Michael Reiziger Biography

Michael Reiziger, born 3 May 1973 in Amstelveen, is a Dutch coach and retired footballer who used to play as a defender for many European clubs and the Dutch national team. Reiziger learned to play football in a small club in his hometown of Amstelveen, Sint Martinus. Afterwards, however, Reiziger went on to be a member of the famous football academy of Ajax Amsterdam.

His start in the first team was not a very successful one. He made his debut in the Eredivisie on 21 April 1991 in a 4-0 win over Sc Heerenveen, however, in each of the first 3 seasons he played only a few minutes. Because of this, he was loaned out - initially to FC Volendam and then to FC Groningen. He played for the latter team in the 1993-1994 season and had a good one, scoring 6 goals in 34 games.

Thanks to his good performance, he immediately came back to Ajax Amsterdam and joined the starting eleven in style. AFC Ajax managed to win the European Cup and Reiziger proved to be one of the best players that season. After the 1996 season, his contract with Ajax was not extended, and there were plenty of clubs willing to take the defender for free.

It was at that time that Reiziger opted for an offer from A.C. Milan. While at Milan, however, he failed to demonstrate his full potential as he suffered an injury that only allowed him to play 10 games in Serie A. He was then approached by FC Barcelona, and since more and more players of Dutch origin were being signed for FC Barcelona, Reiziger also made the move there.

And FC Barcelona paid 8 million euros for him. Reiziger won the Spanish league championship twice (1998 and 1999) and Spanish Cup twice (1997 and 1998) during 7 years spent in Barcelona. He played a total of 174 league games in La Liga from 1996 to 2004, without scoring a goal.

All You Need to Know About Michael Reiziger Biography

His contract was not renewed in the summer of 2004 and he joined

In the English Premier League. Reiziger played only a few games and was plagued by frequent injuries and played only 22 matches over 2 seasons. Finally, in August 2005, he went back to his home country and played for

, where he won the Dutch championship in 2006 and 2007. He retired from playing professional football in 2007.

For the Netherlands national team, Reiziger had his debut on 12 October 1994 in a 1-1 match against Norway. Reiziger played with the national team at 4 major events: World Cup in 1998 as well as Euro 96, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. In total, Reiziger played 72 games and scored 1 goal for the Dutch national team.

Michael Reiziger Information

Now that we know the Dutch coach much better, in this section of

Michael Reiziger biography

we will share more general information about him such as

Michael Reiziger nationality

to let you know him even better.

Michael Reiziger Bio

• Full Name: Michael John Reiziger

• Nickname: Traveler

• Profession: Professional Football Coach

Michael Reiziger Physical Stats

• Weight: 73 Kg

• Height: 1.78 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Black

Michael Reiziger Football Information

• Position: Defender

• Jersey Number: 2

• Professional Debut: 1990

Michael Reiziger Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 3 May 1973

• Birth Place: Amstelveen, Netherlands

• Zodiac Sign: Taurus

• Nationality: Dutch

Now stay tuned to this section of

Michael Reiziger biography

as we want to share some info about

Michael Reiziger childhood

.

Michael Reiziger Early Life

Born in Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam, young Michael started out with his local team, Sint Martinus. At the age of 12, Michael was spotted and joined the

training centre. He signed his first professional contract at 17 but soon had to go out on loan to develop his skills.

Nevertheless, before leaving, he won the UEFA Cup in 1992. First, he was sent to Volendam, but the experience was not a great success, and subsequently to

, who did him a lot of good. He played as a right midfielder and scored 6 goals in 34 games.

Michael Reiziger Profile

He returned to the limelight in 1994, impressing Van Gaal and becoming the right-back of the future team that took part in Ajax's incredible Champions League triumphs in 1995 (won) and 1996 (lost). Although not necessarily the best, he never looked the worst on the pitch on match days, and Michael Reiziger was a reassuring presence on the right flank.

AC Milan

Following his time in Amsterdam, Reiziger transferred to Italian national champion

. There he was little appreciated in a tough season, where the club finished in a disappointing eleventh place. Reiziger played ten matches. By the time Van Gaal contacted him again from Catalonia, he was soon on the move to Barcelona.

Now stay tuned to this section of Michael Reiziger biography as we want to share some info about his

career.

