Marcel de Jong ( , ; born 15 October 1986) is a Canadian former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Early career

De Jong played for amateur side De Valk and joined the

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

youth academy in 1996. He started his professional career with Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

side

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

and joined

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

in the summer of 2006.

FC Augsburg

After four years with

, de Jong signed with German club

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

on 21 May 2010. Marcel scored his first goal for the second division German side on 12 September 2010 versus

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

at the

Ruhrstadion Ruhrstadion () is a football stadium in Bochum, Germany. It is the home ground for the VfL Bochum and has a capacity of 27,599. It was known as rewirpowerSTADION (or, rarely, ) from 2006 to 2016, also for sponsorship reasons. History In 1911 th ...

. They won this away fixture 2–0 in which de Jong also assisted the other goal from teammate

Michael Thurk Michael Thurk (born 28 May 1976) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. Career Born in Frankfurt, Thurk joined 1. FSV Mainz 05 from Hessian Oberliga club SV Jügesheim in 1999 on advice of Django Mann who already ...

. De Jong scored his second goal of the season several months later on 4 February 2011 in a 2–0 away win versus

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its Association football, football section. The footba ...

. De Jong in his first season with Augsburg started 24 league games and helped take the team to finish second in 2. Bundesliga securing automatic promotion to top flight soccer, finishing several points behind

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

. De Jong made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut in the first game of the 2011–12 season on 6 August 2011 against

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

; the game ended in a 2–2 home draw. On 4 October 2011, Marcel de Jong suffered a knee injury that would keep him out of action for two months. He returned to action as an unused substitute on 4 December 2011 during a 3–1 defeat to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

. De Jong made his full return to the team the following week against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

; starting the game, he helped earn the team only their third victory of the campaign, winning 1–0. De Jong scored his first Bundesliga goal on 28 January 2012 against

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

, the game ended in a 2–2 home draw. De Jong sustained an ankle injury in an early February draw against 1. FC Nürnberg, forcing him to have season-ending surgery on the ligaments. De Jong made his return from his injury 1 September 2012 in a 3–1 defeat to

. He scored his first goal of the season on 27 April 2013 against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

in a 3–0 victory, de Jong came on as a sub and scored a minute after coming on. Unsatisfied with his role as a reserve in the 2014–15 season, De Jong and Augsburg agreed to terminate his contract in January 2015.

Sporting Kansas City

After an extended trial, de Jong signed with

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

ahead of the 2015 MLS season. He made his debut against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

on 14 March. On 1 March 2016, Sporting KC announced the club had terminated its contract with De Jong by mutual consent.

Ottawa Fury

The day after being released by Sporting KC, de Jong signed with NASL club Ottawa Fury, joining fellow Canadian international teammate

Julian de Guzman Julian Bobby de Guzman (born March 25, 1981) is a Canadian association football, soccer executive and former professional player and coach who currently serves as the Sporting Director for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. A midfie ...

. After a good Spring season with Ottawa, de Jong had stated in interviews that he and his family "liked it here" (in Ottawa) and that he wanted to stay despite interest from multiple other clubs. However, when questioned by media, Fury manager

Paul Dalglish Paul Kenneth Dalglish (born 18 February 1977) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Playing career Dalglish, son of former Scotland international Kenny Dalglish, was born in Glasgow though spent his childhood in Liverpool where his fa ...

stated that he was doubtful that the club would be able to afford de Jong. On 22 June 2016, Dalglish stated that he had made de Jong "his best possible offer" and that it was up to the player as to whether or not he would accept it and stay in Ottawa or sign elsewhere. On 30 June, the club stated in a preview for its Fall season opener that de Jong had not been re-signed.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 11 July,

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

announced they had signed de Jong via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. On 4 February 2019, de Jong and Vancouver mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club.

Pacific FC

On 19 February 2019, de Jong signed with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

club

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 20 ...

. The next month on 15 March, Pacific FC revealed de Jong suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in training, sidelining him for the season. It was expected that de Jong would miss the entire

2019 Canadian Premier League season The 2019 Canadian Premier League season was the inaugural season of the Canadian Premier League, the Canadian soccer league system, top level of Canadian Professionalism in association football, professional soccer. The regular season began on ...

, but when the season was almost over, he was able to make his debut in the 66th minute of a 1–1 draw against the

HFX Wanderers Halifax Wanderers FC, also written as HFX Wanderers FC, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) at the top of the Canadian soccer league system, and play their home ...

. De Jong re-signed with Pacific in October 2020 for the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. On 5 March 2021, de Jong announced his retirement from soccer.

International career

In the summer of 2005, De Jong played for the Canadian U-20 national team at the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

in the Netherlands. On 26 September 2007, just before his 21st birthday, De Jong decided to play for the Canada national team instead of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, reasoning that he would be more likely to earn a regular place in the Canada team than with the Netherlands. He made his senior debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in a November 2007 friendly match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. De Jong scored his first goal for Canada in a 2–2 draw against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on 10 July 2009. De Jong was selected for his second consecutive Gold Cup in May 2011, Canada failed to exit the group stage with a 1–1–1 record.

Personal life

Born in Canada to Dutch parents, De Jong moved to the Netherlands at the age of five and did not return to Canada until he was selected by the Canada U17 national soccer team in 2003.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each de Jong goal''.

Honours

Club

FC Augsburg * 2. Bundesliga Runner-up (Promotion to the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Sporting Kansas City *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

winner :

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* * *
Dutch league stats
– Voetbal International {{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Marcel 1986 births Living people Men's association football defenders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer people from Ontario Sportspeople from Newmarket, Ontario Canadian people of Dutch descent Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States PSV Eindhoven players Helmond Sport players Roda JC Kerkrade players FC Augsburg players Sporting Kansas City players Ottawa Fury FC players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Pacific FC players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Canadian Premier League players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players VV De Valk players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen