View source for Wim Kieft

{{Short description|Dutch footballer (born 1962)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Wim Kieft
| image = Wim_Kieft_(2017).jpg  
| upright = 0.8
| caption = Kieft in 2017
| fullname = Willem Cornelis Nicolaas Kieft
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1962|11|12}}
| birth_place = [[Amsterdam]], Netherlands
| height = 1.90 m
| position = [[Centre forward]]
| currentclub =
| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = AVV Madjoe<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haen |first1=Jo |title=092 – Wim Kieft begon bij Madjoe |url=https://www.vriendenvanwatergraafsmeer.nl/092-wim-kieft-begon-madjoe/ |publisher=Stichting Vrienden van Watergraafsmeer |access-date=12 September 2020 |language=nl |date=14 September 2017}}</ref>
| youthyears2 = 1975–1979 | youthclubs2 = [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]]
| years1 = 1979–1983 | clubs1 = [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]] | caps1 = 96 | goals1 = 68
| years2 = 1983–1986 | clubs2 = [[Pisa Calcio|Pisa]] | caps2 = 91 | goals2 = 25
| years3 = 1986–1987 | clubs3 = [[Torino F.C.|Torino]] | caps3 = 19 | goals3 = 8
| years4 = 1987–1990 | clubs4 = [[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]] | caps4 = 82 | goals4 = 55
| years5 = 1990–1991 | clubs5 = [[FC Girondins de Bordeaux|Bordeaux]] | caps5 = 26 | goals5 = 3
| years6 = 1991–1994 | clubs6 = [[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]] | caps6 = 88 | goals6 = 34
| totalcaps = 402 | totalgoals = 193
| nationalyears1 = 1981–1993 | nationalteam1 = [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] | nationalcaps1 = 43 | nationalgoals1 = 11
| medaltemplates={{MedalCountry|{{NED}}}} 
{{Medal|1st|[[UEFA European Championship|European Championship]]|[[UEFA Euro 1988|1988]]}}
}}
'''Willem Cornelis Nicolaas "Wim" Kieft''' (born 12 November 1962) is a Dutch former professional [[association football|footballer]] who played as a [[centre forward]]. Kieft went into punditry in 2001, occasionally appearing on football talk show ''[[Voetbal Inside]]''.

A prolific goal-scorer whose main asset was his heading ability, he played for two big clubs, [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]] and [[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]]. He also played in Italy and France.

Kieft played for the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands national team]], and was a member of the squad that won [[UEFA Euro 1988|Euro 1988]]. He also represented his nation at the [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990 World Cup]] and [[UEFA Euro 1992|Euro 1992]].

==Club career==
[[File:Wim Kieft (1981).jpg|thumb|Kieft in 1981]]
Born in [[Amsterdam]], Kieft started his professional career with local side [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]], making his first-team debuts on 4 May 1980, when he was not yet 18. Amongst his youth teammates were [[Frank Rijkaard]], [[John van 't Schip]], [[Marco van Basten]] and [[Gerald Vanenburg]]; in his first two full seasons, he scored at an astonishing rate, especially in the [[1981–82 Eredivisie|1981–82]] season, when he netted 32 goals in as many games, being crucial as the team won the [[Eredivisie]] title; he received the [[European Golden Shoe|European Golden Boot]] award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eusm.eu/item/goldenshoe_winners.htm|title=Award winners|publisher=[[European Sports Media]]|access-date=20 November 2015|archive-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904215705/http://www.eusm.eu/item/goldenshoe_winners.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At only 20, Kieft was sold to Italy's [[Pisa Calcio|Pisa]], scoring only three times in a [[1983–84 Serie A|relegation-ending campaign]]. He did help the [[Tuscany]] side [[1984–85 Serie B|immediately promote]] to [[Serie A]], but underperformed overall in the top flight, with that club and his subsequent one, [[Torino F.C.|Torino]].

In the summer of 1987, Kieft returned to his country and signed for [[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]]. His impact was immediate as his new team won [[Treble (association football)|the treble]], including [[1987–88 European Cup|the season]]'s [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]], where he scored in the [[Penalty shootout (association football)|penalty shootout]] defeat of [[S.L. Benfica|Benfica]] (0–0 after 120 minutes).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/ec/ec198788.html|title=Champions' Cup 1987–88|publisher=[[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|RSSSF]]|last=James M. Ross|date=17 January 2008|access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref> ''[[wikt:en route|En route]]'' to these accolades, he contributed with more than 30 goals overall, 29 alone in the league, a competition-best; he was also one of five European players to ever achieve the feat of winning four competitions – three with their club, and one with the national team – in the same year, the others being teammates [[Berry van Aerle]], [[Hans van Breukelen]], [[Ronald Koeman]] and Vanenburg.

Kieft had his second and last abroad experience in 1990, joining [[FC Girondins de Bordeaux|Bordeaux]] in France and again underachieving, returning to PSV and playing three more seasons until his retirement, averaging more than eleven goals in his second spell with the latter. In total, he scored 158 times in only 264 matches in the Netherlands' top division.

