Jetro Willems, from mule with 9 years to international 'Oranje'

The book of stories worthy of being told in the world of football is endless. Happy, sad, overcoming … there are infinite colors. But that of Jetro Willems, international with the Netherlands, especially tears. Imagining a 9 year old boy passing drugs hurts. That he was the one who offered to do it because that was the only alternative for his family to get ahead shows how far the needs reach. The left-back of Eintracht Frankfurt visited the 'Andy Niet te Vermeijde' program by Andy Van der Meyde, a former Inter Milan player among others, and opened the trunk of his personal memories.

“At first my parents tried to take him away, but it didn't work. Afterwards, I sacrificed myself. I said, 'I do it.' Thus Willems tells how, as a child, he had to act as a mule for the merchandise to pass from Curaçao, the country of origin of Jetro's family, to the Netherlands, the destination. To tell the story, our protagonist stares at a painting that he himself had painted. In it, a young Jethro appears in front of a staircase with two paths. One on each side. The one of good and the one of evil. In this way he wants to represent and bear in mind the decisions that had to be made at an age where deciding what to order for Christmas should be the greatest concern.

The ball saved his life

“It was the light for us. Everything went well. My parents, for example, got a job,” continues the 26-year-old footballer. The bearing went well. Why? Why being a child they did not register him at the airport. The drug stuck to his legs accompanied him from beginning to end and, once the trip was complete, Jethro was clear that he wanted nothing in return. Simply a wish occupied his mind, that there would not be a next time. “Give everything that you were going to give me to my sister”, he told his parents, to whom he only made one request: “I just want a ball. In the end, that ball saved my life.”.

And boy did he save her. Willems He grew up in Rotterdam, in the quarry of Sparta, before making the leap to PSV. In Eindhoven it grew to become international 22 times. A ruptured internal ligament in his left knee prevented him from playing in the 2014 World Cup and his departure from the Netherlands towards Frankfurt definitively separated him from the Orange. Even though at Eintracht he has had brilliant moments, such as the great performance in the 2018-19 Europa League. The competition that put Luka Jovic in the spotlight of the elite. He was on loan at Newcastle and now is recovering from another setback in the form of injury, another tear, this time of the cruciate ligament. But nevertheless, his greatest battle was fought at the age of 9. And he was victorious. The ball saved him.