Frank de Boer signs for two years with Dutch coach Al-Jazira
NOS Football–
Frank de Boer is continuing his coaching career in the United Arab Emirates. The former national team coach signed for two years with the club Al-Jazira, where he will start on July 1.
De Boer is the successor to Marcel Keizer, whose contract expired . The former Ajax coach had been trainer of the Middle Eastern club since 2019.
It is the 53-year-old De Boer’s first job in soccer since the summer of 2021. He then stepped down as national coach of Oranje after the disappointing European Championship. The Netherlands was eliminated by the Czech Republic in the eighth finals there.
De Boer became champion with Ajax four times in a row between 2011 and 2014, but then his coaching career hit a dead end. At Italian side Internazionale, he was fired after only a few months and English side Crystal Palace dismissed De Boer after only 77 days.
He then spent a year and a half in the United States at Atlanta United before becoming national team coach. After his departure from the Oranje, De Boer said several times that he was “not itching” to return to work as head coach. Until he suddenly emerged today in the United Arab Emirates.
As a player in Qatar
The 112-time international of the Dutch national team also ended his career as a player in the Middle East. The former defender of Ajax and FC Barcelona, among others, played for Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal clubs in Qatar.
At Al-Jazira, which finished fifth in the UAE last season, he will meet an old acquaintance. South African former Ajax and Vitesse midfielder Thulani Serero plays at the club.
De Boer is already the fifth Dutch coach in a row for the club of Sheikh Mansour, the emirate’s deputy prime minister. Before Keizer, Jurgen Streppel, Damiën Hertog and Henk ten Cate were employed at Al-Jazira. At the turn of the century, the club was managed by Dutch trainers Chris Dekker, Rinus Israël, Jan Versleijen, André Wetzel and Sef Vergoossen.
