Rinus Israël has passed away at the age of 83. The former defender achieved great success as a player for Feyenoord. ‘Iron Rinus’ played 47 times for the Dutch national team.
In 1970, Israël won the European Cup I, the predecessor of the Champions League, with Feyenoord as the first Dutch club ever. The Rotterdam club won the final 2-1 against Celtic. Israël scored the equalizer. The captain was the first player to hold up the coveted trophy.
Later that year, Feyenoord also won the world cup for club teams. In 1974, the UEFA Cup win followed. In addition, Israël became national champion three times with the Rotterdam club: in 1969, 1971 and 1974. The Amsterdam native played more than two hundred games for Feyenoord between 1966 and 1974.
Israël was also active as a player for DWS, Excelsior and PEC Zwolle. The former defender became national champion with DWS from Amsterdam in 1964. Israël played 47 games for Oranje, in which he scored three times. He was part of the selection that reached the World Cup final in 1974.
Israël was nicknamed ‘Iron Rinus’ because of his ruthless playing style. He formed a feared defensive duo with Theo Laseroms at Feyenoord for many years. Israël combined his hardness with good insight and strong passing. As a result, he grew into one of the best Dutch defenders ever.
Israël stopped playing in 1982 at Zwolle at the age of forty. He then immediately started working as an (assistant) trainer at the Overijssel club. After that he was (national) coach of, among others, FC Den Bosch, Feyenoord, Dinamo Bucharest, Jong Oranje, Ghana and ADO Den Haag.
In the 1990s, Israël was assistant national coach of Dick Advocaat and Guus Hiddink at the Dutch national team. As head coach, Israël won three prizes. He became champion with Dinamo Bucharest (1992), Al Wahda from the United Arab Emirates (2001) and first divisionist ADO (2003).
With Leo Beenhakker and Joop van Daele, two figureheads of Feyenoord also died earlier this calendar year. Former defender Van Daele, like Israël, was part of the Feyenoord selection that won the European Cup I in 1970.