Desi Samson

Desiré "Desi" Samson (10 February 1919 – 3 September 2000) was a Surinamese footballer, football manager and referee. A forward, he played club football for Cicerone, S.V. Arsenal and MVV and was a long-time member of the Suriname national team.

Early life Samson was born on 10 February 1919 on Weidestraat in Paramaribo. He attended St. Paulusschool and spent much of his youth near the Cultuurtuin, where he practised as a young footballer. In addition to football, Samson participated in several other sports, including athletics, swimming, cricket, boxing, basketball, volleyball and badminton. From 1946, Samson served on several occasions as vice-captain and captain of the national team. Two days later, Suriname lost 3–1 to Feyenoord at De Kuip in Rotterdam. Additional games were played against Tilburg XI, Quick Nijmegen, Be Quick, DFC, and Den Haag XI.

Samson also wrote about football for the sports magazine Sportarena. In 1989, he wrote the foreword, titled Woord van waardering, to Guno Hoen's book Onze sporthelden. Deel 2 ("Our sports heroes. Part 2").

Samson died in Paramaribo on 3 September 2000, aged 81.