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He was one of the greatest Jewish soccer players who ever lived — pity you probably haven't heard of him

JL;DR SUMMARY Rinus Isral, a Jewish Dutch footballer, was a significant figure in soccer history despite limited recognition. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish AthletesAntisemitism In SportsRinus IsralJewish SoccerFeyenoordEuropean CupUefa CupHolocaust Surviving FamilyAjax RivalryDutch Football

Places mentioned

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
"His parents, Andries Isral (a bricklayer) and Rebecca Reens, rarely spoke of their origins or how they had survived the Holocaust while he was growing up in Floradrop, Amsterdam."
Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands
"The team hails from Rotterdam, and their historic rivals, Ajax from Amsterdam, are known in the Netherlands as the Jewish club."
Glasgow, United Kingdom
"Feyenoord went into the game as underdogs to a powerful Glasgow Celtic team that had won the competition in 1967."
United States
"The meaningless Club World Cup that is being played out in the USA this summer is a descendant of the Intercontinental Cup in which the champions of Europe played the champions of South America."
Germany
"but was left on the bench for the 1974 World Cup Final where the Netherlands Johan Cruyffs total football wizards, which was famously one of the best teams not to win the World Cup was beaten by West Germany."
Ghana
"Isral will be remembered at Feyenoord where he had most of his glory years (including Dutch Player Of the Year in 1970), in Ghana where he managed the national team, and across the Netherlands, where he will be remembered as one of the golden generation."

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Cairo Item ID 56393
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-07-08 05:31:14 UTC
Curated 2025-07-08 08:30:45 UTC