Mauro Zijlstra Naturalization Files Have Not Been Received By Menpora

Mauro Zijlstra is a candidate for a new naturalization player (Instagram/@maurozijlstra).

The Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora) has not received the file for the naturalization of Mauro Zijlstra from the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI).

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Dito Ariotedjo, stated that the latest PSSI only submitted three names, all of whom were female players.

"Mauro belum," ujar Dito di kantor Kementerian Pemuda dan Olahraga (Kemenpora), Senayan, Jakarta, pada Rabu, 9 Juli 2025, siang WIB.

The three female footballers referred to by Dito are probably Pauline van de Pol, Isabelle Nottet, andria Kopp.

"Yes, the process, there were three athletes submitted by PSSI. The letters came not at the same time, different days. I don't know the names, but all of them are women. All female athletes," he said.

Mauro was born in the Netherlands on November 9, 2004. The 19-year-old has a fairly tall posture, which is 1.88 meters, and is very suitable to be placed as a striker.

According to Tranfermarkt data, Mauro started his career by defending Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. After that, he was recorded as moving to the AFC Amsterdam academy.

Mauro Zijlstra's talent began to steal attention when he strengthened AFC Amsterdam in various age groups, including the U-17 and U-18. His name came out in the 2021/2022 season after appearing impressively with the U-18 team.

In that season, he managed to collect 18 goals and 11 assists. His sharpness was even more evident when he was played as an attacking midfielder.

Of the nine matches in that position, the Indonesian-Dutch player was able to score 12 goals and contributed five assists.

However, his career changed when at the beginning of the 2022/2023 season he decided to join NEC Nijmegen U-21. Together with the team, he began to find it difficult to get playing minutes.

He only appeared in seven matches in all competitions, with three goals. He was only trusted to appear as a full starter twice, one of which was in the match against Den Bosch U-21 and Vitesse in Division 2 U-21 in fall.

Even so, Mauro had shown his quality when facing VVV-Venlo U-21. In that match, he performed brilliantly by scoring a hat trick and bringing his team to victory.