Former Marítimo and Belenenses hero Mitchell van der Gaag reflects on his time in Portugal and his next step in coaching | OneFootball

Mitchell van der Gaag was a prominent figure in Portuguese football in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. A stalwart centre-back during Marítimo’s glory years, when the Madeira outfit would regularly represent Portugal in European competitions, the Dutchman also began his coaching career for the islanders.

He later moved to the mainland, memorably steering Belenenses to the Second Division championship and a return to the upper echelons of Portuguese football. It was while at the Restelo that van der Gaag almost lost his life, surviving a heart attack thanks to the swift action of the Belém club’s medics.

In an interview with Zach Lowy, the 53-year-old – whose most recent position was assistant to Erik ten Hag at Manchester United – talks about his past in Luso football, his continued close links to Portugal, and his plans for the future.

Since being established in 1956 in an old stone quarry, Belenenses’ 19,856-seat Estádio do Restelo has witnessed plenty of memorable activities. In 1991, it welcomed Pope John Paul II and 100,000 worshippers for one of the most widely attended papal masses of all time. Situated behind the Jerónimos Monastery in the Lisbon parish of Belém, the arena has also hosted the concerts of various musical icons like Queen, AC/DC, Metallica and Pearl Jam, and in 2014, it was the venue of the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final. Five years after that, it hosted the women’s teams of Benfica and Sporting CP for a charity match that raised money for the people of Mozambique after they were devastated by Cyclone Idai. Despite being a friendly, the match broke the record for the most spectators for a Portuguese women’s match.

The stadium has also hosted various Portuguese national team matches and was the headquarters for Italy during their participation in the 2004 UEFA European Championship, where Portugal suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final to Greece. Portugal would make amends 12 years later after beating hosts France in the Euro Final to secure their first-ever major trophy – only after doing their pre-tournament preparations at the Restelo. However, on 21 September 2013, the Estádio do Restelo presided over one of the most frightening incidents in the history of Portuguese football.

Newly promoted Belenenses were seeking to shake off a dismal start to the campaign, which had seen them lose each of their first four matches. João Pedro put them in front, breaking the deadlock within eight minutes, with Belenenses holding on for a 1-0 victory, but the match’s emotional climax would take place after a half-hour. Whilst overseeing proceedings from the touchline, Belenenses manager Mitchell van der Gaag suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed after losing consciousness. Had it not been for the miraculous efforts of the medics, who rushed to the dugout and restarted his heart after utilizing the defibrillators to deliver two shocks to his sternum, Van der Gaag would have been a goner at 41 years of age.

From Netherlands to Portugal via Scotland

Born in Zutphen, a small town located near the German border, Mitchell is the son of Wim van der Gaag, one of the first professional footballers in the history of Dutch football. He developed at PSV Eindhoven’s academy and enjoyed loan spells with Eredivisie sides NEC and Sparta Rotterdam before deciding to leave the Netherlands for the first time in his life and join Motherwell in January 1995. The centre-back scored a career-best 7 goals in 28 matches in his second season to help the Steelmen avoid relegation from the Scottish top-flight, before returning to the Netherlands and playing for Utrecht between 1997 and 2001. He then embarked on a new journey for Marítimo in Portugal, where he made 166 appearances before heading to Saudi club Al-Nassr in 2006 and hanging up his boots the following year.

Similar to Anthony Hudson, Van der Gaag commenced his managerial career in 2008 with Marítimo’s reserves. However, after a string of underwhelming results, Marítimo manager Carlos Carvalhal (now at Braga) was dismissed, prompting Van der Gaag to be given the first-team job in October 2009. Managing many of his former teammates, Van der Gaag led Marítimo to a UEFA Europa League qualification after beating Vitória on the final day and leapfrogging them to fifth place. His contract was renewed for another year, but after collecting just one point from his first four matches, he was given the axe at Madeira.

