He became champion with Ajax, vice-world champion with the Dutch team, he won the Golden Shoe... But his family is the main prize: his wife Charlotte-Sophie and three children Jezebel (March 4, 2009), Lennox (July 1, 2011) and Rixo (20). August 2019). “When he scored I shouted very loudly 'Daddy, daddy, here!' and then he waved at us.”
Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer | Online editor: Natasha Hendriks
Image: John van Helvert
Just like your father used to, you attend Ajax's youth academy. How often are you there?
“I train three times a week and play a match at the weekend. Against Vitesse and such. I had scored three goals against Feyenoord. We lost by something like 21… Well, I don't actually remember. Another
once we had lost by only one goal.”
Your backyard has been the football field for a while in recent months. Have you ever made fun of your father?
“Yes, with an Iniesta. I dribbled forward with the ball on the outside of my right foot, tapped it to the left, passed my father and dribbled on.”
Have you ever seen Iniesta play?
“Yes, when Barcelona played against Manchester City in the Champions League. My father took me. The score was 4-0, with three goals and an assist from Messi. I was also there when Ajax won away at Tottenham Hotspur. Which was a bit strange: we were sitting among the Tottenham supporters and I wasn't allowed to cheer when Ajax scored.”
Did your father ever tell you about the 2010 World Cup final?
“Yes, but I'm not allowed to watch dad's match on television. Because he had lost. I have seen dad's top 10 best goals on YouTube. I thought the funniest one was against De Graafschap: someone headed first and then the ball accidentally hit dad's head and went into the goal.”
He has many shirts left over from his football career. Which one do you think? most beautiful?
“His Ajax shirts. And from the opponents, those of Eto'o. Especially because it's a Barcelona shirt. I have the shirts of Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo framed and hanging in my room, Dad got them from a charity auction.”
Lennox, we will agree that when you grow up to be a great football player, I will be
get a shirt from you?
"Yes. But then you have to come and watch my matches.”
What do you remember about the time you lived in England?
“We lived there for five years, so I can speak English well. In Manchester I had a best friend, Lucy. We always played in my room or at her house, and at school we painted and learned... Great fun! At the weekend I often sat in the stands to watch Dad's games. When he scored I shouted very loudly 'Daddy, daddy, here!' and then he waved at us.”
You moved from Manchester to London and from London to Berlin. How did you feel about living somewhere different all the time?
“I liked it, because it gave me even more friends. And I learned a language again. I can count to ten in German. I always spoke English to the teacher in class. There was a little boy who also spoke Dutch, Jairo. That was the son of someone who was on my father's team (Roy Beerens; ed.).”
What did you like most about your time in Berlin?
“To watch Dad's football and to go to restaurants I didn't know yet. In the Netherlands we also go to restaurants quite often, but not now during the corona period.”
What do you think of this time?
“I'm happy that we can go back to school, but I also enjoyed being at home and being taught by my mother. Almost every morning we exercised together: abs, arms and legs. We often walked through the Vondelpark and I played a lot in the garden with Lennox. Then we went on the homemade water slide or played badminton or football. I quite like football, so I thought: why not give it a try?”
Would you like to play girls' football?
“No, because I already enjoy dancing, judo and athletics: jumping, hurdles, running…”
Your brother wants to become a footballer when he grows up. And you?
“I would prefer to become a model. I've already done a few photo shoots. And I have a portfolio with all my photos in it.”
What do you like most about being a model?
“To wear nice clothes and have my hair done. When I look into the glass of the camera, I see myself.”
Since last year you have a sister. How do you feel about that?
"Awesome! I was already hoping for a sister, but at first I thought it would be a brother again. It was really a surprise.”
How were you told it was a girl?
“We were in Paris and there was a gift on our plate: a football shirt with Paris on the front and 'Girl 25' on the back, because she was due on August 25. At first I only saw the front of the shirt. Lennox immediately shouted, "It's a boy, it's a boy!" Then I looked at the back. And back again. And back to the back. "It's a girl!" I then shouted. She just wasn't born on the 25th, she came a few days earlier.”
Can you already tell who Rixo looks like?
“She really is a combination of mom and dad. And also a combination of Lennox and me. I look most like daddy and Lennox looks like mommy.”
Suppose your father later becomes manager of Barcelona and you have to return
to move house…
“I would really like that, because I will make new friends, learn a new language and the weather is nice there. But I would also think it would be stupid, because I would have to leave my friends here.”
You come from a sports family, as the daughter of former judoka and NOS commentator Pierre Zenden and sister of ex-footballer Boudewijn. What do you have yourself?
with sports?
“I enjoy watching football, especially when someone close to me is participating. And as far as sports are concerned: from an early age I have done just about every sport. My parents have a gym in Maastricht, Sportschool Zenden. It was attached to our house, so I could just walk inside and choose what I wanted to do. Nowadays it is a gym with a hotel, Hotel Zenden. You can go to the gym for aerobics, boxing, swimming, judo, yoga and Zumba, among other things.”
How did you participate in your brother's development into a professional footballer?
“Boudewijn is seven years older than me, so when he went to play football, I always went along - as a small child I couldn't stay home alone. I always went to the home games of PSV and the representative teams of the Dutch team. If Boudewijn had a tournament abroad, my father would organize our holiday around it.”
What dreams did you have in the past?
“I wanted to study fashion. After consultation with my father, I started doing tourism at Notenboom University of Applied Sciences. He thought that was best for my development. During that study I met John. To be closer to him, I finished my studies in Hilversum. Ultimately, I did not end up working in that sector, but it did benefit me a lot during my stay abroad. What was even more useful to me later was the Spanish study that I started doing in Vught. Maybe I would like to take some courses that will help me with my work.”