FC Barcelona

With FC Barcelona, Reiziger again became a key player and won the Spanish league title and the Copa del Rey. Following an earlier European Cup II win, Barça also participated in the UEFA Super Cup in 1997/1998, which they won as well.

Reiziger was reunited the following season with Dutch players Patrick Kluivert, Winston Bogarde and Ronald and Frank de Boer, all of whom were brought to Barcelona. Together they proclaimed Barcelona's league title. In Reizigers' third season in

, the club won nothing.

In the following three years, Barcelona failed to keep up with the absolute top. In the 2001/2002 season, Reiziger played less, especially in that season, in which he played just thirteen times. Despite this, he usually was the first choice for the fullback position.

Barcelona started to recover in the 2003/2004 season, with a new board and a new coach. In this process, Reiziger was so important that the Spanish sports press voted him into the team of the year. On the other hand, the Socios and the board had enough of the Dutch enclave, so Reiziger, among others, was forced out of the club after the season.

Middlesbrough

The Dutchman found a new employer in Middlesbrough, notwithstanding the interest of Valencia. Along with fellow countrymen Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Boudewijn Zenden and George Boateng, he was again in the selection of a foreign club.

Reiziger was the first choice of coach Steve McClaren in the Premier League, but injury prevented him from playing. After a season and a half and 22 league games, the English team released him.

PSV

After that PSV got the defender back in the

. There he failed to convince most critics, but he did win the Dutch title with the club. In the 2006/2007 season, he was placed on the reserve bench. Whenever he played, it was mainly at left-back.

During the last matchday, he won the Dutch title again with PSV. In May 2007, it was announced that his contract would not be extended, while Reiziger wanted to end his career in the Middle East, but decided to retire from football.

Now stay tuned to this section of

Michael Reiziger biography

as we want to share some info about his career in the national team.

Netherlands National Team

Reiziger made his international debut for the Dutch national team on 12 October 1994 against Norway. For the Oranje, he played 72 senior international matches and retired after Euro 2004. The first major tournament for Reiziger was the 1996 European Championship, where they were knocked out by France in the quarter-finals.

He and the national team made it to the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup but were defeated 4-2 on penalties against

. In the third-place playoff match, the team was beaten by Croatia. Reiziger played four out of a possible seven matches.

At the 2000 European Football Championships in his own country, Reiziger only played in two matches. The

were knocked out in the semi-finals, just as they had been at the 1998

two years earlier.

Reiziger's last tournament with the Netherlands was the 2004 European Football Championship, where the Dutch again reached the semi-finals before being defeated. He made four appearances in that tournament.

Coaching Career

Thanks to his achievements as a football player (four final tournaments with the Dutch national team and two European club finals), Reiziger was qualified for the accelerated Professional Football Coach course.

It was announced on 29 April 2008 that Reiziger would be taking part in the trainer's course, with former teammates Dennis Bergkamp, Phillip Cocu and Patrick Kluivert also following the course during the 2008/2009 season.

Sparta Rotterdam

Reiziger started working as a youth coach at

in the summer of 2013. It was announced on 30 December 2014 that Reiziger would become the assistant to new coach Alex Pastoor.

Jong Ajax

Reiziger signed a two-year contract as coach of

on 21 June 2017, replacing Marcel Keizer, who had been promoted to coach Ajax's main squad on 17 June 2017. It was revealed on 23 June 2017 that former teammate Winston Bogarde had been named Reiziger's assistant.

In his first match in charge of the Jon Ajax team, Reiziger was able to win 1-2 against SC Cambuur-Leeuwarden on 18 August 2017. This was followed by two other 4-2 and 3-0 wins against

and PSV Eindhoven U21.

Jong Ajax’s first defeat of the season came on the 10th matchday of the Jupiler Leaguer, where the team suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat against Go Ahead Eagles. The team went on to suffer three consecutive defeats against De Graafschap Doetinchem, AZ Alkmaar U21 and NEC Nijmegen, dropping to third place in the table.

However, thanks to their six consecutive wins of the last six matches of the Jupiler League, Jong ajax managed to win the league under the guidance of Michael Reiziger with 79 points in 38 matches, just one point more than their rivals Fortuna Sittard. This made Jong Ajax the first underage team to become Jupiler League champions.

Michael Reiziger started his second season in charge of the team with a 1-2 defeat against Roda JC Kerkrade. It was a rather mixed season for the coach and the team, as they were never able to repeat the successes of the last season.

