Suriname national football team


The Suriname national football team represent Suriname in international football. It is controlled by the Surinamese Football Association.

History

Although the former Dutch colony is located in South America, it competes in CONCACAF, together with Guyana and French Guiana. Suriname was one of the founding members of CONCACAF in 1961. Suriname won the CFU Championship in 1978, were runners-up in 1979 and have achieved three fourth place finishes in the CFU Championship/Caribbean Cup.
Suriname discourages dual citizenship and Surinamese-Dutch players who have picked up a Netherlands passport – which, crucially, offers legal work status in almost any European league – are barred from selection to the national team. Many Suriname-born players and Dutch-born players of Surinamese descent, like Gerald Vanenburg, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Aron Winter, Georginio Wijnaldum, Virgil van Dijk and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink have turned out to play for the Dutch national team. In 1999, Humphrey Mijnals, who played for both Suriname and the Netherlands, was elected Surinamese footballer of the century. Another famous player is André Kamperveen, who captained Suriname in the 1940s and was the first Surinamese to play professionally in the Netherlands.
Suriname has participated in the qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup since 1962, but has never qualified for the finals. Suriname's strongest showing in World Cup qualification was the campaign for the 1978 finals, when the national team reached the final group stage.
Suriname also came second in CONCACAF qualifying for the 1964 Olympics, behind qualifiers Mexico and third in qualifying for the 1980 Olympics, behind qualifiers Costa Rica and United States. The US then boycotted the Moscow Olympics, and were replaced by Cuba in the football tournament, after Suriname opted to boycott the games as well.
In 2008 Suriname advanced to the group stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying despite using only local players. With their two-leg victory over neighbours Guyana, Suriname moved on to face Haiti, Costa Rica, and El Salvador in the third round.
Inspired by the success of teams with dual nationals, especially Algeria, SVB president John Krishnadath submitted a proposal to the national assembly to allow dual citizenship for athletes with the then-goal of reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals. In order to support this project, a team with professional players of Surinamese origin was assembled and played an exhibition match on 26 December 2014 at the Andre Kamperveen Stadion. The project is managed by Nordin Wooter and David Endt, who have set up a presentation and sent invitations to 100 players of Surinamese origin, receiving 85 positive answers. Dean Gorré was named to coach this special selection. FIFA supported the project and granted insurance for the players and clubs despite the match being unofficial.
As of May 2015, Gorré was the national team coach who oversaw both the official and unofficial teams. The professional team consisted of players willing to commit to Suriname if the dual-citizenship bill was approved, and played two international matches. In 2016, Roberto Gödeken became the head coach once again. In qualification for the 2017 Caribbean Cup, Suriname secured a spot in the third round, but finished second behind Jamaica in their group. However, as one of the three best second place finishers, Suriname advanced to face Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti in the 5th place play-off. Suriname won the match against Trinidad and Tobago, but lost against Haiti, and therefore once again failed to make an appearance in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
In 2018 Dean Gorré signed a new 2 year contract with the SVB to manage Natio once more. His first game ended in a draw against Dominica in Nations League qualifiers. Gorré became not only the head coach of the senior team, but also overseas the youth teams and also has a helping hand in the introduction of a professional league in the country. Gorré also managed to arrange trainingcamps for the national team in the Netherlands, where Natio have test their strength against professional and amateur football clubs.
Suriname qualified for the CONCACAF Nations League B after wins against Saint Kitts and Nevis and British Virgin Islands, draw against Dominica and a loss against Jamaica. Suriname got to share a group with Nicaragua, SVG and Dominica. After a narrow away win against Dominica, Suriname got to bag a massive 6-0 win at home against Nicaragua.
In November 2019, it was announced that a so-called sports passport would allow Dutch professional footballers from the Surinamese diaspora to represent Suriname. On 19 November, Suriname qualified for the 2021 Gold Cup with 2-1 CONCACAF Nations League win over Nicaragua. It will be their debut in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and their first appearance in a CONCACAF tournament since 1985.

Competitive record

CFU Caribbean Cup

CCCF Championship

CONCACAF Gold Cup

FIFA World Cup

Pan American Games

Team records

Wins

; Largest win :
; Largest win at the CONCACAF Championship finals : none
; Largest win at the CCCF Championship finals :
; Largest win at the CFU Championship finals :
; Largest win at the Caribbean Cup finals :
; Largest win at the Pan American Games :
; Largest win at the CONCACAF Nations League:
; Largest win at the ABCS Tournament :
; Highest scoring draw :
; Highest scoring draw at the CONCACAF Championship finals :
; Highest scoring draw at the CCCF Championship finals :
; Highest scoring draw at the CFU Championship finals :
; Highest scoring draw at the Caribbean Cup finals :
; Highest scoring draw at the Pan American Games :
; Highest scoring draw at the ABCS Tournament :
1. Tournament follows a knock-out format, and matches cannot end on a draw.

Defeats

; Largest defeat:
; Largest defeat at the CONCACAF Championship finals : 8–1 vs on 15 October 1977, 1977 CONCACAF Championship
; Largest defeat at the CCCF Championship finals :
; Largest defeat at the CFU Championship finals :
; Largest defeat at the Caribbean Cup finals :
; Largest defeat at the Pan American Games :
; Largest defeat at the ABCS Tournament :
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2019

2020

Players

Current squad

The following players have been called up by coach Dean Gorré for CONCACAF Nations League. Caps and goals as of 15 November 2019 .

Recent call-ups

The following players have been recently called up by the national squad.
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Coaching staff


Head Coach Dean Gorré
Assistant Coach Eugene Verwey
Assistant Coach Warner Blackson
Team Manager Neil Sakimin
Goalkeeping coaches Stephen Burke

Jack Mangalie
Equipment Manager Marlon van Coblijn
Team Doctor Deepak Sardjoe

List of Coaches

All-time record against other nations

As of June 11, 2016
TeamPldWDL
332067
257612
2011
19865
16367
13742
131210
11218
13733
10505
9342
7007
7106
5221
5023
5311
5032
3021
3201
4202
2200
3012
2101
2002
1001
1001
1001
1001
1100
1001
1100
1001
1100
1001
3300
1010
1010
4211
1100
Total237845199

Honours