Gerald Vanenburg facts for kids

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Gerald Vanenburg

Vanenburg in 1981
Personal information
Full name	Gerald Mervin Vanenburg
Date of birth	(1964-03-05) 5 March 1964 (age 61)
Place of birth	Utrecht, Netherlands
Height	1.72 m
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Indonesia (assistant)
Youth career
	Sterrewijk
	Elinkwijk
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1980–1986	Ajax	173	(64)
1986–1993	PSV	199	(48)
1993–1996	Júbilo Iwata	86	(14)
1997	Utrecht	9	(2)
1997–1998	Cannes	26	(6)
1998–2000	1860 Munich	43	(2)
Total		536	(136)
National team
1982–1992	Netherlands	42	(1)
Teams managed
2000–2005	PSV (youth)
2004	1860 Munich
2006–2007	Helmond Sport
2008	FC Eindhoven
2008	Willem II (assistant)
2025–	Indonesia U23
2025–	Indonesia (assistant)
Honours Representing  Netherlands UEFA European Championship Winner 1988 West Germany
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Gerald Mervin Vanenburg (born March 5, 1964) is a Dutch football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Indonesia national team. He also coaches the Indonesia under-23 national team.

Vanenburg played in the Eredivisie, which is the top football league in the Netherlands. He played 372 games and scored 112 goals for two big clubs: Ajax and PSV. With these teams, he won 15 major trophies. One of his biggest wins was the European Cup in 1988 with PSV. After playing in the Netherlands, he also played professionally in Japan, France, and Germany. His career lasted 20 years.

He played more than 40 games for the Netherlands national team. He was part of the team that won the European Championship in 1988. He also played in the 1990 World Cup.

Playing Career: Gerald Vanenburg's Club Journey

Early Days at Ajax: A Rising Star

Gerald Vanenburg was born in Utrecht, Netherlands. His family background is from Suriname. He learned to play football at the famous AFC Ajax club. He made his first team debut in the Eredivisie league when he was just 17 years old. This was against ADO Den Haag. In his first season, he played 11 games and scored 3 goals. People quickly gave him nicknames like Vaantje and Geraldinho because of his amazing skills.

Soon, Vanenburg became a key player for Ajax. He was known for giving many assists (passes that lead to a goal) to top strikers like Marco van Basten and Wim Kieft. In two seasons, he made 30 assists. Ajax won the national championship two years in a row during this time. Before he left Ajax in 1986, he scored more than 10 goals in two other seasons. He, Van Basten, Kieft, and Frank Rijkaard were all young, talented players who helped Ajax win three league titles between 1982 and 1985.

Success at PSV: Winning the Treble

In 1986, Vanenburg joined PSV Eindhoven. In his first season, he scored 9 goals in 34 matches, and PSV won the league. The next season, in 1987–88, he was part of the team that won the treble. This means they won three major trophies in one season: the league, the national cup, and the European Cup. In the European Cup final, he even scored his penalty in the shootout against S.L. Benfica. Many of his former teammates from Ajax, like Frank Arnesen, Kieft, Ronald Koeman, and Søren Lerby, also played for this successful PSV team.

Vanenburg turned down a big offer to play for AS Roma. He continued to play and score regularly for PSV for five more seasons. During this time, he won three more league titles and two Dutch Cups. He played almost 500 official games for Ajax and PSV combined, scoring nearly 150 goals. He was also one of only five European players to win four major competitions in the same year. This included three club trophies and one with the national team. His teammates Berry van Aerle, Hans van Breukelen, Kieft, and Koeman also achieved this.

Playing Abroad: New Challenges

When he was 29, Vanenburg moved abroad for the first time. He joined Júbilo Iwata in Japan. In his first year, he helped them get promoted to the J1 League, which is Japan's top football league. He played two more seasons there. In 1997, he returned to the Netherlands to play for his hometown club, FC Utrecht.

Vanenburg played three more years of top-level football before retiring in 2000 at age 36. He played for AS Cannes in France and TSV 1860 Munich in Germany. In Germany, he often played as a sweeper, which is a defensive role.

International Career: Playing for the Netherlands

Vanenburg first played for the Netherlands on April 14, 1982. He was only 18 years old. It was a friendly match against Greece in Eindhoven, which the Netherlands won 1–0. Vanenburg was also part of the Dutch team at the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship.

He was chosen for the UEFA Euro 1988 tournament in West Germany. He played in every game as the Dutch team, known as the Oranje, won the competition. This was a huge achievement for the country.

Manager Leo Beenhakker also picked Vanenburg for the 1990 FIFA World Cup team. He played 45 minutes in a group stage match against Egypt, which ended in a 1–1 draw. The team was later knocked out in the round-of-16. His last game for the national team was on October 14, 1992. He came on as a substitute in a 2–2 draw against Poland in Rotterdam, during a 1994 World Cup qualification match.

Coaching Career: From Player to Coach

After retiring from playing at 1860 Munich, Vanenburg immediately went back to PSV. He became the manager for their youth teams. During this time, he also managed his former club TSV 1860 Munich for three months in 2004. The team was later relegated from the Bundesliga, Germany's top league.

In the 2006–07 season, Vanenburg coached Helmond Sport in the Eerste Divisie, which is the second-highest league in the Netherlands. He was fired in February 2007. On January 1, 2008, he became the coach of another club in the same league, FC Eindhoven.

On January 24, 2025, the Football Association of Indonesia officially announced that Vanenburg would be the new coach for the Indonesia under-23 national team. He also became an assistant coach for the main Indonesia national team. Vanenburg will also work closely with Indonesia's under-20 and under-17 teams to help develop young players.

Personal Life

Gerald Vanenburg's uncle was Roy Vanenburg, who was also a famous football player and manager from Suriname. Roy Vanenburg is considered one of the greatest footballers in Suriname's history. He won the SVB Hoofdklasse title six times and the CONCACAF Champions' Cup twice with his club, S.V. Transvaal.

Career Statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vanenburg goal.

List of international goals scored by Gerald Vanenburg

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 December 1983	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Malta	1–0	5–0	Euro 1984 qualifying

Honours and Awards

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85
• KNVB Cup: 1982–83, 1985–86

PSV

• European Cup: 1987–88
• Eredivisie: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92
• KNVB Cup: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90
• Johan Cruijff Shield: 1992

Netherlands

• UEFA European Championship: 1988

Individual

• Dutch Golden Boot: 1988, 1989

See also

In Spanish: Gerald Vanenburg para niños