For Sheraldo Becker, qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 26™ would represent much more than reaching a tournament. The Suriname forward sees it as the opportunity to forever change the course of football in his country.
Born in Amsterdam to Surinamese parents, Becker represented the Netherlands at the youth national team level but in 2020 opted to wear the shirt of the Natio. Since then, the 30-year-old has made it his objective to bring Surinamese football to the forefront, something he plans to continue doing after he hangs up his boots.
Following spells in the Netherlands, Union Berlin in Germany and Spain’s Real Sociedad, Becker recently joined La Liga side Osasuna, a club that has enjoyed an ascendency similar to Suriname’s after avoiding relegation to the third-tier in 2015 and now ten years later is a La Liga mainstay and regular contender for European football.
In the Basque language, Osasuna means ‘health, strength or vigor’, which perfectly mirrors Becker’s state of mind as he takes aim at Suriname’s October qualifiers against Guatemala and Panama.
Sheraldo Becker: I think I was 24, 25 years old. At that age, you need to make a decision about what you want to do. We had bonds with the old coach. We stayed in contact and I said, ‘Let’s do it and write history’. I talked also with my parents. They said it’s your choice and if you want to do it, we are behind you, but whatever you do, follow your heart. I chose Suriname and now, five, six years later, we are following our dream.
We drew against Panama and won in El Salvador, which feels good. We are first in the table now, but we know that we have to win some games if we want to qualify. We’re going to do everything for that.
The atmosphere was crazy and everyone was against us. But for us, we said, we don’t care. We came from so far, we don’t care about these people around who whistle us. We just want to play our game. We want to win and go home, and that is what we did.
This game we have to win for sure because we play at home. I think we are also the better team. But in the end, we have to do it together. We have to show our best against Guatemala. We have a lot of players who have speed and quality up front, and we want to use this against every team. If we want to go to the World Cup, we have to beat Guatemala. No doubts.
Panama have good quality, they are good tactically, have good players up front, midfield as well. Their defence was also stable. You saw how they play, they follow their structure all the time. Now we know how they play in different cases, or in particular moments in the game, or different sides on the pitch. It will be a tough game.
Yes, because we have a lot of quality players all over the world. And that is why we want to create a very good national team. You see all the players who play in the Dutch team, they also have Surinamese roots, like [Ryan] Gravenberch, [Virgil] Van Dijk, Xavi Simons, [Justin] Kluivert…. I can name so many more names. We want to create a national team so that the youth from now can choose either Netherlands or Suriname. We want to create more now for the future.
I think for the country it would be incredible. Nobody would really believe it. Nobody really wants to talk about it because if we don’t reach the World Cup, then the talking does nothing for us. We are very focused on our dream. To qualify for the World Cup with Suriname would feel like winning a trophy. If we can reach the World Cup, it would be the highest possible achievement for all of the players and for everyone who’s part of Suriname.
I think when I’m finished with football, my goal is to take players from Suriname and get them to Europe. The academies, private trainings, the coaching, they don’t have it there in Suriname and I know they can play football. What I want is to say to a club, ‘Let this player play or train with you like for one or two weeks and then see.’ Surinamese players have a lot of quality and you see it all over the world. We are a small country, but many of the players we have are on a high level. The only thing they need is help because they don’t have the connection to Europe. If I can help 10 players, I will be happy. These guys have a dream, they are like raw diamonds and we have to help them shine.
I like it here. I think if I play in the right team at the right place, and my team-mates know how I play, we can help each other. I think now with Osasuna, with the system, a 3-5-2, it feels more like my time in Germany. I’ve just been here one month but I feel good and I’m ready for my chance.
For me, It’s the Bernabeu for sure. I also played there against Real with Union Berlin in the Champions League. I also like the Estadio Metropolitano. That is the second best for me. Those two stadiums are simply incredible.
Photos courtesy of Concacaf; Mikel Saiz – C.A. Osasuna
