July 29 (Reuters) - Former Dutch international Henk Fraser has been named as coach of Suriname, where he was born, the country’s football association said on Wednesday.
Fraser, 60, has signed a four-year contract to take the team through to the 2030 World Cup.
Fraser has extensive experience of coaching in the Netherlands at ADO Den Haag, Vitesse Arnhem, Sparta Rotterdam, FC Utrecht and RKC Waalwijk. Under Louis van Gaal, he also served as assistant coach of the Dutch national team.
He has experience with Suriname too, working last year as assistant to Stanley Menzo in the World Cup qualifying campaign in which Suriname reached the inter-confederation playoffs in March but failed to secure one of the last berths for the 48-team tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Menzo quit the job last November when Suriname lost their last group qualifier and missed out on a direct qualifying berth to the 2026 finals with Henk ten Cate taking over for the playoffs.
Fraser, who was born in Paramaribo, played for Sparta Rotterdam, Utrecht, Roda JC, and Feyenoord as well as the Dutch national team.
"His international experience, leadership, and football vision will contribute to the further development of the national squad," the Suriname association wrote on Instagram.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)
