Abe Lenstra

Abe Minderts Lenstra, born on 27 November 1920 and died on 2 September 1985, was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward and became a national football icon in the 1950s. He is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to come from the Netherlands and was a Frisian legend, above all through Heerenveen, the club where he made his name. Known for exceptional dribbling, creativity and goal-scoring, he earned 47 caps for the Netherlands national team and scored 33 goals for it. His best-remembered match came for Heerenveen against Ajax, when his side trailed 5-1 and he led a comeback to a 6-5 win. Serie A clubs including Fiorentina showed interest in signing him at a time when players rarely left their home countries after the Second World War, and over his career he scored more than 500 goals.