Soccer Football - Nations League - Quarter Final - First Leg - Netherlands v Spain - Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Netherlands - March 20, 2025 Netherlands' Tijjani Reijnders in action with Spain's Dean Huijsen REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) - There was no welcome mat out for Dutch-born defender Dean Huijsen when he made his debut for Spain against the country of his birth in the Nations League on Thursday.
The teenager, who plays for English Premier League club Bournemouth, was born in Amsterdam and represented Dutch junior national teams, and he was constantly jeered after coming on as a 41st-minute substitute for his first Spain cap.
A late call-up to the squad, he was subjected to a torrent of abuse from the home crowd before emerging as one of the top performers as Spain snatched a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw in the quarter-final first leg.
Huijsen's choice of Spain over the Netherlands has only been made in the last year but not without good reason. He lived in Marbella from the age of five after his father Donny, a young talent at Ajax Amsterdam, had moved there when his playing career failed to take off.
Dean started at Malaga but at the age 16 moved to Juventus, where he made a single first-team appearance.
He had a spell under Jose Mourinho at AS Roma before moving to Bournemouth at the start of this season, all before his 20th birthday, which is some three weeks away.
"At first I didn't have a Spanish passport, but when the opportunity arose to get a passport fast-tracked, I made the decision. Spain is my home. I have lived in Spain all my life and done everything related to football here. My childhood friends are Spanish," Huijsen said.
Playing against the country of his birth did not seem to bother him.
"Getting called up was already the best moment of my career and playing for Spain makes me really proud, against whoever. The best players are in Spain and it's an honour to be with them," Huijsen added.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)
