Dutch imports Orlando Engelaar and Kew Jaliens come face to face on Saturday at Hunter Stadium, half-way around the globe from where they grew up as childhood friends.
Dutch imports Orlando Engelaar and Kew Jaliens come face to face on Saturday at Hunter Stadium, half-way around the globe from where they grew up as childhood friends.
Engelaar, 34, and Jaliens, 35, both moved to the Hyundai A-League this season after a number of years plying their trades in the top leagues of the world.
Little would have they thought, just less than twelve months after representing PSV Eindhoven and Wisla Krakow respectively, they would be coming up against each other down under.
Both grew up in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, with Engelaar spending time at the Feyenoord youth academy until the age of 20 when he signed with NAC Breda.
Jaliens stayed closer to home, and made his debut for local club Sparta Rotterdam at just the age of 18.
In the three seasons he was at the club he amassed almost 70 appearances before making the move South-East to sign for Willem II.
The defender was at the club for five years before moving to a bigger club again, this time to AZ Alkmaar. After that he moved on to Wisla Krakow in Poland, spending two years there and winning a championship in his first season.
Engelaar went on a different path after departing NAC in 2004, with stints at Belgium club Racing Genk and Bundesliga side Shalke 04 in between playing for FC Twente in Holland.
The Dutch giant then spent four years at PSV where he made 75 appearances and score six goals. Engelaar also represented Holland at Euro 2008, where he made four starts in their journey to the quarter-finals.
The childhood friends also played on the same team once, for Holland in a friendly game against Thailand in Bangkok in 2007. Jaliens was substituted on at half-time, while Engelaar played the last fifteen minutes after replacing Demy de Zeeuw.
But this afternoon, the friendship will be put on hold when Engelaar and Jaliens run out for opposing sides at Hunter Stadium. Tune in to Fox Sports from 5pm AEST, or follow our Twitter account @MelbourneHeart for live updates.
