The Real Dutch National Team
The Netherlands, a footballing powerhouse over generations, the birthplace of total football, wearers of the iconic orange strip. Producers of great talents, Virgil Van Dijk, Johan Cruyff and Ruud Gullit. Mainstays of the Dutch national team all with their own legacies to leave behind. What about the likes of Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and Jerrel (Jimmy) Floyd Hasselbaink? All representing Holland over the years to huge successes, but what if you were told that not one of these three are even European? Would it be surprising to hear that these three players, along with many others to have donned the orange shirt, are from South America?
How is it possible for so many South American born players to ply their international trade for a European giant then? A mixture of history and geography is required to find an answer to this. So, what is this mystery nation in South America? Suriname (Dutch Guiana), possibly the least recognisable country on the continent, some would argue this could be Guyana or even French Guiana, both of whom sandwich Suriname on the map. The smallest independent nation on the continent with a population of just over half a million people. A small nation on the other side of the world, where do the Dutch come into this?
Turning back the clock, Suriname became a Dutch Colony on the 26th of February in 1667, this came about after Dutch forces captured the region and removed the control of Francis Willoughby’s English colony. In late 1954 Suriname was officially named as a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in similar fashion to how Greenland and the Faroe Islands are a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. This means Suriname has full autonomy of its nation with the Netherlands retaining control over its defences and foreign affairs.
Such a small nation in South America, with the Dutch lending their services, Suriname must be a well-developed country then? Actually, no. Suriname is a developing country, it is not just the smallest independent nation in South America, it is also one of the poorest. With one in every two people are deemed to be impoverished. The nation is rich in oil and gold but countries like Russia and the USA have exploited the supply. This is no more evident than in 2016, the GDP of Suriname plummeted whereas the USA increased their GDP by four trillion dollars.
How are so many Dutch players linked to Suriname? Thousands of Suriname natives have made the move to the Netherlands over the years, this stems back to the very start of the Dutch colonisation. This gives a lot of ancestorial links to Suriname born people to adopt the Netherlands as their representative nation. The likes of Hasselbaink, Davids and Seedorf were all born in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. All three moved to the Netherlands as infants and have since embraced their adopted homes, going on to become some of the greatest players for the nation.
A nation that produces some of the finest footballers to have played the game and still do. That must mean they have a large pool of players eligible to play for the Suriname national team, right? Unfortunately, not. The Surinamese government has a long-standing rule in place which prevents this. If somebody has moved to mainland Netherlands and take up Dutch citizenship, then they are no longer allowed to represent Suriname. It is commonplace in this day and age for players to switch allegiances to smaller nations if they cannot break through into the nation they want to represent. For example, Wilfried Zaha was on the cusp of breaking into the England national team but never quite made it, he then switched his allegiance to the Ivory Coast with his ancestorial links allowing him to do so. Zaha has gone on to become an integral part of the national team. This is not possible for Surinamese players though. This has resulted in the Suriname national team mostly being made up of amateur players from its domestic leagues. However, if the strict governmental rule was abolished Suriname would have access to so many players that just aren’t quite good enough to play for the powerhouse that is the Netherlands. Ryan Babel, Eljero Elia and Roysten Drenthe for example. It is understandable why the best of the best chooses to represent the Netherlands, they want to push themselves to win major tournaments, but surely there are hundreds of players playing in the Netherlands, whether they be in the Eredivisie or the lower leagues, they will be of better quality than the current amateurs representing Suriname.
The Suriname national team uniquely play their international tournament games in a different confederation to where they are located, just like Australia playing in the Asian Football Confederation instead of the Oceania Football Confederation. Slightly different to Australia though, who moved because of their continued dominance over the region, Suriname play in CONCACAF as opposed to CONMEBOL due to cultural ties with the Caribbean. Historically this must be hugely beneficial to the Suriname football team, avoiding playing the likes of Brazil and Argentina in qualification games and instead playing nations such as Curaçao and Guadeloupe.
If the government removed the citizenship ruling, they have in place, surely this and the participation in CONCACAF over CONMEBOL would lead to a more successful national team? It is difficult to see a decrease in success if these parameters were met surely? Topflight and lower league footballers playing in the Netherlands who are eligible to play for Suriname are almost certainly of better quality than that of players from Haiti, Aruba and potentially even Jamaica. The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup is an excellent example, Suriname was put into the same group as Jamaica, Costa Rica and Guadeloupe, losing by two goals to Costa Rica and by just the one against Jamaica. Remember this team is almost fully amateur and they are losing in their confederation’s tournament by the odd goal. Jamaica can field Premier League Stars like Bobby Decordova- Reid and Michael Antonio and to lose by just the one goal is an achievement within itself.
How far could Suriname actually go if they removed the citizenship ruling? Depending on the draw it would be difficult to see Suriname fail to get out of their group and into the knockout stages. Now with the extended 48 team World Cup as well it would be a fantastic time for Suriname to really push for success. Obviously, it is unlikely that the big stars like Virgil Van Dijk, who would be eligible, to ever switch allegiance to Suriname but there would be many that would switch for international football.
An impoverished nation in South America, with a footballing legacy many should be jealous of. No doubt the Surinamese will be Supporting the Netherlands at the European Championship. Who knows, maybe one day, with the removal of citizenship rules the Kingdom of the Netherlands can be the champions of Europe and CONCACAF simultaneously.
Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell
