Brit Mark Parsons (34) succeeds Wickman as national footballer

Wickman will bid farewell to ‘Levine’ at the Games next summer and then start working as the England coach. She takes her assistant Arjun Veering with her.

V.S.

Parsons is currently the coach of the American club Portland Thorns. In mid-November, he will continue to combine that position with his new job as Orange’s national coach until the end of the season in the United States.

Parsons gets Jessica Torni as his next assistant. The 40-year-old Torni is now the coach of the 19-year-old Orange. Footballers will begin to qualify for the 2023 World Cup in the sport and in Australia and New Zealand. Parsons makes his debut against the Czech Republic on September 17.

First time game

Wickman, 51, announced he would retire after the game in August last year. Led by the former best footballer, the Netherlands won the 2017 European Championship in their home country. At the 2019 World Cup in France, Orange reached the final, losing to the United States (0-2). Women make their first appearance in the Olympic football tournament at the World Finals.

The search for KNVP next to Wickman took a long time. Director John Dirk van der Gee said the KNVP was looking for a ‘Sarina-plus’ at the end of last year. “Someone who can surpass Sarina.” A woman or a man, a Dutchman or a foreigner; Van der Gee always wanted to say a little bit about it.

Clarity

Orange Internationals have found in recent months that it takes a very long time to find a new national coach. They wanted to get clarity before the game. Two months before the start of the tournament, KNVP presents a foreign man, Parsons, as the successor to Wigman, who was selected as the world coach of the women’s team in 2017 and 2020.

In addition to Wigman, three other Dutch women hold more training diplomas: Vera Pav, Hesterin de Rius and Torni. The latter will now have the highest level of experience as a Parsons assistant.

Vision of talent

“Jessica is not only a very talented coach, but also a true president of women’s football in the Netherlands, so she has the necessary passion for women’s football in her luggage,” says Nico-John Hookma, KNVP’s best football director.

“Plus, because of the role she played as the coach of the youth selections, she has an unparalleled insight into the talents that roam the Netherlands and the generations to come with it. In that sense, she also fits the mark well. Such a person is on your own team, so that choice is easy.”