Suriname 2

 

Roscello Vlijter (Telstar, NED)
vs. Dominca (2:1) | Nations League | 2019 in Dominica

I always found Suriname a bit curious. When the world decolonised in the 20th century (too late and still not entirely) the Dutch apparently forgot to decolonise their share of the American continent entirely. They uphold their strong grip on Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten, even sending warships when local independence desires become visible, as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is one exception: The Dutch did grant Suriname independence for 1975. The country, roughly 4 times the size of the Netherlands, must have been either be too big or too unattractive for the Dutch to suppress any further.

Anyways, back to football. Suriname is clearly not a big shot in international football. One reason for that is that Suriname players often do have a Dutch passport and end up playing for the Netherlands, if they are good enough. That is true for the likes of Edgar Davids, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink or Aron Winter, who were all born while Suriname was still a Dutch colony. Weirdly, it is also true for Edson Braafheid, Romeo Castelen, Clarence Seedorf or Owen Wijndal, who have all been born as Surinamese in an independent Suriname state. The Suriname national team, as a result, was reduced to using the players the Dutch dismissed and thus struggled to compete even with the small island nations of the Caribbean most of the time.

Lately, that changed slightly. Players like Real Sociedad's Sheraldo Becker or Hamburgs Immanuel Pherai have decided to play for Suriname and do regularly make the long travel to South America to play for the team. It did not make them a powerhouse of North American football, yet, but they are getting closer, as close encounters like a 0:1 against Canada in November 2024 proof. Good for them.

Now for the shirt, I cannot really recall what i pay for it, but guess it was around 50€ Euro. I did buy it from Nick, who somehow sorted a bit of an bulk order from Klupp. My main motivation to get this rather neat Suriname shirt was exactly that manufacturer - it is another rather small shirt manufacturer to add to my collection.