.jpg) Reiziger withAjax as assistant coach in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael John Reiziger[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1973-05-03)3 May 1973 (age 52) | ||
| Place of birth | Amstelveen, North Holland, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Netherlands U21 (Head Coach) | ||
| 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 | AC Milan | 10 | (0) |
| 1997–2004 | Barcelona | 173 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Middlesbrough | 22 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | PSV | 24 | (1) |
| Total | 356 | (11) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994–2004 | Netherlands | 72 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2019 | Jong Ajax | ||
| 2017 | Ajax (interim) | ||
| 2023– | Netherlands U21 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michael John Reiziger (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈmɑikəldʑɔnˈrɛizəɣər]; born 3 May 1973) is a Dutch former professionalfootballer who played mainly as aright back. Reiziger currentlymanages theNetherlands U21 team.
After making a name for himself atAjax, with whom hewon one Champions League, he went on to represent four teams in as many countries, notablyBarcelona, for which he played 249 official games in seven years, as well as spells atA.C. Milan,Middlesbrough andPSV Eindhoven.
Reiziger represented theNetherlands national team for a full decade, competing at threeEuropean Championships and the1998 World Cup and finishing fourth in the latter tournament.
Born inAmstelveen, North Holland, toSurinamese parents,[2] Reiziger started his career with hometown clubAjax, making his first-team debut at the age of 17 then serving two consecutive loan spells, withVolendam andGroningen; with the latter, in the1993–94 season, he scored a career-best six goals while operating also as amidfielder.
Upon his return to Ajax, Reiziger established himself as a renowned defensive element, helping the side to, among other conquests, the1994–95 edition of theUEFA Champions League. In 1996, he signed forA.C. Milan, but after aseason marred by injury, he departed forBarcelona where he spent the following seven years, arriving at the same time as compatriot and former Ajax bossLouis van Gaal; though not an undisputed starter, he nonetheless featured heavily for theCatalans, making more than 200 overall appearances and helping to back-to-backLa Liga titles.[3]
In 2004, Reiziger moved toMiddlesbrough on aBosman transfer. He scored once in the league for Boro, againstAston Villa in December 2004.[4] After another campaign plagued by physical problems, he left and returned to the Netherlands to see out his career atPSV Eindhoven (inhis second year he won theEredivisie, and was also reunited with Ajax, Barça and national teammatePatrick Kluivert, although the two rarely ever played).[5]
Reiziger made his debut for theNetherlands national team on 12 October 1994, againstNorway. He played for his country at theUEFA Euro 1996,1998 FIFA World Cup,Euro 2000 andEuro 2004, retiring from international play after the latter.[6]
Shortly after signing for PSV, Reiziger said he would consider playing for the Netherlands again if the opportunity arose, but he was never recalled again, totalling 72 appearances in ten years.[7]
After retiring, Reiziger settled inBarcelona. He later went on to coachSparta Rotterdam at youth level and, subsequently and successively, acted as assistant toGert Kruys andAlex Pastoor.[8]
On 20 June 2017, Reiziger returned to Ajax as manager ofthe reserves who competed in theEerste Divisie, replacingMarcel Keizer.[9][10] Inhis first season in charge he led the squad to the league title, but they were ineligible for promotion.[11] He also acted asinterim for the first team during one match after the dismissal of Keizer,[12] defeatingWillem II 3–1 at home.[13]He was the assistant coach of Ajax’ first team, from 2019 until 2023.[14]Since 2023 he is the manager of Netherlands under 21 team.
Reiziger's son, Gabriël (born 2005), also came through the Ajax youth system.[15] He plays in 2025 forPEC Zwolle.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ajax | 1990–91 | Eredivisie | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| 1991–92 | Eredivisie | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 1992–93 | Eredivisie | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 1994–95 | Eredivisie | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11[a] | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 49 | 0 | |
| 1995–96 | Eredivisie | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9[a] | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 39 | 1 | |
| Total | 63 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 91 | 1 | ||
| Volendam (loan) | 1992–93 | Eredivisie | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 11 | 3 | ||
| Groningen (loan) | 1993–94 | Eredivisie | 34 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 6 | |||
| A.C. Milan | 1996–97 | Serie A | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Barcelona | 1997–98 | La Liga | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6[a] | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| 1998–99 | La Liga | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[a] | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000 | La Liga | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11[a] | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | La Liga | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8[g] | 0 | – | 40 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | La Liga | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[a] | 0 | – | 21 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | La Liga | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9[a] | 0 | – | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | La Liga | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6[h] | 0 | – | 40 | 0 | ||
| Total | 173 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 253 | 0 | ||
| Middlesbrough | 2004–05 | Premier League | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6[h] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | ||
| PSV | 2005–06 | Eredivisie | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7[a] | 0 | – | 20 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | Eredivisie | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| Total | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 337 | 11 | 31 | 1 | 92 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 473 | 12 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 1994 | 1 | 0 |
| 1995 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 11 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 72 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 November 1998 | Parkstadion,Gelsenkirchen, Germany |  Germany | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly[16] |
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