Gerald vanenburg

Gerald Mervin Vanenburg, born on 5 March 1964, is a Dutch football manager and former player. His most recent roles were as assistant coach of the Indonesia national team and head coach of the Indonesia under-23 side. Over a 20-year playing career, he racked up 372 Eredivisie appearances and 112 goals while playing for Ajax and PSV, collecting fifteen major trophies between them—most notably the 1988 European Cup with PSV. He later played in Japan, France, and Germany. Internationally, Vanenburg earned over 40 caps for the Netherlands, featured at the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1988, and was part of the squad that won the latter tournament.

Vanenburg, who is of Surinamese descent and was born in Utrecht, came through Ajax’s youth system. He made his Eredivisie debut just a month after turning 17, against ADO Den Haag, and ended his first season with 11 appearances and three goals. His skill earned him the nicknames Vaantje and Geraldinho. He soon became a regular starter, setting up countless goals for strikers Marco van Basten and Wim Kieft, and scoring 30 himself over two seasons as Ajax won back-to-back league titles. By the time he left in June 1986, he had scored in double digits in two more campaigns. Alongside van Basten, Kieft, and Frank Rijkaard, he was part of a wave of young talent that helped Ajax win three league titles between 1982 and 1985.

In 1986–87, Vanenburg moved to PSV Eindhoven, scoring nine goals in 34 league matches as the club won the title. The following season, he was part of the treble-winning side, playing in the European Cup final and converting his penalty in the shootout against Benfica. Many of his former Ajax teammates—Frank Arnesen, Kieft, Ronald Koeman, and Søren Lerby—formed the backbone of that team. He turned down a big-money move to AS Roma and continued to play and score regularly for PSV over the next five years, winning three more league titles and two Dutch Cups. In total, he appeared in nearly 500 official games for Ajax and PSV, scoring almost 150 goals. He was also one of five European players—alongside Berry van Aerle, Hans van Breukelen, Kieft, and Koeman—to win four competitions in the same calendar year: three with his club and one with the national team.

At 29, Vanenburg moved abroad for the first time, helping Júbilo Iwata win promotion to the J1 League in his first season and playing two more years there. He returned to the Netherlands for the 1996–97 campaign, finishing 12th with hometown club FC Utrecht. He then played three more seasons in top-flight football with AS Cannes in France and TSV 1860 Munich in Germany, where he began playing as a sweeper, before retiring at 36 in 2000.

Vanenburg made his international debut for the Netherlands on 14 April 1982 at age 18, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 friendly win over Greece in Eindhoven. He was part of the Dutch squad at the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship and was selected for Euro 1988 in West Germany, playing every match as the Oranje won the tournament. Manager Leo Beenhakker also picked him for the 1990 World Cup, but his only appearance was 45 minutes in a 1–1 group-stage draw with Egypt; the Netherlands were eliminated in the round of 16. His final cap came as a substitute in a 2–2 draw with Poland on 14 October 1992, a World Cup qualifier in Rotterdam.

After leaving 1860 Munich, Vanenburg immediately returned to PSV as a youth team manager. He also briefly managed his former club TSV 1860 Munich for three months starting in April 2004, but the team was relegated from the Bundesliga. In 2006–07, he coached Helmond Sport in the Eerste Divisie until being fired on 17 February 2007. He then took over at FC Eindhoven on 1 January 2008. On 24 January 2025, the Football Association of Indonesia appointed him head coach of the Indonesia under-23 team and assistant coach of the senior side under Patrick Kluivert, with a brief to also work with the under-20 and under-17 teams for continuity.

Vanenburg is the nephew of former Surinamese international and manager Roy Vanenburg, considered one of the country’s greatest footballers. Roy won the SVB Hoofdklasse title six times and the CONCACAF Champions Cup twice with S.V. Transvaal.