Michael Reiziger

Michael Reiziger

Reiziger in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Michael John Reiziger
Date of birth	(1973-05-03) 3 May 1973
Place of birth	Amstelveen, Netherlands
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
	Sint Martinus
1985–1990	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1996	Ajax	83	(1)
1992–1993	→ Volendam (loan)	10	(2)
1993–1994	→ Groningen (loan)	34	(6)
1996–1997	Milan	10	(0)
1997–2004	Barcelona	173	(0)
2004–2005	Middlesbrough	22	(1)
2005–2007	PSV	24	(1)
Total		356	(11)
National team
1994–2004	Netherlands	72	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Michael John Reiziger (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑj.kəɫ ˈdʒɔn ˈrɛi̯.zə.ɣər], born 3 May 1973) is a retired Dutch footballer who played mainly as a right defender.

After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champions League, he went on to represent three teams in three different countries, namely appearing for FC Barcelona, for which he played in more than 200 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, 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 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.^[1] However, after another campaign dealing with several injuries, he left and returned to Holland, 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 in the same side).^[2]

After retiring, Reiziger settled in Barcelona.

International career

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.^[3]

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.

Statistics

Club

International

International goal

Scores and results list Reiziger's goal tally first.

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

Honours

Ajax

• UEFA Champions League: 1994–95
• UEFA Super Cup: 1995
• UEFA Cup: 1991–92
• Intercontinental Cup: 1995
• Dutch League: 1994–95, 1995–96
• Dutch Cup: 1992–93
• Dutch Supercup: 1994, 1995

Barcelona

• UEFA Super Cup: 1997
• Spanish League: 1997–98, 1998–99
• Spanish Cup: 1997–98

PSV

• Dutch League: 2005–06, 2006–07

References

External links

• Beijen profile (Dutch)
• Michael Reiziger profile and stats at Wereld van Oranje (Dutch)
• BDFutbol profile
• Michael Reiziger career stats at Soccerbase
• Michael Reiziger at National-Football-Teams.com
• FootballDatabase profile and stats

Netherlands squads v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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 v t e 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