Mario Been with Jan Dirk Stouten

Expert, TV Presenter

1 hour

NL

Performance,
Focus,
Top sport,
Football

Team Building,
Inspire,
Winning

Mario Been is a born Rotterdammer with a career full of highlights as a player, trainer and analyst. With his down-to-earth view, strong stories and years of experience, he knows how to captivate and entertain any audience. An inspiring speaker who knows what winning, losing and continuing means.

Mario Been breathes soccer. All his life he has moved within the soccer industry, first as a talented player, then as a passionate coach and now for many years as an esteemed analyst at ESPN.

In an extensive interview with Jan Dirk Stouten - known from RTV Rijnmond and Ziggo, among others - Been talks candidly about his life in the world of soccer. About the lessons he learned, the importance of team building, dealing with setbacks and the art of getting everything out of yourself. Because whether it was on the field or off: Mario Been is and always will be a man with a story. And with that characteristic Rotterdam flair - the proverbial smile on his ass - he knows how to tell that story like no other.

The Rotterdam native broke through at a young age with his beloved Feyenoord. In De Kuip, he played alongside greats like Johan Cruijff and became national champion. It seemed to be the beginning of a brilliant career.

Yet things turned out differently. After a conflict at Feyenoord, Been left for Italian Pisa. That was not an everyday move at the time: the Serie A was the strongest league in the world at the time and clubs were only allowed to have three foreign players under contract. It says something about Been's status and talent that he managed to secure a place there. After his time in Italy, he played for several smaller clubs, but a lingering injury forced him to end his active career at a relatively young age. A career that, according to experts like Willem van Hanegem, could have yielded much more. Been ended up playing only one international for the Dutch national team, while some say he could have played fifty.

After his playing career, Been changed course and chose the coaching profession. With success. At NEC Nijmegen he achieved striking results and even led the club to European soccer. At Excelsior he was promoted in his first year as head coach, and in Belgium he won the national cup with Racing Genk. He also returned to Feyenoord as a trainer. Although that period was not his most successful, he managed to impress everywhere else with his working methods, focus on results and people skills.

Today, Mario Been is a regular at ESPN. With his experience, humor and outspoken opinions, he has become one of the sports channel's recognizable faces. His analyses are sharp, his anecdotes colorful and his knowledge undeniable. So book them now through ShowBird!

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