STATS BY JEANMARC & EL MAGO 10
Name: Johannes Chrishostomos "Kick" Smit
Country:
Netherlands
Club: HFC Haarlem
Position: *
SS,
CFSide: LF/BS
Age: 21-27 years (03/11/1911)
Height: 182 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Attack:
91Defence:
55Balance:
81Stamina:
85Top Speed:
82Acceleration:
79Response:
85Agility:
78Dribble Accuracy:
89Dribble Speed:
80Short Pass Accuracy:
86Short Pass Speed:
75Long Pass Accuracy:
84Long Pass Speed:
77Shot Accuracy:
87Shot Power:
89Shot Technique:
86Free Kick Accuracy:
71Curling:
69Header:
85Jump:
81Technique:
87Aggression:
85Mentality:
85Keeper Skills:
50Team Work:
88Injury Tolerance:
BCondition/Fitness:
7Weak Foot Accuracy:
7Weak Foot Frequency:
7Consistency:
7Growth Type:
Early LastingCARDS:P07: Mazing Run
P19: Chasing Back
S03: 1-on-1 Finish
S05: 1-touch Play
SPECIAL ABILITIES: Dribbling - Positioning - 1on1 Scoring - 1 touch Pass
Attack / Defence Awareness Card: BalancedINFO:Many people in Holland say Smit was the best Dutch player till Johann Cruyff emerged. Very complete player and the first Dutch "total footballer". Kick played as inside left mainly but was everywhere on the pitch, equally good in attacking and defending, passing and scoring. Great teamworker and fighter, great sense of positioning in every part of the field, had excellent dribbling and devastating shot, technically gifted, good in aerial game and participated in every move of his team. Smit was the age of 13 his first game in the first team of the Roman Catholic clubs Geel-Wit, at 14 he went to confession also led RKVV Onze Gezellen. In 1934 he moved to the non-denominational HFC Haarlem, where the tech-savvy striker quickly seized his regular position on half-links and also was national player. After six years, he joined the club in 1940 Heemstede Berkenrode Combinatie (HBC), which - belonged to the Roman Catholic Soccer Association and not the Netherlands Football Association KNVB - like the Geel-Wit and Onze Gezellen. A Roman Catholic publisher had offered him a job when he joined the HBC, and for some other teams as trainers worked. The move was accompanied, that he could no longer play for the national team. While Haarlem lost at home against Ajax (with Rinus Michels) with 0:8, but this was one of only two defeats in the finals, the title was a 2-0 victory against Heerenveen (with Abe Lenstra) has decided to kick the Smit's second goal with an unstoppable header helped. In the season 1954/55, he joined, now 43 years old, again as a player-coach at the HFC and made three more games for the first team, in his comeback game he marked the first goal for the team. His debut was in the Nederlands Elftal Smit shortly after his move to HFC Haarlem on 11 March 1934 in Amsterdam in a friendly match against Belgium. Orange won 9:2; Smit scored two goals as Beb Bakhuys, but both were made by Leen Vente in the shadows, who contributed the remaining five goals. Referee of this match was the German Peco Bauwens. After his debut Smit came right in qualifying for the World Cup in Italy for use,. 5-2 against the team from the Irish Free State, he scored two goals for the subsequent 4-2 victory in Belgium, he contributed a goal. Even the final tournament in Italy Smit was the Dutch team, he attended the San Siro stadium for 1-1 draw against Switzerland and achieved the first World Cup goal of the Netherlands, but the team lost 2:3 and finally with was eliminated. In qualifying for the World Cup in 1938, he also scored a goal, in the final round, he could not prevent his team failed to 0:3 in Czechoslovakia. With his move to the Catholic HBC he was from 1940 eligibel for not more KNVB, which affected only three games as were played in the occupation during the Second World War and its aftermath between April 1940 and March 1946 no matches. After the war, Smit 1946, nor to two missions, including one as captain. In his last game in the Orange team lost on the 27th November 1946 in Huddersfield 2:8 against England, Kick Smit said goodbye to the 87th Minute of the game with the last goal of the game and his career from the national team, played on a half left after most of the nine years younger than Abe Lenstra. Smit 1950 ended his playing career. He later coached several teams from the west of the Netherlands: HFC Haarlem, RCH, HBC, Alkmaar '54, Aalsmeer and Wijk aan Zee. Together with Faas Wilkes and Abe Lenstra Kick Smit served as a template for the character in a comic strip Wilstra kick series. During and after his work as a coach he was sixteen years in the training of sports coaches at the Centraal Instituut Opleiding Sports Leider (CIOS) working. He died at the age of 62 after a long illness.
Quote:
Born in 1911, Joop “Kick” Smit was one of the goal grabbing stars of the Thirties. He formed with Bep Bakhuijs and Leen Vente the deadly attacking trio that became the strength of the national team during that decade.
Smit played his whole career for Haarlem. He distinguished himself with his technical versatility. He was twenty-three years old when he finally broke through onto the national team. There he joined Bep Bakhuijs and Leen Vente to create the legendary attacking formation. His position in Oranje resulted in the ouster of Wim Lagendaal who had been Holland’s most prolific scorer in the preceding years. The move was justified quickly as the sensational Smit scored two goals in his debut match.
Smit’s scoring remained highly consistent as he scored in almost every match leading up to the 1934 World Cup. His goal in Holland’s only match in the actual tournament meant that for forty years Leen Vente and he were the only two Dutchmen with World Cup goals to their name. Smit continued to show his outstanding skills in Holland’s international matches. Many viewed Smit as being a player who was ahead of his time. His versatility and ambidextrous shooting and passing ability demoralised defenders. He was a tireless workhorse who could be found all over the field at any time. His massive stamina and lung capacity simply wore down defenders.
Smit was such a good player on the fields of international football that soon the inevitable happened, foreign professional clubs came knocking. To put the skill of this player in perspective, Arsenal, one of the leading clubs in what at the time was the most advanced league in the world, England, was in negotiation with Smit in the mid-Thirties. In fact, Smit was the first Dutch footballer who had the opportunity to be professional. Arsenal offered him a handsome contract and he was given time to think it over. But then Karel Lotsy intervened and promised Smit that he need not worry about the future because there would be a future for him at the KNVB. His financial concerns eased, Smit declined the Arsenal offer and chose to remain an amateur in Holland.
Oranje was still able to rejoice from they great skill of Kick Smit. Bep Bakhuijs turned professional in 1937 and as the 1938 World Cup approached, Smit was seen as the man of moment. Unfortunately for Smit, his legacy in the 1938 Cup revolved more around his injury than his playing. Smit had claimed he had recovered from injury prior to the tournament but in the match itself it was aggravated and he was completely ineffective. Despite this incident Smit remained a steady force in Oranje. Although his international career was hindered by World War II, he was still selected a number of times for the national team when play resumed in 1946. This allowed him to have the unique experience of playing with some of the old Olympians of the Twenties, his own peers of the Thirties as well as the future generation of the Fifties led by the likes of Lenstra, Wilkes and Rijvers.
Smit distinguished himself throughout his career with his consistent scoring. He scored 26 goals in just 29 international matches. He was wanted by a top club from the most advance league in the world. But football ended for Smit when he retired. Lotsy, true to his character, never lifted a finger to help Smit when his playing days were over. There was never any future for him with the KNVB. Kick Smit should have gone to Arsenal.
