Bobby Matitahatiwen

Bobby Matitahatiwen
Personal information
Date of birth (1959-06-18)18 June 1959
Date of death 5 January 2025(2025-01-05) (aged 65)
Youth career
until 1979 Moordrecht[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
from 1979 Olympia (association football)
FC Toma
International career
1983–1984 Netherlands 7 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bobby Matitahatiwen, also written as Bobbie Matitahatiwen or Bob Matitahatiwen (18 June 1959 – 5 January 2025) was a Dutch futsal player[2]

Biography

Matitahatiwen is regarded as the best Dutch futsal player of his generation.[3] He won the Gouden Schoen (golden shoe), the best player of the year award, in 1984.[4]

Matitahatiwen made his debut for the Netherlands national futsal team on 27 January 1983 against Italy. He played a total of seven matches between January 1983 and November 1984 with the national team and scored five times. On club he played as an association footballer with Olympia Haarlem from 1979.[1] In futsal he played with FC Toma, that was later called Datarex and Datagold, in the Eredivisie Futsal during the 1980s.[5] He was selected as a guest player on the Feyenoord futsal team, with the players of the main association football team, on 27 December 1984 and received mixed reactions after the match.[6][7][8]

He was a cousin of footballer Simon Tahamata.[6]

Matitahatiwen worked as a policy officer at the Dutch Healthcare Authority. He lived during and after his career in Moordrecht.[1][3] He died on 5 January 2025, at the age of 65.[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Onderkomen te krap van Olympia". Het Vrije Volk (in Dutch). 22 August 1979. Retrieved 7 January 2025 – via Delpher.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Bobby Matitahatiwen". onsoranje.nl (in Dutch). 7 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Zaalvoetbal in de jaren '80, dat was wat…". Siera ABC (in Dutch). 5 February 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  4. "Van Basten niet in de zaal". Het Parool (in Dutch). 20 December 1984. Retrieved 7 January 2025 – via Delpher.
  5. "Voormalig futsalinternational Bobby Matitahatiwen (65) overleden". onsoranje.nl (in Dutch). 7 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Feyenoord met 'Neef Bobby' de zaal in". Het Vrije Volk (in Dutch). 27 December 1984. Retrieved 7 January 2025 – via Delpher.
  7. "Bijna 3000 toeschouwers in Merwehal | Tahamata klasse apart". Het Vrije Volk (in Dutch). 28 December 1984. Retrieved 7 January 2025 – via Delpher.
  8. "Techniek staat op tweede plan bij indoor-soccer". De Waarheid (in Dutch). 2 January 1985. Retrieved 7 January 2025 – via Delpher.