Michael Reiziger

Michael John Reiziger (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑi̯kəl ˈd͡ʒɔn ˈrɛi̯zəɣər], born 3 May 1973) is a retired Dutch footballer who played mainly as a right back.

After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champions League, he went on to represent four teams in four countries, most notably Barcelona for which he played in 249 official games in seven years.

Reiziger played one full decade with the Dutch national team, representing the nation in three European Championships and the 1998 World Cup, finishing fourth in the latter tournament.

Club career

Born in Amstelveen, North Holland to Surinamese parents,^[1] Reiziger started his career with hometown's AFC Ajax, making his first-team debuts at the age of 17 then serving two consecutive loan spells, with FC Volendam and FC Groningen: with the latter, in the 1993–94 season, he scored a career-best six goals, while operating also as a midfielder.

Upon his return to Ajax, Reiziger established himself as a renowned defensive element, helping the club to, among other conquests, the 1994–95 Champions League. In 1996 he signed for A.C. Milan, but after an injury-hit season, he departed for FC Barcelona, where he spent the following seven years, arriving at the same time as countrymen and former Ajax boss Louis van Gaal: almost never an undisputed starter, he did manage to feature heavily for the Catalans, amassing more than 200 overall appearances and helping the club to back-to-back La Liga titles.

In 2004, Reiziger moved to Middlesbrough on a Bosman transfer. He scored once in the league for Boro, against Aston Villa in December 2004.^[2] However, after another campaign dealing with several injuries, he left and returned to the Netherlands, playing his final two years at PSV Eindhoven (in his second, he won the league, and was also reunited with Ajax, Barça and national team mate Patrick Kluivert, although the two rarely ever played).^[3]

After retiring, Reiziger settled in Barcelona. He later went on to coach Sparta Rotterdam at youth level.

International career

Reiziger (wearing No.2) in the Dutch wall, facing a free kick against Sweden at Euro 2004.

Reiziger made his debut for the Dutch national team on 12 October 1994, against Norway. He played for his country at the UEFA Euro 1996, 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, retiring from international play after the latter.^[4]

Shortly after he signed for PSV, Reiziger said he would consider playing for the Netherlands again if the opportunity arose, but he was never recalled again, totalling 72 internationals in ten years.^[5]

International goal

Scores and results list Reiziger's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	18 November 1998	Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen, Germany	Germany	1–0	1–1	Friendly

Statistics

Club

^[6]

International

^[7]

Honours

Ajax

• UEFA Champions League: 1994–95
• UEFA Super Cup: 1995
• UEFA Cup: 1991–92
• Intercontinental Cup: 1995
• Eredivisie: 1994–95, 1995–96
• KNVB Cup: 1992–93
• Johan Cruijff Shield: 1994, 1995

Barcelona

• UEFA Super Cup: 1997
• La Liga: 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey: 1997–98

PSV

• Eredivisie: 2005–06, 2006–07

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michael Reiziger.

• Beijen profile (Dutch)
• Michael Reiziger profile at BDFutbol
• Michael Reiziger career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Michael Reiziger profile and stats at Wereld van Oranje (Dutch)
• Michael Reiziger at National-Football-Teams.com
• Michael Reiziger – FIFA competition record

Netherlands squads
Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Van der Sar 2 Reiziger 3 Blind (c) 4 Seedorf 5 Stam 6 De Boer 7 Taument 8 Davids 9 Kluivert 10 Bergkamp 11 Hoekstra 12 Winter 13 Numan 14 Witschge 15 Bogarde 16 De Goey 17 Cruyff 18 De Kock 19 Mulder 20 Cocu 21 Hesp 22 Veldman Coach: Hiddink Netherlands squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Van der Sar 2 Reiziger 3 Stam 4 F. de Boer (c) 5 Numan 6 Jonk 7 R. de Boer 8 Bergkamp 9 Kluivert 10 Seedorf 11 Cocu 12 Zenden 13 Ooijer 14 Overmars 15 Bogarde 16 Davids 17 Van Hooijdonk 18 De Goey 19 Van Bronckhorst 20 Winter 21 Hasselbaink 22 Hesp Coach: Hiddink Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2000 semi-finalists 1 Van der Sar 2 Reiziger 3 Stam 4 F. de Boer (c) 5 Zenden 6 Seedorf 7 Cocu 8 Davids 9 Kluivert 10 Bergkamp 11 Overmars 12 Van Bronckhorst 13 Konterman 14 Van Vossen 15 Bosvelt 16 R. de Boer 17 Van Hooijdonk 18 De Goey 19 Numan 20 Winter 21 Makaay 22 Westerveld Coach: Rijkaard Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2004 semi-finalists 1 Van der Sar 2 Reiziger 3 Stam 4 Bouma 5 Van Bronckhorst 6 Cocu 7 Van der Meyde 8 Davids 9 Kluivert 10 Van Nistelrooy 11 Van der Vaart 12 Makaay 13 Westerveld 14 Sneijder 15 De Boer (c) 16 Overmars 17 Van Hooijdonk 18 Heitinga 19 Robben 20 Seedorf 21 Bosvelt 22 Zenden 23 Waterreus Coach: Advocaat