THE SEASON SHIFT
Photography: Remy de Boysere
Styling: Fleur van den Broek
Creative Direction: Gilliano Nijman
Creative Assistants: Noah Stengaard Kapell,Reinout Eijkman
Words: Nikolay Demishin
Location: Ventuno Skylounge Amsterdam
MAARTEN PAES
More Than a Goalkeeper
From Dallas to Amsterdam, and from Indonesia to the club he supported as a child, Maarten Paes is building a career shaped by culture, perspective and purpose. His story is not only about football. It is about identity, growth and becoming more than the game.
Photography: Remy de Boysere
Styling: Fleur van den Broek
Creative direction: Gilliano Nijman
Creative assistants: Noah Kapell, Reinout Eijkman
Words: Nikolay Demishin
Location: Ventuno Skylounge Amsterdam
MAARTEN PAES
More Than a Goalkeeper
From Dallas to Amsterdam, and from Indonesia to the club he supported as a child, Maarten Paes is building a career shaped by culture, perspective and purpose. His story is not only about football. It is about identity, growth and becoming more than the game.
Person First
For Maarten Paes, football has never been only about performance. It has always been about growth, identity and the courage to step outside the familiar.
After four and a half years in the United States, Paes returned to the Netherlands with far more than match experience. He came back with a broader perspective, shaped by life in Dallas, by the emotional intensity of representing Indonesia and by the personal lessons that only come from leaving your comfort zone behind.
“I was very nervous before, but if I look back on it, those four and a half years definitely shaped me as a more mature person.”
That sense of maturity defines the way he speaks about both football and life. There is ambition, of course. The kind of ambition that comes with playing for a club as big as Ajax and still having moments where he admits he is still pinching himself. But there is something deeper underneath it. A calm awareness that football cannot be the only thing that defines you.
“I believe in person first.”
It is a simple sentence, but it says everything about the way Paes sees the world. In an environment where players are often reduced to results, statistics and expectations, he speaks about culture, connection and perspective. He talks about learning from different people, different countries and different ways of living.
His years in the US played a major role in that development. Dallas introduced him to a different sporting culture and a different relationship with pressure. He embraced the world around him fully, from American sports and Texas barbecue to the warmth of Southern hospitality.
“Once you integrate into a certain culture, the people will embrace you.”
A Deeper Connection
That openness also shaped his connection to Indonesia, a chapter of his journey that clearly goes far beyond football. Some of the most powerful moments in his story are not tied to trophies or clean sheets, but to family, heritage and belonging.
He speaks movingly about his grandmother, and about the way they learned the Indonesian national anthem together before his debut. It is one of those details that instantly reveals the emotional depth behind his journey.
“Every time the anthem plays, I’m thinking about her.”
That memory stayed with him when he stepped onto the pitch for Indonesia. Saving a penalty on his debut against Saudi Arabia, then hearing an entire stadium chant his name after the match against Australia, became more than football moments. They became personal milestones, charged with emotion, identity and gratitude.
“They touched my heart.”
Life Beyond the Game
What makes Paes stand out is that he does not speak like someone whose world begins and ends with football. He speaks like someone who understands the importance of building a life beyond it.
That awareness started to grow around Covid, when many athletes were forced to think about what remains when the game suddenly falls away. For Paes, it became a turning point. He started looking more seriously at business, creativity and long term identity.
“If we only identify as football players, then our whole world becomes about playing football.”
It is one of the strongest things he says, because it touches on something many athletes struggle with. The risk of becoming so consumed by the game that nothing else is allowed to exist. Paes seems determined not to fall into that trap. He talks about cultivating the mind, developing hobbies and expanding your perspective as a human being.
For him, that includes golf, padel and business ventures that genuinely connect to his lifestyle and personal interests. One of the clearest examples is the development of his own goalkeeper glove, a project that combines craftsmanship, performance and creativity in a way that feels entirely personal.
“I wanted to create my ideal glove.”
Rather than attaching his name to something that did not fully reflect him, he chose to build something of his own. That decision says a lot about how he thinks. It is not about noise. It is about ownership, authenticity and creating something that feels true to who he is.
Purpose and Impact
There is another layer to his story that gives it even more weight. Paes does not only think about career, performance or personal growth. He also thinks about impact.
For him, having a platform means having a responsibility. Representing a national team with such a massive audience has made that feel even more real. He understands that visibility can be used for more than football. It can also be used to give back, to inspire and to contribute to something bigger than yourself.
“I would love to leave the world a little bit better than I joined the world.”
That may be the line that defines him best. Because in the end, this is not only a story about a goalkeeper returning to the Netherlands, or about a player performing on some of football’s biggest stages. It is about someone building a life with intention. Someone who wants to stay curious, stay grounded and make sure the story extends beyond the pitch.
Maarten Paes represents a different kind of modern footballer. Ambitious, certainly. But also thoughtful, culturally aware and deeply invested in the person behind the player.
And that is exactly what makes his story bigger than football.
