Team

Pherai: “A whole different ball game”

Immanuel Pherai has had an unusual international career. He was born in Amsterdam, currently plays in Hamburg, and represents Suriname. We take a closer look at Pherai’s story.

Representing their country is a dream for almost every footballer, and this is no different for HSV players. Every one of them is proud to be called up and join up with their team for the international break. For one of the Rothosen’s internationals however, it’s been even more special to pull on the shirt during this week’s matches. It’s been particularly special for his parents, as Immanuel Pherai, who was born in the Netherlands, now represents Suriname at international level.

Pherai’s father is from the small country in South America, which was also known as Dutch Guiana until 1975. “That kind of makes it my fatherland,” said the 23-year-old Amsterdam-born midfielder, who made 38 appearances for the Netherlands at youth level but was confident in his decision to switch to Suriname. “Our national team has reemerged over the last four or so years,” added Pherai. “There essentially wasn’t one after the terrible plane crash in the 1980s.” In June 1989, a DC-8 belonging to the Surinamese company SLM struck a tree on its approach to the capital of Paramaribo and crashed. Among the 174 people killed were 16 players based in the Netherlands who were travelling to the country for international matches. Surinamese football was hit by a tragic blow, but a team reemerged around 30 years later, and Pherai is proud to play a part. “Suriname has always produced some very good footballers, but most of them have played for the Netherlands. For all of us though, it’s a great honour to now be able to turn out for our country.”

The dream is to reach the 2026 World Cup. “I think it’s possible, but we’ve got a long journey ahead of us,” said Pherai. He enjoys travelling with his national team, even if it can be somewhat arduous to get to away games. “We sometimes have to carry on by ship after flying, but it’s fine for the home games because you can fly directly from Amsterdam to Paramaribo. That’s not a problem.” Pherai has taken the plunge into a whole new football environment, where the conditions – “it’s always over 30 degrees here, which is incredibly taxing,” – aren’t the only thing which is different. “South America is a whole different ball game to Europe. There’s a very particular atmosphere here. It sometimes gets really wild and full of emotion.” Not to mention that there are very high expectations in the country. “That’s because we’ve got a lot of good players in our ranks,” said the midfielder. And they all, including Immanuel Pherai, want to be part of the 2026 World Cup.