Traveler succeeds Van de Looi as coach of young national team

Michael Reiziger succeeds Erwin van de Looi as coach of the Dutch young national team. The assistant coach who left Ajax signs with the KNVB for two years, up to and including the 2025 European Championship.

“I am happy and honored to be given this opportunity. It’s a great opportunity to start working with the biggest soccer talents in our country. I have obviously worked a lot with young soccer players, so that experience fits perfectly,” Reiziger said in an initial reaction.

“In the end, of course, it’s all about performance, so we’re going to do everything we can to be successful. I’m looking forward to getting started.”

It is a return to Zeist for Reiziger. In 2014, he was already assistant of Oranje under 17. In 2017, the former defender became first division champion with Jong Ajax.

That was a first, never before a promising team took the title in that league. Before that, he was youth coach and assistant at Sparta Rotterdam.

Nigel de Jong, director of top soccer at the KNVB, is pleased with Reiziger’s arrival. “It is a good thing that a former top player like Michael will use his knowledge and experience for Jong Oranje.”

“He knows soccer, knows what top sports mentality means and is a respected name at home and abroad,” said De Jong. “With his background as coach of Jong Ajax, he obviously has experience with the top talents and he has shown that he can get the best out of them.”

As a soccer player, Reiziger played for Ajax, AC Milan, FC Barcelona and PSV, among others. He won the Champions League, the World Cup and six national titles. Between 1994 and 2004, Reiziger played 72 times for the Dutch national team.

Next month, Jong Oranje will still play the European Championships in Georgia and Romania under the direction of Van de Looi, who had previously announced his departure from the KNVB.