Wilbert Suvrijn (born 26 October 1962) is a Dutch former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. Mainly a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he could also operate as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

Club career

Suvrijn was born in Sittard,

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. In his country, he represented hometown's

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

(winning promotion to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

in his debut season, as champions) and

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

, playing in a total of 209 games in the top division over the course of seven seasons. With the latter club, he scored twice in 31 matches in 1986–87, helping it finish fourth and qualify for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. In 1989, Suvrijn signed with French side

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current ...

, helping them win the domestic cup in his first year – he missed the final due to injury – and contributing decisively to the team's sixth place in Ligue 1 in 1991–92, playing almost exclusively in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

. After only nine matches in the following campaign, mainly due to

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column runs ...

problems, the 30-year-old decided to retire, staying closely related to France, and became a players agent.

International career

Suvrijn made his debut for

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 29 April 1986, coming on as a substitute for Michel Valke in a friendly with

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

(0–0) as

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...

was the manager. He went on to earn nine full

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

in two years, being called to the squad for

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

in West Germany. Suvrijn appeared in two games for the eventual champions in the finals, totalling four minutes: in the group stage 3–1 win over England national football team, England he replaced Marco van Basten, scorer of all of the team's goals in the match. In the semi-finals against Germany national football team, the hosts (2–1), he played the last minute in the place of injured Erwin Koeman.

References

External links

Roda archives
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suvrijn, Wilbert 1962 births Living people People from Sittard Dutch footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Fortuna Sittard players Roda JC Kerkrade players Ligue 1 players Montpellier HSC players Netherlands international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players UEFA European Championship-winning players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Dutch sports agents Association football agents Footballers from Limburg (Netherlands)