Reinier Bertus Beeuwkes (February 17, 1884 – April 1, 1963) was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er.

Beeuwkes was born in The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

. At the beginning of the 20th century he played as goalkeeper for the team DFC

FC Dordrecht

FC Dordrecht is a football club from the city of Dordrecht in the Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie.- History :Founded on 16 August 1883 as Dordrechtsche Football Club , it became a professional club in 1954 upon the introduction of professional football to the Netherlands...

, and on 30 April 1905 played for the Netherlands in its first international game, when it won 4:1 against Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 in an away game at Antwerp.

Until 1910 he remained goalkeeper for the national team, contributing considerably to its development as one of the strongest European teams of the period. The high point of his career was playing for the Netherlands in the 1908 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

, that included football

Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Bohemia were forced to withdraw before the tournament started after losing their FIFA membership.-Semi-finals:-Bronze medal match:The French were so shocked by their humiliating 17-1 defeat against Denmark that they declined to play for the bronze medal; therefore, the Netherlands played Sweden for...

 for the first time. After Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 withdrew their teams, the Netherlands reached the semi-final uncontested, when it lost 4:0 to the later winners, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. However, it received a bronze medal for its 2:0 win against Sweden.

In 1910 he terminated his footballing career and emigrated to the Dutch East Indies

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....

, but he died in the city of his birth, The Hague.