As a manager, he won the league and cup with Feyenoord and spent a period as the Dutch national team's assistant coach.

During an Allied bombing raid on Breskens on 11 September 1944, his father Lo, brother Isaac and his sister were killed.

During a training session of Velox, he stood on the sidelines and every ball that went wide of the goal, he shot back so accurately that coach Daan van Beek asked him to come and play for the club.

After six years with Velox, Van Hanegem moved from Utrecht to Rotterdam, where he played for Xerxes, which had just won promotion at the Eredivisie.

Ajax was interested in Van Hanegem's services, but coach Rinus Michels refused to buy the player, believing that he was not suited for "modern football" due to his lack of pace and "one-dimensional" playing style.

Van Hanegem would instead sign for Ajax's rivals Feyenoord, where he would enjoy his greatest successes, and play alongside players such as Wim Jansen, Franz Hasil, Coen Moulijn, Ove Kindvall, Ruud Geels, Theo Laseroms, Rinus Israël, Theo de Jong, Johan Boskamp and Wim Rijsbergen.

Van Hanegem played 52 times for the Dutch national team, scoring six goals in total.

He was initially selected to play for the Netherlands in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, but after his AZ teammate Hugo Hovenkamp suffered a knee injury, Van Hanegem declined to go.

[3] Van Hanegem is widely considered one of the greatest Dutch players of all time, and by some as one of the finest midfielders in football history.

Capable of playing as an attacking, central and defensive midfielder, Van Hanegem was renowned for his tactical insight and was well known for his fantastic passing range and his ability with the ball at his feet.

Whilst being known for being a playmaker, he was capable of scoring goals (being the second top scorer in the 1967-68 season of the Eredivisie) and also excel in defensive duties such as breaking up plays through tackles.

After the game (with Germany winning 2–1) Van Hanegem was the only Dutch player that left the field in tears.