Suriname: A country of contrast
SONG JI-HOONThe author is the deputy sports news director at the JoongAng Ilbo.
Suriname, a South American country drawing attention due to the popular Netflix series “Narco-Saints,” is a small country 1.5 times the size of Korea with only 540,000 people. It had few exchanges with Korea, but with the success of the drama, it emerged as a hot topic. It is a little-known “blood brother” of Korea, as 115 Surinamese soldiers participated in the Korean War as part of the UN forces.
Because of the series, thornback skates, drugs, gangs and corruption are the first words that come to my mind, but in other countries, the first thing associated with Suriname is soccer. As Suriname had been under Dutch colonial rule from the 17th century until 1975, it has frequent human and resource exchanges with the Netherlands. Soccer was no exception.
Suriname plays in the World Cup qualifying round as a member of Concacaf, and the national team is ranked at 143rd in the FIFA ranking as of September, far behind Mexico at 12th, the United States at 14th, and Costa Rica at 34th. Suriname never played in the World Cup final tournaments.
What’s unusual is that there are many soccer stars of Suriname descent who are in the ranks of legends in the Netherlands. The most notable player is Virgil van Dijk (31, Liverpool), who is currently considered the world’s best central defender. His mother is a Chinese Surinamese. He will be the captain of the Dutch national team for the Qatar World Cup in November.
Steven Bergwijn (25, Ajax), who had been playing for Tottenham alongside Son Heung-min until last season, is an immigrant, born in Suriname and moved to the Netherlands.
There are many other retired world-class players from Suriname. Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard — also known as “The Three Dutchmen” in the 1980s along with Marco van Basten — are second-generation Suriname immigrants. Parents of the two players came together from Suriname to the Netherlands and are very close, like brothers. Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert are also of Surinamese descent.
In the Netflix drama, there is a narration that says, “Three-quarters of Suriname’s population is involved in the drug industry.” It may be a dramatic exaggeration, but, in fact, a considerable number of people are directly or indirectly involved in the drug business. Depending on what goals one sets in what environment, one may grow up to be a drug king while another becomes a soccer king. It is the two faces of Surinam, a small country with a population of 540,000.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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