The highlight of that season for Jong Ajax was definitely their four consecutive wins against Twente Enschede FC, TOP Oss, Almere City FC and Sparta Rotterdam. That season they also suffered some heavy defeats like the 0-6 home defeat to SC Cambuur-Leeuwarden and the 2-5 loss against Twente Enschede FC.

Having won their last match against Almere City FC with a score of 8-0, Michael Reiziger’s team finished 11th in the league with just 56 points in 38 matches, which was far worse than their performance in the previous season.

Interim coach and assistant of Ajax

He was appointed interim coach of the senior team on 21 December to fill in for the relieved Marcel Keizer, picking Winston Bogarde as his assistant. He debuted in the 3-1 home win against Willem II. A week later, he left the team to Erik ten Hag, thus rejoining the reserve team. He was chosen as ten Hag's assistant in the first team on 28 May 2019 in place of Aron Winter.

Now stay tuned to this section of Michael Reiziger biography as we want to share some info about his playing style.

Style of Play

Michael Reiziger was an attacking full-back who mainly played on the right flank, with speed and marking skills of his own. He was also able to play as a central defender when necessary and was a fast and efficient player.

Reception

During his playing days, Michael Reiziger was able to establish himself as one of the best attacking fullbacks of his generation, playing on the highest level of European football for so many years. He also was one of the key players of the Dutch national football team during the prime days of his career.

Michael Reiziger outside Football

While not long after his retirement from playing football Reiziger started his training as a coach and since 2013 he has started his coaching career, but these days that his schedule is not as busy as his playing days, Michael Reiziger spends more of his spare time with his family. As Reiziger has always liked to keep a low profile, he is not active on social media.

Michael Reiziger Personal Life

In this section of Michael Reiziger biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about things like

Michael Reiziger life story

and

Michael Reiziger religion

, stay tuned.

Family, Children and Relationships

Michael Reiziger was married for many years with his wife Manon Hanraets, however, their relationship ended in 2009. The couple has three sons together.

One of his sons, Gabriel, is also a footballer and currently plays with the U17 team of Ajax Amsterdam. Just like his father, he also plays in the right flank, however, instead of being a fullback, Gabriel is a winger.

In 2009, the former right-back claimed that his wife had run off with the children to an unknown destination last summer. This was according to De Telegraaf, which was able to read the court documents at the time.

In 2009 Reiziger was living in Barcelona, where he studied to become a trainer. A few months back he discovered the disappearance of his sons. The agreement was that Reiziger could keep track of his children during the summer, but his ex-wife Manon Hanraets did not keep to that.

It was not long ago that Reiziger found out that his ex had left with the children for the Netherlands. The ex-footballer, however, argued that his children had lived in Spain all their lives and hardly had command of Dutch.

At the time, Reiziger started a procedure with the Dutch authorities to get the children back to Barcelona. His ex refused to comment on the accusations, but let it be known through her counsel that there is no question of abduction.

Philanthropy

Especially after his retirement, as a famous footballer, Michael Reiziger has been active in many charity projects and we have seen him play many charity football matches. For example, he was part of the Ajax Legends team which played against the Real Madrid Legends team on June 5, 2016, at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Legal Issues

At the time of writing this article, there were no reports of any legal issues or disputes regarding Michael Reiziger in the Dutch or English media.

Michael Reiziger Career Statistics

In this section of Michael Reiziger biography, we will take a look at his career stats on the international and club level.

Club

Between 1990 and 2007, Michael Reiziger played a total of 337 matches in all competitions in Netherlands, England, Spain and Italy and scored 11 goals as a defender. The highlight of his career without a doubt was the 7 seasons he spent playing for the Spanish giants Barcelona in La Liga.

International

For ten years between 1994 and 2004, Michael Reiziger was part of the Dutch national football team, where he played a total of 72 matches, scoring one goal. He played in many major competitions for his country.

Michael Reiziger Honors

He has won lots of awards and titles during his playing days, including the KNVB Cup, Eredivisie, Dutch Supercup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup with Ajax, La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Super Cup with Barcelona and two more Eredivisie titles with PSV.

As the manager of the Jong Ajax team, he was also able to wing the Eerste Divisie in the 2017-18 season.

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