Last month, Suriname lost its place in the very last qualifying match for that World Cup, losing 3-1 to Guatemala. Although the team can still qualify for an intercontinental qualifying tournament, coach Menzo resigned as national coach after that defeat.
The Surinamese association then had to look for a new trainer and that search ended with 71-year-old Ten Cate, who seemed to have retired since his last coaching job in 2021. Ten Cate, born and raised in Amsterdam, has a Surinamese mother.
Almost champion with Ajax
Ten Cate has already had a long coaching career, initially at smaller Premier League clubs. Later, in 2003, he became assistant coach with the star team of FC Barcelona.
He coached Ajax for one season between 2006 and 2007. The club fell just one goal short of the championship that season. Ten Cate left for Chelsea the following season, where he became assistant coach again.
After that, Ten Cate mainly worked at clubs in the Middle East. After his last job in 2021 at Al Wahda in Abu Dhabi, he announced in several interviews that he had quit. In recent years, Ten Cate has only appeared in acting jobs in TV series, such as Cops in Sleepers.
Play-offs
But now he will become national coach of Suriname. That country can make history by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in history in the year of their 50th anniversary.
The coach told the AD that he could not say no to this job. “The Surinamese roots have always been very strong. It is a great honor.”
For that to work, Suriname must beat Bolivia on March 26. If they win, the next hurdle against Iraq awaits on March 31. If Suriname also wins that match, they will still go to the World Cup.
The Surinamese association has a lot of confidence in Ten Cate: “With his extensive international experience and proven track record as a trainer, Henk ten Cate will prepare and lead the Surinamese team to the upcoming World Cup play-offs in March 2026, the last hurdle to qualifying for the world championship,” the Surinamese association writes on Instagram.
Ten Cate is also full of confidence to the AD: “I think the quality of the selection is very high. That quality is getting better and better and we are also getting more quality with boys who can choose Suriname.”
