Brian Brobbey and Ryan Gravenberch reunite in Oranje after F1 days

Brian Brobbey and Ryan Gravenberch are reuniting as teammates at the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The two former Ajax players began their journey together in the club’s F1 youth team. Brobbey, now playing for Sunderland, recalled their shared start in the F1 setup. “Since the F1,” he said in an item for Ons Oranje, “that’s where it all began. We played together there. Since then we’ve always been together, until he went to Liverpool.” Gravenberch, currently at Liverpool, echoed the sentiment. “That’s a very long time ago. We were together in the F1 at Ajax. We go way back,” he said. The midfielder praised Brobbey’s development, noting his ability to create chances and score goals. “Ryan is a playmaker, can dribble past a man, can deliver through balls, and he’s also getting better at scoring. He has good long-range shots,” Brobbey said. “He’s doing well. When he’s really on form, he’s one of the best in what he does.”

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Gravenberch highlighted Brobbey’s physical strength from their youth days. “You see it in him now. He was already very strong back then. When we were eight, I’d always play the ball in. He’d hold off his marker and then we could play on. I think that’s one of his best qualities,” he added. Both players have progressed from the F1, which is now called the Onder 9, to senior international football with the Netherlands national team.

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Their reunion at the World Cup marks a full-circle moment in a friendship that began over two decades ago in Amsterdam. Brobbey and Gravenberch last played together for Ajax’s youth teams before Gravenberch’s move to Liverpool.