Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Suriname Born Players who Don't Play for Suriname

145th ranked Suriname pulled off the upset over their neighboring rivals Guyana in their recent World Cup Qualifier play-in series. Incredibly, Suriname used nearly all home-grown amateur players due to government policies regarding overseas players and will now join a qualifying group with Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Haiti.

Here I've compiled a list of players from the former Dutch colony that have left to play overseas. All of the players listed have one thing in common. They were born in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Active European Based Players Born in Suriname:

Clarence Seedorf - Netherlands (86) and AC Milan
Edgar Davids - Netherlands (74) and Free Agent - LA Galaxy?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - Netherlands (23) and Cardiff City
Romeo Castelen - Netherlands (10) and Hamburger SV
Andwélé Slory - Netherlands (2) and Feyenoord
Dwight Tiendalli - Netherlands U21 and Sparta Rotterdam
Edson Braafheid - Netherlands U21 and FC Twente
Lorenzo Davids - Netherlands U21 and NEC Nijmegen
Nordin Wooter - Netherlands U21 and AEK Larnarca (Cyprus)
Leroy George - FC Utrecht
Sigourney Bandjar - Excelsior Rotterdam
Fabian Wilnis - Ipswich Town (Released end of 2008)
Mark De Vries - Dundee United
Darl Douglas - Willem II
Kurt Elshot - NAC Breda
Purrel Fränkel - De Graafschap
Cerezo Fung a Wing - De Graafschap
Kelvin Maynard - FC Volendam
Samuel Koejoe - FSV Frankfurt (2.Bundesliga Germany)
Nicandro Breeveld - FC Omniworld
Adilio Augustin - Haarlem
Rodney Cairo - Haarlem
Toevaro Pinas - Stormvogels Telstar


There are dozens of players playing in Holland and elsewhere that could have played for Suriname. However, Suriname's government doesn't allow for dual citizenship, so once a player accepts another nation (generally the Netherlands), he can no longer return to play for his home country. Conversely, Dutch born Surinamese don't play for Suriname either, as they'd have to give up their Dutch citizenship to do so.

If their government rules were different, Suriname would very likely be one of the top teams in CONCACAF and the Caribbean region, similar to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago who've used many players that are based in and were born in England.

It's not only an issue for soccer players as about 350,000 people from the small Brazilian neighbor have left the country to live in the Netherlands. That is about a quarter of the entire population of the country.

I'm sure there are even more players overseas, but without knowing the Dutch language, it is difficult to find player information for the second division and below.

Included with these players are many great players of Surinamese descent that were born in the Netherlands.

Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Aron Winter, Gerald Vanenburg, Patrick Kluivert, Ryan Babel, Royston Drenthe, Boy Waterman, Ryan Donk, Gianni Zuiverloon, Maceo Rigters, and many more.

Pretty impressive list.

Suriname's Little Secret
from Fifa.com



Interesting Geography Fact:
Suriname was aquired by the Netherlands in a trade with England for New Amsterdam, the present day Manhattan.

3 comments:

  1. I was always intrigue about this. It is too bad that a few group of people(probably corrupt individuals) can change the course of a country. They have no idea what they are doing. The revenue that soccer can create can change the life of a poor country.

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  2. Suriname Govt. should changed their football policy for the betterment of football...

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  3. I am not sure if it si the Surinamese government which is to be blamed for this. May be also internal matters of the Surinamese Football Bond are playing an important role. Remember that Clarence Seeforf has offered his services to the former board but was simply sent away with the remark that they were ver well capable of making their own decisions. Think that people from Suriname who have lived and worked in oa.Holland are also seen as bakra's so their interference is not tolerated.

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