Pascal Jansen, the Dutch national team, and the NYCFC training facility

The Netherlands national team packed a lot into a brief stay in New York.

Oranje arrived in New York on Thursday, June 4, and spent the period from Friday, June 5 to Monday, June 8 training in perfectly-named Orangeburg, New York, at the usual training ground of New York City FC.

That choice of practice venue, Etihad City Football Academy New York in Rockland County just outside New York City proper, traces back to correspondence between the Dutch soccer federation and New York City FC coach Pascal Jansen.

The 53-year-old former AZ Alkmaar manager gave multiple interviews to the Dutch press in recent days about the unique setup of having Oranje training in his day-to-day NYCFC workplace, though while he's on vacation back in the Netherlands during the MLS pause for the World Cup.

From Jansen's statements, and from other reporting and social-media posting about and by the national team, you get a unique perspective on how the Netherlands squad ended up in this part of New York, how they found their brief time spent staying at a hotel in downtown White Plains, and the influence Jansen had on both NYCFC's training facility and the Dutch team's decision to utilize it.

Oranje In Orangeburg: Netherlands at NYCFC training facility before Randall’s Island friendly

The Dutch national team will become the second squad competing at the World Cup to briefly use New York City FC’s campus in Orangeburg, New York, to conduct some of its pre-tournament trainings.

New York Soccer JournalAndrew Leigh

Pascal and the practice pitch