Simon Tahamata

Simon Melkianus Tahamata (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsimɔn mɛlkiˈaːnɵs ˈtaːɦaːmaːtaː]; born 26 May 1956 in Vught) is a former Dutch and Belgian football player originating from the Maluku Islands, who has played for Dutch and Belgian clubs. He has played 22 times for the Dutch national team, for which he scored twice. Tahamata was born in the Netherlands, but took Belgian nationality in 1990.

As a youth player Tahamata played for Theole from Tiel and for Ajax from Amsterdam. Then on 24 October 1976 he made his debut for Ajax Amsterdam, (Ajax-FC Utrecht 7–0). With Ajax he won the national title three times (1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80) and he was runner-up once (1977–78). With Ajax he played three national cup finals (1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80), where the middle was won. Tahamata reached with Ajax the semi-final of the European Cup I tournament (1979–80).

Mid 1980 Tahamata left for Belgium, where he played for Standard Liège. With this team he became national champion twice (1981–82 and 1982–83). With Standard he won the national cup once (1980–81). Tahamata reached with Standard the final of the European Cup II tournament (1981–82). In 1984 he returned to the Netherlands to play for Feyenoord. In 1987 he again joined the Belgian competition, playing for Beerschot and Germinal Ekeren. With Germinal he once more reached the final of the national cup (1994–95). Tahamata finished his career as an active football player in 1996.

Tahamata made his national team debut on 22 May 1979 in Bern, Switzerland in the 75th Anniversary Match of the FIFA against Argentina. He went on to earn eventually 22 caps and scoring 2 goals. He played his last international match on 21 December 1986 in Limassol, Cyprus against Cyprus.

After his career as a professional football player Tahamata went on to work as a youth coach for Standard Liège, Germinal Beerschot and Ajax Amsterdam. Occasionally he also played for the team of old Ajax players, named Lucky Ajax. From 2009 he worked for a period as a technical coach for the youth teams of under-10 until under-15 of the Saudi Arabian football club Al-Ahli. Since October 2014 Tahamata is back at Ajax. He works as a technical skills coach for the youth teams of the Amsterdamian football club.

Season	Club	Country	League	Apps	Goals
1976–77	AFC Ajax	Netherlands	Eredivisie	15	0
1977–78	AFC Ajax	Netherlands	Eredivisie	29	2
1978–79	AFC Ajax	Netherlands	Eredivisie	32	4
1979–80	AFC Ajax	Netherlands	Eredivisie	33	8
1980–81	Standard Liège	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	33	4
1981–82	Standard Liège	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	34	12
1982–83	Standard Liège	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	34	19
1983–84	Standard Liège	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	28	5
1984–85	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	19	7
1985–86	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	34	6
1986–87	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	34	16
1987–88	Beerschot	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	34	6
1988–89	Beerschot	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	32	3
1989–90	Beerschot	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	33	3
1990–91	Germinal Ekeren	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	34	6
1991–92	Germinal Ekeren	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	32	4
1992–93	Germinal Ekeren	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	27	2
1993–94	Germinal Ekeren	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	33	5
1994–95	Germinal Ekeren	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	31	2
1995–96	Germinal Ekeren	Belgium	Eerste Klasse	23	0
Total				604	114

International appearances

#	Date	Match	Result	Competition
As a player of Ajax
1.	22 May 1979	Argentina – Netherlands	0 – 0	Friendly
2.	5 September 1979	Iceland – Netherlands	0 – 4	European Championship 1980 qualifier
3.	26 September 1979	Netherlands – Belgium	1 – 0	Friendly
4.	17 October 1979	Netherlands – Poland	1 – 1	European Championship 1980 qualifier
5.	21 November 1979	East Germany – Netherlands	2 – 3	European Championship 1980 qualifier
6.	23 January 1980	Spain – Netherlands	1 – 0	Friendly
As a player of Standard Liège
7.	10 September 1980	Republic of Ireland – Netherlands	2 – 1	World Cup 1982 qualifier
8.	19 November 1980	Belgium – Netherlands	1 – 0	World Cup 1982 qualifier
9.	29 April 1981	Cyprus – Netherlands	0 – 1	World Cup 1982 qualifier
10.	18 November 1981	France – Netherlands	2 – 0	World Cup 1982 qualifier
11.	23 March 1982	Scotland – Netherlands	2 – 1	Friendly
12.	25 May 1982	England – Netherlands	2 – 0	Friendly
13.	10 November 1982	Netherlands – France	1 – 2	Friendly
As a player of Feyenoord
14.	27 February 1985	Netherlands – Cyprus	7 – 1	World Cup 1986 qualifier
15.	1 May 1985	Netherlands – Austria	1 – 1	World Cup 1986 qualifier
16.	14 May 1985	Hungary – Netherlands	0 – 1	World Cup 1986 qualifier
17.	4 September 1985	Netherlands – Bulgaria	1 – 0	Friendly
18.	16 October 1985	Belgium – Netherlands	1 – 0	World Cup 1986 qualifier
19.	20 November 1985	Netherlands – Belgium	2 – 1	World Cup 1986 qualifier
20.	15 October 1986	Hungary – Netherlands	0 – 1	European Championship 1988 qualifier
21.	19 November 1986	Netherlands – Poland	0 – 0	European Championship 1988 qualifier
22.	21 December 1986	Cyprus – Netherlands	0 – 2	European Championship 1988 qualifier

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Time
1.	10 September 1980	Dublin, Ireland	Republic of Ireland	0–1	2–1	World Cup 1982 qualifier	57'
2.	10 November 1982	Rotterdam, Netherlands	France	1–0	1–2	Friendly match	6'

Club

AFC Ajax

• Eredivisie: 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80
• KNVB Cup: 1978–79

Standard Liège

• Eerste Klasse: 1981–82, 1982–83
• Belgian Cup: 1980–1981

In 1979, Simon Tahamata released the 7"-vinyl single "We gaan naar Rome" ahead of the UEFA Euro 1980 tournament, following the Netherlands placement amongst the final eight.

Since 2013 Arriva rides on the lines in the Achterhoek with treinstel 10254 named Simon Tahamata.