HOLLAND AND BRAZIL - A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
Several of the Dutch side are close to being of Brazilian ancestry, being of Surinamese ancestry - either born or growing up in Suriname, the former Dutch colony on Brazil's northern border.
In the current squad, Nigel de Jong, Michel Vorm, Georginio Wijnaldum and Jeremain Lens are of Surinamese descent.
(Against Spain, de Jong started and Wijnaldum and Lens came on as subs; Vorm the second-choice keeper)
Five others are of Caribbean or African descent.
Jeremain Lens, the Dynamo Kiev striker's uncle is Sigi Lens, a former professional footballer who was one of the 11 survivors of the tragic plane crash in Surinam in 1989 that killed 176 people, among them a group of Dutch football players of Surinamese descent who were travelling for a friendly match. Sigi Lens couldn't play football again after the disaster because of hip problems caused by his injuries...but became one of Holland's leading players' agents, including handling most of the major Dutch Surinamese stars.
328,300 Surinamese people live in the Netherlands, compared to 438,000 Surinamese in Suriname itself.
Dutch is the official language of Suriname. Only became independent in 1975.
The Dutch swapped New York for Suriname in 1674 with England - thus ensuring football rather than economic benefits!
Dutch football greats of Surinamese descent include Gullit, Rijkaard, Kluivert (current assistant to van Gaal), Seedorf, Davids, Winter, Hasselbaink, Vanenburg, Bogarde and Babel.
About 30 players of Surinamese descent have played for Holland. Frank Rijkaard has managed Holland.
In 1991 a Suriname XI featuring Gullit, Rijkaard, Bogarde etc. beat Holland 3-1 in an unofficial international.
Much interesting info about Suriname and it's impact on Dutch football:
"HOW HOLLAND BECAME THE BRAZIL OF EUROPEAN FOOTBALL"
http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/how-holland-bec...
"It’s five times bigger than the Netherlands, has a population of half a million and its main exports are bauxite, bananas and footballers..."
The famed tolerance and open mindedness of Dutch society has also contributed to the Surinamese having a bigger impact on Dutch football than the relatively minor impact of players from former British colonies in the Caribbean have had on British football....
Edgar Davids has a theory. ‘Surinam has many similarities to Brazil,’ says the Juventus midfielder who was born in Coronie, 130 miles west of Paramaribo [capital of Suriname]. ‘There’s a lot of poverty and a lot of kids on the street who have no money, come from broken homes and have plenty of time on their hands. They play football all the time and they learn to play with their bare feet.’
http://makingplansfornigel.wordpress.com/2012/05/2...
Hypothetically, a Suriname national team (composed of Dutch Surinamese) would have been dynamite at World Cup 1998.
Three of the starters and four on the bench for Holland v Brazil in the 1998 semi were of Surinamese ancestry.
