‘If we get into the opponent’s circle, I know one thing for sure: Boris Burkhardt is at the second post,’ Amsterdam coach Rick Mathijssen says, laughing. Amsterdam’s striker is – together with Miles Bukkens of Pinoké – top scorer of the Tulip Hoofdklasse with eighteen goals. ‘I know what my role is,’ Burkhardt said confidently.
Sunday afternoon in the home game against Pinoké (3-1), Burkhardt once again showed his best side. Pieloos Floris Middendorp, on the right flank just over the halfway line, has yet to start his dribble, or Burkhardt is already ready in his familiar spot, at the far post. Sneaking away from the back of his defender. A few moments later, he puts his stick on the ground and puts Amsterdam up 2-0. Knowing where the ball is coming is his sixth sense.
Mathijssen recently spoke with Roel Bovendeert, the former striker under his tutelage at Bloemendaal who, like Burkhardt, mastered the art of scoring. ‘Some players understand exactly how to choose position,’ Mathijssen said. ‘When Roel quit at Bloemendaal, I knew that would cost us twenty goals. If Boris ever quits at Amsterdam, that will cost us twenty goals, too. Of course, you always get another player in return. But whether he will score those twenty goals just like that, you always have to see.’
Boris Burkhardt scored one goal in Sunday’s home game against Pinoké (3-1). Photo: Bart Scheulderman
‘The Inzaghi of Amsterdam’
Filippo Inzaghi was the classic striker of Juventus (1997-2001), AC Milan (2001-2012) and the Italian national team (57 internationals, 25 goals). He was known for always being in the right place at the right time. Johan Cruijff once said of him, “He can’t play soccer, but he always scores.
Mathijssen calls Burkhardt the Inzaghi of Amsterdam. ‘At a rondo, Inzaghi struggled to keep up with the level, but he did score twenty goals a season. Now I don’t want to compare Boris directly to Inzaghi, because Boris is better. But you get what I mean. Intuitively he feels where he needs to be to score. That he can’t get the ball back and forth 38 times in four seconds, that’s true. We have other players for that as well. His role is clear and the rest of the team tries to serve him as well as possible. He’s mega important for us.
Eighteen goals Burkhardt already put in in the first thirteen rounds of play. Nine of those were field goals. Only Nathan Ephraums, Bloemendaal’s striker, has scored more field goals than Burkhardt in the league this season. He himself describes his role as follows: ‘I think everyone on the team knows what their job is. That also applies to me. I get involved late in the game. My strength lies in the circle. There are guys here who are strong on the flanks or who can make excellent passes. Often the balls are handed to me on a silver platter. All I have to do is shoot them in.’
But by characterizing him purely as a goal thief, you do him wrong. He has already given six assists this season, the highest number in the entire league, along with Rotterdam icon Jeroen Hertzberger. In addition, Burkhardt has an excellent drag flick, from which he has already scored seven times.
Burkhardt gets a hand from South African international Musthapha Cassiem. Photo: Bart Scheulderman
Dutch national team
Burkhardt is 28 years old. An age when you might normally be at your best. On the one hand, he is. He can already smell his personal record of 21 goals (2023/2024). At the same time, the young dog in him is gone. The Dutch national team, which he got a brief taste of in 2023 with thirteen internationals, now plays no role in his mind. He has taken another turn in his life. For example, he recently founded his own start-up after working for several years at CapitalT, a fund that invests in AI-driven tech companies.
‘For now, I am focusing on other challenges and consider my period at Orange closed for the time being. At Orange, a new phase has begun. I’m not working on it at all. Besides, it’s no fun to dangle at the bottom of the selection. Certainly not when you are older, like me. Then it’s time for new challenges. When you are younger, it is easier to give a certain commitment,’ says Burkhardt, who also realizes that the competition at the reigning Olympic champion is murderous. Still, he doesn’t rule anything out, he stresses. ‘If it comes, it comes. And if not, it won’t.’
