''He was always a footballer and as a little boy he played up front. I was active at the same club with the veterans, so we had an internal competition about who scored the most goals,” he laughs. ''He only ended up in goal by chance when he was eleven or twelve. There was no goalkeeper in his youth team and Remko volunteered. And after that he developed to a higher level. Gradually he grew to a level that was good enough for a professional club.'''
A professional club from the region came calling early, but Eddie and his wife held that off for a bit. ''I quickly realised he had considerable talent. He kept developing and FC Twente wanted him quite soon. But I thought school was important and wanted him to finish that first. He did, and then he went to FC Twente at eighteen. That’s when everything really started.''
Father Pasveer was clear and did not encounter a disappointed son. ''Remko could agree with that decision,'' says Eddie Pasveer calmly. ''For me it was never a question of whether he would make it into professional football, but rather when it would happen. I always told him that. The moment had to be right for us, and that was when he had finished school. Then he was allowed to orient himself towards a career in football.''
Playing out from the back
''Remko always understood the game well and he paid a lot of attention to it, even as a young lad. His qualities in playing out from the back were good and as a goalkeeper I always told him in his youth to stand far from the goal. Because the further you stand from the goal, the harder it is to score. He often played from a sweeper position and in the outfield play he was good,'' Pasveer senior explains.
When the current Ajax goalkeeper finally made the step into professional football, father Eddie metaphorically took his hands off. ''In his youth I guided him a lot. Once he started playing professional football, I really let him go.''
With his past as a goalkeeper, Eddie naturally offers his son a listening ear. As a former professional he knows better than anyone how goalkeepers and pros feel. ''Yes, of course we sometimes talk about 'our profession', those things happen naturally when you see each other. How can things be better, how should things be different? He has his thoughts about that and I have my ideas. We sometimes go through things in terms of content and I enjoy that, but it doesn’t go much further than that.''
Whether Remko resembles Eddie? ''I wouldn’t dare say. First of all, I never reached Remko’s level,'' says Eddie Pasveer modestly. ''He has achieved much more than I have. I was relatively small in my time and back then they looked at different things than they do now. Height, strength and athletic ability are much more important now. In that regard he has developed enormously.''
Discipline
Pasveer senior also doesn’t see the iron discipline of the Ajax player as specifically his own contribution. ''That’s always been the case. Where he gets that from? Not from me. I think mostly from himself. In my time professional life was not like it is now. We had jobs on the side or were still studying. Remko has always had fantastic discipline from within himself. Nothing was ever too much for him and you could wake him up for anything football related. He has really maintained that to this day. That mindset has taken him very far.''
''And his experience,'' Eddie Pasveer continues. ''By now he has seen a lot, played many matches and had many managers. And that has resulted in so many great moments. At Ajax the matches with Borussia Dortmund were wonderful, for example. Those moments against Erling Haaland you don’t forget; they always stay with you. And they have also been very defining for him.''
Pride
Now that Remko Pasveer stands on the threshold of the magical milestone of one hundred matches for Ajax 1, pride prevails for Eddie Pasveer. ''Yes, as a parent you are proud of this. I am glad that his development has continued over the years. And that he kept resurfacing time and again. At several clubs he had quite a bit of adversity because he didn’t get to play. And each time he resurfaced, became first-choice goalkeeper and proved himself. I find that very special and very impressive.''
''When I sit in the Johan Cruijff ArenA with 55,000 people, it does something to me. He’s standing there after all, that’s just how it is. It’s unique, also for myself. To be able to witness that is very special,'' concludes a proud father.
