PARAMARIBO, March 18 (Reuters) - Leeds United striker Joel Piroe has been included in Suriname’s squad for this month’s World Cup playoff, just days after FIFA approved a switch of allegiance.
The former Dutch under-19 international was named on Wednesday in a 26-man squad for Suriname's inter-confederation playoff semi-final against Bolivia in Monterrey on March 26. If they win that, they would meet Iraq at the same venue on March 31 to decide a berth at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States in June.
Suriname are looking to qualify for a first-ever World Cup, and their squad is dominated by Dutch-born players with roots in the South American former colony.
It will be the first match for Henk ten Cate as coach after Stanley Menzo quit when Suriname failed to qualify directly in November’s Concacaf preliminaries.
The playoff winners will go into Group I at the World Cup, where they will face former world champions France, Norway, and Senegal.
After a strong season with Leeds in the Championship last campaign, when he scored 19 goals, the 26-year-old Piroe had hoped to earn a call-up to the Dutch national side, media reports said, but when that did not happen he switched his footballing nationality. His father is from Suriname.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