Kieft rejoined PSV in 2009, being named as assistant coach of the club's youth sides.

==International career==
Kieft earned his first cap for the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] in 1981. He would represent the national team in three major international tournaments, [[UEFA Euro 1988]], the [[1990 FIFA World Cup]] and [[UEFA Euro 1992|Euro 1992]].<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/kieft-intl.html Wim Kieft – International Appearances]; at RSSSF</ref>

In the first competition, Kieft played three times for the eventual champions, always as a second-half [[Substitute (association football)|substitute]]: on 18 June 1988, after having replaced [[Erwin Koeman]], he scored in the 82nd minute of the 1–0 group stage win against the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]], through a header, helping the Dutch overtake their opponents in the match and finish second in Group 2 to secure a place in the semi-finals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goal.com/en/news/476/euro-2008/2008/06/04/723291/tournament-history-euro-1988-west-germany|title=Tournament History: Euro 1988 (West Germany)|publisher=[[Goal (website)|Goal]]|date=4 June 2008|access-date=11 November 2011}}</ref>

Kieft played four times in the second tournament, held in Italy, starting against a familiar opponent, Ireland, and finding the net in the 1–1 draw against [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]] as the ''Oranje'' exited in the [[Single-elimination tournament|round-of-16]].<ref>{{FIFA player|174661}}</ref>

Kieft played only one match during his third and final tournament, replacing [[Frank de Boer]] at the start of the second half of the [[UEFA Euro 1992 knockout stage#Netherlands vs Denmark|Euro 1992 semi-finals]] against [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]].

==Post-retirement career and personal life==
After retiring, Kieft worked as a football [[Pundit (expert)|pundit]] for television channels [[Sport1 (Netherlands)|Sport1]] and [[RTL Group|RTL]], making a name for himself as a commentator and pundit with popular football talkshow ''[[Voetbal Inside]]'' (VI). In 2016, Kieft signed an exclusive agreement with [[Ziggo Sport]]. Because of this, he initially could not feature at the VI table.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wim Kieft niet meer bij Voetbal Inside |url=https://www.televizier.nl/amusement/wim-kieft-niet-meer-bij-voetbal-inside |publisher=Televizier |access-date=12 September 2020 |language=nl |date=27 April 2016}}</ref> At the end of 2018, Kieft returned twice a week as a table guest at VI. In 2019, Kieft signed a three-year contract with [[Talpa TV|Talpa]], which meant that he returned to their new program, ''Veronica Inside'', with the same concept as VI.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wim Kieft verruilt Ziggo Sport voor Talpa |url=https://www.nu.nl/media/5687858/wim-kieft-verruilt-ziggo-sport-talpa.html |publisher=NU.nl |access-date=12 September 2020 |language=nl |date=16 January 2019}}</ref>

His son, [[Robbin Kieft|Robbin]] (born 1987), was also a footballer. After attending Ajax and [[FC Groningen|Groningen]]'s youth academies, he played exclusively in the lower leagues of the country.

In his biography, published in 2014, Kieft admitted a long-lasting addiction to [[Alcoholism|alcohol]] and [[cocaine]], which began after the end of his career and ended after a withdrawal treatment.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/niederlande-wim-kieft-berichtet-von-kokain-sucht/9932612.html|title=Wim Kieft berichtet von Kokain-Sucht|trans-title=Wim Kieft speaks of cocaine addiction|newspaper=[[Der Tagesspiegel]]|language=de|date=22 May 2014|access-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>

==Career Statistics==
===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref name="NFT">{{NFT player|14125|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="11"|[[Netherlands football team|Netherlands]]
|1981||1||0
|-
|1982||5||1
|-
|1984||2||2
|-
|1985||5||3
|-
|1986||1||0
|-
|1988||5||2
|-
|1989||4||1
|-
|1990||8||1
|-
|1991||5||0
|-
|1992||6||1
|-
|1993||1||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!43!!11
|}

