
Alexei Koselev will leave Fortuna Sittard next week. The question is whether the goalkeeper against PSV can still be used for the Limburgers.
“When we had to deal with the situations surrounding Yannick and Alexei, we immediately switched with clubless goalkeepers to ask if they wanted to help us,” says Ultee. “Initially with the idea that they would come as reserve goalkeeper and be trained slowly. They all beat the boat. Piet, on the other hand, not.” Come on, “he said. Very brave. Not every keeper dares to do that. It marks the drive. which he still has. “
The image of the not fit Velthuizen fits in the story of the routine man, who trained with various clubs in recent years. In the past period, Velthuizen tried to enforce a contract with Telstar. “Piet played here for a very small apple and an even smaller egg”, says Andries Jonker, trainer of the number nine of the Kitchen Champion Division. “But that didn’t bother him. He insisted on fighting back and he radiated it. However, there was one problem: we couldn’t get him fit. Then we decided to stop together. A pity, because an experienced and colorful boy like Piet I would have liked to see it under the Telstar bar. “
Jonker still has the hope that Velthuizen will return to the highest level. “The question is not whether Piet has qualities, the question is whether he will succeed in getting fit. If he succeeds, then Piet can become a good Eredivisie keeper again.” Jonker sought personal contact on Sunday after Velthuizen’s failed return. “‘Don’t care what others say about you’, I texted Piet. ‘Just do what you are good at. And that is goalkeeping.”