5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TIJJANI REIJNDERS
Specials
Tijjani Reijnders is getting to know the Rossonero world at the moment, which he will experience more and more from now on. The 24-year-old Dutchman is finally an AC Milan player and now, whilst we wait to see him on the pitch, let's get to know him better through five fun facts.
TIRELESS
AZ Alkmaar played 54 matches in the 2022/23 season, and Tijjani didn't miss a single one: 54 appearances for a total of more than 4800 minutes played across the three competitions: Eredivisie, KNVB Beker (The Dutch national cup) and a long journey in the Conference League, starting from the qualifying rounds and reaching the semifinals. From 21 July 2022, against the Bosnian team Tuzla City in the Conference League, to 28 May 2023, the last game of the championship against PSV Eindhoven, Reijnders has always been present and tireless.
17th ORANJE
AC Milan has had a relatively recent tradition with Dutchmen: After the two minor appearances from Knoote in 1906, the first to wear our shirt, in chronological order, were three icons, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. To follow, and with varying fortune, arrived Reiziger, Davids, Kluivert, Bogarde, Seedorf, Esajas, Stam, Huntelaar, van Bommel, Emanuelson, de Jong and van Ginkel. The Dutchman bid farewell to the Rossoneri at the end of the 2014/15 season, and since then, we haven't had another Oranje don the Rossonero colours. Tijjani Reijnders will therefore be the 17th Dutchman in AC Milan's history, the first of the 2020s and will continue in the vein of the last "Dutch" purchases: from van Bommel onwards, only midfielders have arrived at Milanello from the Netherlands.
DYNASTY
His father Martin, born in 1972, was an attacker who built his career between Holland, specifically PEC Zwolle, Finland and the USA. In fact, his two children grew up in Finland, the older one, Tijjani (born in 1998) graduated from the youth academy there, whilst his younger brother Eliano (born in 2000), who is still registered at PEC, despite his season on loan at Utrecht last year.
THE NATIONAL TEAM AND ITALY
In addition to having visited Italy as a tourist, there is, in fact, a footballing history that few will remember, which tells of a brief first encounter between Tijjani and Italy. With the Dutch Under-20 national team, Reijnders played the last 20 minutes against Italy on 20 November 2018 at Sportpark Nieuw Zuid. Amongst his opponents in that match was Matteo Gabbia.
AN ATYPICAL NAME
The name Tijjani may seem unusual to most, but it perfectly represents the Reijnders family's link to football. His father Martin decided to call him that in honour of the Nigerian, Tijjani Babangida, who during the early period of his career in the Netherlands, wore the shirts of VVV-Venlo, Roda, Ajax and later Vitesse.
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