Fred de Jong was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 football striker

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 who represented his country

New Zealand national soccer team

The New Zealand national football team, nicknamed the All Whites, is the national association football team of New Zealand and is governed by New Zealand Football . The team plays in an all-white strip rather than the traditional New Zealand sporting black due to a former FIFA regulation that...

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Club career

He player senior football with Mt. Wellington before moving to Australia, helping Marconi Stallions

Marconi Stallions

The Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian football club located in Sydney, Australia. The club won the National Soccer League title a record four times, along with South Melbourne FC and Sydney City SC...

 to consecutive National Soccer League titles in 1988 and 1989. De Jong then took advantage of his heritage, joining Fortuna Sittard

Fortuna Sittard

Fortuna Sittard is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Trendwork Arena and features in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. The club was a merger of former clubs 'Fortuna 54' and 'Sittardia' to merge as the Fortuna Sittard Combinatie on July 1,...

 in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 Eerste Divisie

Eerste Divisie

The Eerste Divisie is the second-highest division of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium...

. He returned to New Zealand to play domestically for Central United

Central United

Central United Football Club is a semi-professional Association football club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand...

 and later played in the Australian National Soccer League for the Football Kingz.

International career

De Jong marked his All Whites debut with a substitute appearance in a 6-1 win over Malaysia

Malaysia national football team

The Malaysian national football team nicknamed Harimau Malaya, as the Malayan Tiger, is the national team of Malaysia and is controlled by the Football Association of Malaysia...

 on 3 April 1984 and ended his international playing career with 21 A-international caps and 3 goals to his credit, his final cap coming in a 0-1 loss to Australia on 30 May 1993.

Post playing career

De Jong retains involvement in football serving as a director on the New Zealand Football board and as vice president of the Oceania Football Confederation

Oceania Football Confederation

The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...

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He is an occasional TV commentator for SKY TV in New Zealand and has been a contributor of football related articles for the New Zealand Herald.

External links