Jong Oranje begins its quest for its first European title in eighteen years on Thursday evening. After an impressive qualifying series, coach Michael Reiziger’s team is ready to match the performance of Foppe de Haan’s Jong Oranje.
When the Jong Oranje players first came together in September 2023 for the qualifying series towards the 2025 European Championship, Reiziger showed them videos of the youth European Championships in 2006 and 2007. The Netherlands won both tournaments under coach De Haan.
The goals of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the actions of Royston Drenthe, the historic penalty series with 32 penalties against England, and the celebration after the European Championship win on home soil in 2007: there were plenty of highlights at the tournaments. They are also directly the last real highlights of Jong Oranje.
Due to the absence of new success, the tournaments of eighteen and nineteen years ago are still often mentioned around the Dutch promises team. By showing the images again, Reiziger hoped to trigger his players.
“It’s often about Foppe when it comes to Jong Oranje,” Reiziger said earlier this month at a press moment towards the European Championship. “If we don’t want to be constantly reminded of those images, we have to perform ourselves.”
Orange went wrong at the European Championship in 2023
In advance, Jong Oranje is a serious contender to win the European title in Slovakia this summer. The team had an impressive qualifying series, in which the team won all ten matches and conceded only three goals.
Reiziger has a lot of talent at his disposal at Jong Oranje. Devyne Rensch, Kenneth Taylor, Ian Maatsen and Jorrel Hato have already played for the big Orange. Talents such as Anass Salah-Eddine, Antoni Milambo and Ruben van Bommel also participate.
But that talent alone does not yield a European Championship victory was evident two years ago in Georgia. Under the leadership of coach Erwin van de Looi, a team including Bart Verbruggen, Ryan Gravenberch and Quinten Timber did not get past the group stage.
In order to participate for the cup now, Reiziger is hammering on “freshness” towards the tournament. “You have to stay fresh. It is important to be able to relax. If we come far, we will be together for longer than a month. Do you want to retreat for a while? Then do it.”
Reiziger wants his team to be a unit in Slovakia, with players who go through fire for each other. “That also lies in the fact that everyone accepts his role, even if someone doesn’t start. Then you create a unit.”
Meerdink was not allowed to come
With that unity in mind, Reiziger emphatically adhered to the core that secured qualification for the European Championship for his European Championship selection. Performances at the club were not always decisive. For example, Neraysho Kasanwirjo was called up, while he had only played 114 minutes since November.
Million Manhoef (Stoke City) and Myron van Brederode (Fortuna Düsseldorf), both not active at the highest level, remained with the group. Top talents such as Wouter Goes and Luciano Valente dropped out. They are now there due to the withdrawal of other players.
But AZ talent Mexx Meerdink is missing. The striker is being punished because he had canceled Jong Oranje too easily once last year. Instead of a reconciliation conversation with Meerdink, Reiziger chose Thom van Bergen and Noah Ohio, the striker from FC Groningen and the third striker from FC Utrecht.
That choice seemed mainly to avoid disrupting the group process. But Reiziger also found his choice defensible on a footballing level. “Thom has scored for us as a substitute and Noah is our top scorer. I have every confidence in them.”
Jong Oranje starts the European Championship under 21 on Thursday with a match against Jong Finland (kick-off at 9 p.m.). In the group stage, duels with Jong Denmark (Sunday) and Jong Ukraine (Wednesday) follow. The final is on June 28.
‘Those guys are still being called’
It will also be interesting to see whether transfer troubles will occupy the young internationals. From Valente who may leave for Feyenoord to Kenneth Taylor who would like to leave Ajax: a transfer is looming for several players of Jong Oranje.
“As KNVB, we are in principle cooperating with this during the tournament,” Reiziger said about this. “It’s about the future of a player. Agents are only welcome in the lobby, not on our floors. A medical examination is allowed.”
It is even possible that a player will fly to another country to complete a transfer, “as long as he makes sure he is back on time.” Reiziger is not afraid that transfer troubles will cause unrest. “Those guys are still being called by their agents. It’s best to think along.”
As a player, Reiziger failed to go home with the title at three European Championships and a World Cup. In his debut as coach of Jong Oranje, he wants to follow in the footsteps of De Haan.
Is he actually going to show the images of the tournaments under De Haan again before the European Championship? Grinning: “No, it’s time to make our own images.”