Soccer / De Ridder's dilemma: hold out for a chance with Holland, or star for Israel

Ajax Amsterdam forward Daniel De Ridder is facing a dilemma. He wants to play for the Netherlands, but knows he will find it hard to shine for the Orange. For Israel, De Ridder, who has an Israeli mother, would be a star. He knows it and Israel's soccer bosses know it, making blue and white an attractive proposition for both sides.

"There is a lot of speculation," say sources close to De Ridder, "but at the moment it's too early to confirm or deny anything."

De Ridder isn't an Israeli citizen, but even though he is entitled to automatic citizenship, that doesn't ensure he would actually be allowed by soccer's governing bodies to play for Israel, as he has already appeared for the Dutch under 21 team. Even if he does receive the okay from FIFA, it would probably come too late for him to appear for Israel in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Israel Football Association has had its eye on De Ridder for a long time. He was first spotted when Yossi Benayoun spent a spell with Ajax's youth department and Israeli soccer functionaries tried to persuade De Ridder to switch sides. De Ridder, who speaks fluent Hebrew, feels himself an Israeli. He vacations in Israel every year and is currently in Eilat. Recent reports suggest that he is about to give up on his attempts to earn a place in Marco Van Basten's Holland squad and to connect with his Israeli roots.

De Ridder is considered one of the most intelligent players in Holland and the Dutch press is infatuated with the good looking 21-year-old, but he has yet to make the big time. "De Ridder hasn't managed to make the breakthrough into Ajax's first team," says a Dutch sportswriter, who preferred to remain anonymous. "Other players of his age such as Rafael Van de Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Nigel De Jong are already playing for Holland, so it isn't a good sign that he isn't."

De Ridder has suffered from political infighting at Ajax. Louis Van Gaal, the club's former sporting director, considered De Ridder to be one of the club's biggest talents, but former coach Ronald Koeman, a sworn enemy of Van Gaal, thought otherwise. Koeman brought Argentinean Mauro Rosales to the club and played him at De Ridder's expense. South African midfielder Steven Piennar was also ahead of De Ridder in Koeman's pecking order. Koeman came under flack from both supporters and the press, but De Ridder remained on the bench.

Dutch Sports commentator Rob Sporkin believes that De Ridder will blossom if he plays for Israel. "De Ridder is a very good player who has yet to receive a chance to prove himself," says Sporkin. "Not from Ronald Koeman and not from [current Ajax coach] Danny Blind."

But Sporkin adds that in Holland, De Ridder is considered a "fair-weather" player, and that in difficult conditions, when a little extra is needed, it is not always forthcoming. "That's why he doesn't play a lot at Ajax and that's why he hasn't been called up for Holland," says Sporkin.

Netherlands coach Marco Van Basten, who also worked with De Ridder at Ajax, holds him in high esteem, but if he isn't playing first team football at Ajax he won't call him up to the Dutch squad. Van Basten has a number of top class players in De Ridder's slot, including Arjen Robben, Romeo Castelen and Dirk Kuyt. "I don't think that De Ridder has a chance of becoming a regular first team player for Holland," says Sporkin. "When he plays for Ajax, he always adds a lot of energy to the team's game, but I can't see him doing that for Holland."

De Ridder has been linked to Tottenham and Newcastle of the English Premier League, and Arsenal and Manchester United have also been mentioned, but Dutch commentators expect him to move to a smaller team in Holland where he will have a chance to shine.

"At a smaller team, De Ridder will have the chance to develop from a good player to an excellent player," says the anonymous Dutch sportswriter who covers Ajax. "Koeman would always say that De Ridder has a lot of good aspects as a player, but that he has yet to achieve the elegance that makes a good player into a great player."

However, things can always change. Yesterday, negotiations between Ajax and Piennar blew up. The South Africa star could be heading elsewhere, in which case Ajax won't be in a hurry to give up De Ridder. "Everything can change," says the anonymous sportswriter. "If Piennar is released, De Ridder will have more chances and will perhaps get a go with Holland as well. But if I was him, I would go for the Israeli option. With Israel, he will be a big star."

	SHOULDISTAYORSHOULDIGO?Daniel De Ridder.