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Petrus (Peter) van de Merwe (13 January 1942 – 24 February 2016)[1] was a Dutch footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Nicknamed the Black Panther of Breda,[2] Van de Merwe played his entire career for hometown club NAC.

Van de Merwe played his final league game against AZ’67 in October 1970[3] and retired at 29 after persisting injury worries and totaling 257 matches for NAC.[4] He was later diagnosed with rheumatics and spent time in a wheelchair.

International career

He made his debut for the Netherlands in a May 1962 friendly match against Northern Ireland and has earned a total of 5 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a November 1962 European Championship qualification match against Switzerland.[5]

Personal life and death

After retiring as a player, Van de Merwe moved to Sint Willebrord where he worked as a janitor at a school and a sports centre. He died of cancer in Sint Willebrord in February 2016.[2]

References

  1. ^ Obituary in BN DeStem, mensenlinq.nl
  2. ^ a b Oud-doelman van NAC en Oranje ‘Bredase zwarte panter’ Peter van de Merwe overleden – BN De Stem (in Dutch)
  3. ^ Peter van der Merwe werd nooit meer de oude… Archived 8 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – NAC Fanzine De Rat (in Dutch)
  4. ^ Oud-doelman Van de Merwe overleden Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – NAC (in Dutch)
  5. ^ National team stats – Voetbalstats (in Dutch)