Van der Gaag then departed the island for the mainland, with his family settling in the outskirts of Lisbon. He returned to management after nearly two years out and took charge of Belenenses in the summer of 2012, where he proceeded to guide them to the league title and promotion to Portugal’s top-flight. After finishing atop the Liga de Honra with 94 points, he looked set to build on his momentum in the Primeira. Instead, he suffered a dismal start to proceedings and nearly lost his life due to a heart attack, prompting him to step down from his position.

It wasn’t until February 2015 that he returned to coaching, enjoying a brief spell at Cypriot side Ermis Aradippou before bouncing around from Dutch sides FC Eindhoven, Excelsior and NAC Breda. He then took charge of Ajax’s reserve sides, mentoring budding stars like Jurriën Timber and Ryan Gravenberch, before replacing Christian Poulsen as Erik ten Hag’s assistant coach in 2021 for Ajax’s first team. Over the next three years, Van der Gaag would win an Eredivisie title with Ajax and an EFL Cup and FA Cup with Manchester United before leaving his post in July 2024 in order to pursue a head coaching role.

Van der Gaag has spent the past 10 months recharging his batteries in Lisbon, spending quality time with his wife and two daughters Luna and Quinty and reconnecting with his two sons Luca and Jordan, who are playing in Portugal’s lower leagues with Leiria and Louletano, respectively. And whilst he has had a few coaching offers fall through at the last second, he’s confident that the next opportunity will come sooner rather than later. In an exclusive RG interview, Mitchell discussed various topics including:

What was your time like at Marítimo, and are you surprised by their current situation?

“When I went to Marítimo, I didn't know anything about Portuguese football, it was my first time in Portugal. You start to see how important sports are on the island. At that time, we were the only team playing in the highest division. It was easy for me because I had played there, I had a good relationship with the President, it was easy to start coaching there as I knew their setup really well and knew most of the players from the first team and B team.

“A couple of months ago, I returned for the first time in 15 years as my son was playing against Marítimo and I wanted to see Madeira again. I never expected the club to be playing in the second division. If you asked me 15 years ago when I left, I’d have said it would be impossible because it was such a good club and everyone wanted to play there. It was always a club that was competing for European football, but you saw the slump already a little bit the last couple of years when they were still playing in the highest division. Every time at the end of the season, they recovered, and then they stayed in the league. In the end, it was no surprise that they went down, unfortunately. Hopefully, they will go up very quickly, but knowing from experience, that's not very easy, because the second division in Portugal is very competitive.”

What was it like winning promotion with Belenenses?

“It was a good sensation. I didn’t win a trophy when I was a player, I never experienced anything like this. For me, it was important for various reasons, because it confirmed what I did with Marítimo. What makes it even more special is we started scouting in January 2012 and would travel the whole of Portugal and watch second-division and third-division games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday and prepare for the next season.

“The second division is competitive but in our minds, we had everything covered to win the league and go up with 10 games to go. We never expected that, but we gelled during the season, and there was something special, I think, with all the people involved, and especially with the players. Sometimes, as a coach, you have to be very lucky to get the group that gels together and is mentally strong and wants to improve.”

Why did you leave Manchester United?

“The main reason I left was I wanted to become a manager again. You can become very comfortable as an assistant, and I wanted to become a manager and lead again. It was always my ambition to become a head coach again. The last couple of months, I’ve been able to watch interesting football teams, get all my ideas together and think, ‘Okay, if I want to become head coach again, how do I want to play?’

“You can prepare everything, and apart from that, you have time to talk with other people, travel a lot and study other teams. You can develop yourself and get a better understanding of everything. You step back a little bit from all the madness that’s happening on a daily basis, and from there on, you get more time to gather your ideas clearly. You can think about what you want to do, and talk with other coaches and sports directors. I’ve been away for 10 years, so it was good to see my family and to be around the house. That’s what I’ve done, getting the energy back, thinking for myself, but it’s about time to start again.”