:''Scores and results list Netherland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kieft goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Wim Kieft
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
!scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
|style="text-align:center"|1
|{{dts|23 March 1982}}
|[[Hampden Park]], [[Glasgow]], Scotland
|{{fb|Scotland}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–2
|style="text-align:center"|1–2
|[[Friendly (association football)|Friendly]]
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Scotland v Netherlands, 23 March 1982|url=https://www.11v11.com/matches/scotland-v-netherlands-23-march-1982-237064/|website=11v11|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|2
|{{dts|14 March 1984}}
|[[De Meer Stadion]], [[Amsterdam]], Netherlands
|{{fb|Denmark}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|6–0
|Friendly
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Netherlands vs. Denmark|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/38069/Netherlands_Denmark.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|3
|{{dts|17 October 1984}}
|[[De Kuip]], [[Rotterdam]], Netherlands
|{{fb|Hungary}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|1–2
|[[1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|1986 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Netherlands vs. Hungary|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/38337/Netherlands_Hungary.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|4
|rowspan="2"|{{dts|27 February 1985}}
|rowspan="2"|De Meer Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands	
|rowspan="2"|{{fb|Cyprus}}
|style="text-align:center"|2–1
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|7–1
|rowspan="2"|1986 FIFA World Cup qualification	
|rowspan="2"|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Netherlands vs. Cyprus|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/36321/Netherlands_Cyprus.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|5
|style="text-align:center"|4–1
|-
|style="text-align:center"|6
|{{dts|1 May 1985}}
|De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands		
|{{fb|Austria}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|1–1
|1986 FIFA World Cup qualification	
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Netherlands vs. Austria|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/36322/Netherlands_Austria.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|7
|{{dts|1 June 1988}}
|[[Olympic Stadium (Amsterdam)|Olympic Stadium]], Amsterdam, Netherlands
|{{fb|Romania|1965}}
|style="text-align:center"|2–0
|style="text-align:center"|2–0
|Friendly
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Netherlands vs. Romania|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/33085/Netherlands_Romania.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|8
|{{dts|18 June 1988}}
|[[Parkstadion]], [[Gelsenkirchen]], Germany
|{{fb|Republic of Ireland}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|[[UEFA Euro 1988]]
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ireland vs. Netherlands|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/16313/Ireland_Netherlands.html|website=National Football Team|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|9
|{{dts|31 May 1989}}
|[[Helsinki Olympic Stadium]], [[Helsinki]], Finland
|{{fb|Finland}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|[[1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|1990 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Finland vs. Netherlands|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/32032/Finland_Netherlands.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|10
|{{dts|12 June 1990}}
|[[Stadio Renzo Barbera]], [[Palermo]], Italy
|{{fb|Egypt}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|1–1
|[[1990 FIFA World Cup]]
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Netherlands vs. Egypt|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/20742/Netherlands_Egypt.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|11
|{{dts|25 March 1992}}
|De Meer Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands	
|{{fb|Yugoslavia}}
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|2–0
|Friendly
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Netherlands vs. Yugoslavia|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/matches/report/30140/Netherlands_Yugoslavia.html|website=National Football Teams|access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>
|}

==Honours==
[[File:Ajax tegen FC Groningen 5-1, Wim Kieft van Ajax in actie, Bestanddeelnr 931-0441.jpg|thumb|Kieft in action for [[Ajax AFC|Ajax]] in 1980]]

'''Ajax'''
* [[Eredivisie]]: [[1979–80 Eredivisie|1979–80]], [[1981–82 Eredivisie|1981–82]], [[1982–83 Eredivisie|1982–83]]
* [[KNVB Cup]]: [[1982–83 KNVB Cup|1982–83]]; runner-up: [[1979–80 KNVB Cup|1979–80]], [[1980–81 KNVB Cup|1980–81]]

'''Pisa'''
* [[Serie B]]: [[1984–85 Serie B|1984–85]]
* [[Mitropa Cup]]: 1985–86

'''PSV'''
* Eredivisie: [[1987–88 Eredivisie|1987–88]], [[1988–89 Eredivisie|1988–89]], [[1991–92 Eredivisie|1991–92]]
* KNVB Cup: [[1987–88 KNVB Cup|1987–88]], [[1988–89 KNVB Cup|1988–89]], [[1989–90 KNVB Cup|1989–90]]
* [[Johan Cruijff Shield]]: [[1992 Dutch Supercup|1992]]; runner-up: [[1991 Dutch Supercup|1991]]
* [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]]: [[1987–88 European Cup|1987–88]]

'''Netherlands'''
* [[UEFA European Championship]]: [[1988 UEFA European Championship|1988]]

'''Individual'''
* [[Eredivisie#Top scorers|Eredivisie top scorer]]: 1981–82, 1987–88
* [[European Golden Shoe|European Golden Boot]]: 1982
* [[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Cup]] [[List of UEFA Cup and Europa League top scorers|Top scorer]]: [[1986–87 UEFA Cup|1986–87]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.beijen.net/frank/cvs/kieft-w.htm Beijen profile] {{in lang|nl}}
*{{wvo|1019}}
*{{NFT|14125}}

{{Navboxes
|bg= #F1771D
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|title= Netherlands squads
|list1=
{{Netherlands Squad Euro 1988}}
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}}
{{Navboxes
|bg=gold
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|title= Awards
|list1={{European Golden Shoe}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kieft, Wim}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Footballers from Amsterdam]]
[[Category:Dutch men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Eredivisie players]]
[[Category:AFC Ajax players]]
[[Category:PSV Eindhoven players]]
[[Category:UEFA Champions League–winning players]]
[[Category:Serie A players]]
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[[Category:Pisa SC players]]
[[Category:Torino FC players]]
[[Category:Ligue 1 players]]
[[Category:FC Girondins de Bordeaux players]]
[[Category:Netherlands men's international footballers]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 1988 players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 1992 players]]
[[Category:1990 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:UEFA European Championship–winning players]]
[[Category:Dutch expatriate men's footballers]]
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[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France]]
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[[Category:20th-century Dutch sportsmen]]