JUN 9
In the Holland
side that loses 1-0
to Portugal in the
UEFA Nations
League Final.AUG 16, 2019
Makes his
competitive debut
for Barcelona in
a 1–0 loss to
Athletic Bilbao.SEP 6, 2019
Gets his first
international goal
as Holland win 4-2
away to Germany
in a Euro 2020
qualifier.SEP 14, 2019,
Scores his first goal
for Barcelona, in a
5-2 victory over
Valencia.Holland, has had an affinity with football
almost from the moment he exited the
womb. His father, John, had been good
enough to have a short spell in the
academy of leading Rotterdam outfit
Feyenoord and would subsequently play
for ASV Arkel for over two decades. He
was a huge fan of Dutch legend Johan
Cruyff and, as a tribute, sported the
number 14 shirt. How appropriate that
his son is following in Cruyff’s footsteps
at Ajax and now Barcelona.
A football obsessive, De Jong joined
ASV when he was just five-years old and
made an impression straight away.
“I’ll never forget my introduction to
Frenkie,” recalled his first ASV coach Tom
De Jonge in the Algemeen Dagblad. “His
socks came over his thighs. His shorts
were way too big. He’d be playing with
boys two years older. But he was by far
the best.”
Word of his talent soon spread, with
Arkel becoming scout central, and only
24 months after arriving at ASV he
faced the toughest of decisions: which
professional club academy to plump for,
Feyenoord or the joint Willem-
RKC programme.
To all intents
and purposes,Ajax coach Erik Ten Hag on a Fox Sports
chat show back in May. “He’s kicked in
the door. The level he has performed
at this season is gigantic.”
As predictable as night following day,
he has also graduated to main-man
status for the national team. He won
his first cap as substitute in a friendly
with Peru in September 2018 and this
autumn opened his Oranje goalscoring
account in Holland’s 4-2 victory over
Germany in a Euro 2020 qualifier.
While his international career is still
in its infancy, he is already one of the
team’s choirmasters, a pillar of the
rejuvenated Netherlands side.
“Frenkie is someone who creates
openings,” said Holland coach Ronald
Koeman at a press conference in March.
“It’s often said that he runs with the ball
too often, but that’s what makes the
holes [in a defence]. He simply is an
important player for us.
“I don’t think I used to speak with such
wisdom when I was his age. Everything
he does is with a smile on his face. He’s
uninhibited. This is how you see him
every day.”
Named after the 1980s English pop
group Frankie
Goes to
Hollywood – albeit with a different
spelling – and De Jong certainly lives up
to the title of one of the Liverpool band’s
biggest hits. He does not have to be
taught to Relax.
Frenkie, raised in the village of Arkel,
a hamlet in the province of SouthFrenkie De Jong
Boss...Holland coach Ronald KoemanFamily..with
his grandfather
and father“He simply is an important player for
us. I don’t think I used to speak with
such wisdom when I was his age”
Ronald Koeman