FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup Third Place Match - Al Jazira vs CF Pachuca - Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - December 16, 2017 Al Jazira coach Henk ten Cate. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
PARAMARIBO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Veteran Henk ten Cate has been appointed the new coach of Suriname as they look ahead to the World Cup playoffs in March, the country’s football association said on Sunday.
Ten Cate, 71, is a former coach of Ajax Amsterdam and has worked as an assistant at Barcelona and Chelsea.
The Dutchman will take charge of Suriname's bid to qualify for a first-ever World Cup when they meet Bolivia in a play-off match in Monterrey on March 26. If they win that match, they will meet Iraq on March 31 to decide a place at the 2026 finals, going into Group I with France, Norway and Senegal and playing their matches in Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto.
Suriname had the opportunity to qualify automatically last month but a 3-1 loss in the last Concacaf zone Group A tie at Guatemala saw Panama go above them in the standings and take first spot, leaving Suriname with a final chance in the inter-confederation playoffs in March.
The defeat in Guatemala prompted coach Stanley Menzo, a former Netherlands international goalkeeper, to resign and Suriname has moved quickly to appoint his replacement.
"The SVB has full confidence that his expertise, tactical insights, and leadership can elevate the squad to the highest level," the Surinamese association said of Ten Cate, who last worked in football in 2023 as an assistant to Suriname national coach Aron Winter.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