John says he first spotted you in the players' home after games of Orange.
“I was there because Boudewijn was playing. John and I saw each other a few times in the players' home. Then we stood looking at each other. I liked him. He didn't know who I was, actually thought I belonged to another family. We spoke for the first time during the European Championships in Portugal in 2004. He had asked my brother where the best place to go was - John's sister wanted to know. Boudewijn replied: 'You need my sister for that, she's going out here.' When I called my brother, he handed the phone to John. That's how we started talking to each other for the first time. When he had to get off the bus, he said, "Can I have your number and I'll call you right back." The joke was: he didn't know at the time that I was the same girl he had spotted a few times in the players' home. It was only when he saw me with Boudewijn that the coin fell. That was also the only time we saw each other in Portugal, otherwise John was of course only busy with the European Championship.”
How did things go between you after the European Championship?
“I stayed in Portugal for a while because my parents had rented a house and we were on holiday there. John called me so often, he wanted me to come back: 'Please come to Amsterdam right away.' When I finally flew back with my brother, John said: 'I want you to come to Hoofddorp now.' I didn't know him well at all, we had only had contact by telephone. I remember saying to a friend, "I don't know if I should do this." But I did it anyway. And actually we fell in love right away. At first I commuted back and forth between Hoofddorp and Maastricht, and at a certain point I stayed with John.”
How romantic is John?
“He brings coffee in bed, we go out for dinner together if possible and he brings me flowers every week. We have been together for sixteen years, since we were twenty-one, so you can imagine how many times that has been!”
What is it like to live with a professional footballer?
“You have to be able to put yourself aside a little bit, because you are living his dream. Of course you get a lot in return: you are doing very well. But you are often alone: during major tournaments, training camps, international competitions. So you have to learn to enjoy yourself. And the care for the children lies mainly with you.”
Did you like it better when John was still playing football or now that he is a coach?
“When he was still playing football, he was already home at two in the afternoon. Then we had the whole afternoon together, which was nice. On the other hand, he was sometimes away for three days during the week and six weeks away from home during the tournaments. Now John works long days: he's out the door at eight in the morning and back home at about half past six in the evening. However, he is free on Wednesdays and Sundays. So in both cases it has advantages and disadvantages.”
What do you do on your days off?
“Going to the beach, walking in the woods, having a nice lunch... And we enjoy being at home. Our house is truly our home. We are very happy with that."
What are the most beautiful memories of your years abroad? “Of course the birth of Jezebel and Lennox in Madrid. Beckham's children were born in the same hospital. You lie there in a room full of nurses and gynecologists who all speak Spanish. That was very special. And the first time you leave the Netherlands.”
John's coaching career may take you abroad again later. Are you open to another adventure?
“You know: when you deal with a football player or trainer, there is always the possibility that you have to move. Fortunately, I am open to a possible new adventure.”
And what if he becomes trainer of FC Groningen?
“We view this differently now because, for example, Lennox is at Ajax, and that is one of the best youth academies in Europe. Of course, we also look at the future of our children. John will probably have to drive up and down.”
What does it take for you to be a soccer mom?
“I take Lennox to De Toekomst four times a week. I'll wait there until he's ready, or John will take him back. And I'm always there on Saturdays, especially at the away games and tournaments. Then I drive behind the players bus. Not that you can do much: you're not allowed into the dressing room and all that, so Lennox becomes independent very quickly. And he has become more assertive, although he is quite shy by nature. Still, I want to be there for him – he's still so young. Football is great fun, but it also demands a lot from him.”
Lennox is still a child, he realizes what his father has accomplished?
“Yes, he also looks up to John. He sees what is happening around John, that people want to take a picture with him. Not that he realizes everything, he's too young for that. He does know that his father played in a World Cup final. And that he was sent off the field.”
How did you experience the 2010 World Cup?
“That's the only tournament I didn't attend because we just had a small one. But for the final I flew to South Africa. Later I said to John, laughing: 'Maybe I shouldn't have come.' It was of course a shame that it turned out this way, but I thought it was fantastic to experience it.”
What did you think when John got red?
“Yes, bummed! Why? Why does this happen? After the match we went to the hotel, there was of course not a good mood there, everyone was sad. The players came together and were addressed. Then we went straight to the room and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible. The next day we went back with the players plane. When we were welcomed by fighter jets and saw all those frenzied people in Amsterdam, the mood improved: only then did those boys realize what a feat they had accomplished. I went to dinner at Huis ter Duin. The next day they went sailing through the canals, and I again joined the ceremony on Museumplein.”
When you were back in the Netherlands in 2015, you started your own jewelry line
began.
“After living abroad for eight years and focusing on my family, I wanted to show a little more of myself. The first ideas for a jewelry line originated in Berlin. First I did it with a friend. We called the line 28AND31, after our ages when we started it. Because my girlfriend had a permanent job and I had to take care of three children, it proved difficult to find time together. That's why I ended up going it alone. I love being creative. I come up with the designs, the goldsmith makes them. I sell the jewelry through my webshop, but I am also involved in a number of stores such as Noelle by Danie and Hippie Fish. The jewelry line is really something of my own, I am proud of that. But I am most proud of John and my children!”
How do you feel about being at home a lot during this period?
“I like it. For the first time, I have my husband around me a lot. What I do miss are the dates with friends and family. My parents don't come here. Normally they take the train from Maastricht, but that is not possible right now. And I also miss eating out. I cook more often. Oh well, you adapt to the situation. As I have always done.”
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