Ten Cate will assist Winter in Suriname’s bid for World Cup qualification

Henk ten Cate (68) will be the new assistant national team coach of Suriname. This is reported by the Suriname Football Federation. He will join the staff of national coach Aron Winter, who has been in charge of Suriname since September. The two other assistants are Ryan Koolwijk and Roberto Godeken.

Ten Cate has a lot of experience in European soccer. For example, he was previously an assistant coach, at FC Barcelona and Chelsea. As head coach, he managed Ajax, Sparta, NAC and Panathinaikos, among others. His last job was in 2021 in the United Arab Emirates at Al-Wahda.

With the rest of the staff, Ten Cate hopes to reach the World Cup with Suriname for the first time in history. The next World Cup will be in 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The host countries, which Suriname can normally face in qualification, are automatically qualified as hosts. And in addition, the World Cup will be expanded from 32 to 48 participants, significantly increasing Suriname’s chances of winning a World Cup ticket.

To make the team stronger, Winter and Ten Cate are trying to persuade players with Surinamese roots to play for the national team, reports the Football Association. Suriname is currently ranked 141st in the FIFA world rankings.