Gregory Van Der Wiel
Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel (born 3 February 1988) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. Born in Amsterdam, Van der Wiel is a product of the AFC Ajax youth system. In 2010, he was awarded the Johan Cruyff Award for "Johan Cruijff Award, Young Player of the Year" in the Netherlands. He also played for Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain, Fenerbahçe S.K. (football), Fenerbahçe, Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari and Toronto FC. Van der Wiel made his debut for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team in February 2009 and participated in the Netherlands' runners-up performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Dutch teammate John Heitinga has labelled him the spiritual successor of Michael Reiziger for the Netherlands. Club career Ajax Van der Wiel started his playing career at RKSV DCG in Amsterdam. At age seven, the young defender was scouted by AFC Ajax and brought to the Ajax Academy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Netherlands National Football Team
The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), the governing body for football in the Netherlands, which is a part of UEFA, under the jurisdiction of FIFA. Most of the Netherlands home matches are played at the Johan Cruyff Arena, De Kuip, Philips Stadion and De Grolsch Veste. The team is colloquially referred to as ''Het Nederlands Elftal'' (The Dutch Eleven) or ''Oranje'', after the House of Orange-Nassau and their distinctive orange jerseys. Informally the team, like the country itself, is referred to as ''Holland''. Additionally, their fan club is known as ''Het Oranje Legioen'' (The Orange Legion). The Netherlands has competed in eleven FIFA World Cups, appearing in the final three times (in 1974, 1978 and 2010), finishing as runners-up on all three occasions. They have al ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Association Football
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 field called a Football pitch, pitch. The objective of the game is to Scoring in association football, score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed Goal (sport), goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport. Association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the International Football Association Board, IFAB since 1886. The game is pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Johan Cruyff Shield
The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football league, Eredivisie, and the winner of the national KNVB Cup. In the event of a team winning both the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup, the Johan Cruyff Shield will be contested between that team and the runner up in the national league. The trophy The trophy is a silver plate with a 60-centimetre diameter. It is similar to the trophies received by the champions of the Eredivisie. The engraved text on the trophy is as follows: * Border, top: "Johan Cruijff Schaal PSV" (or: "Johan Cruyff Trophy X", so Cruijff with 'ij' as opposed to the international spelling using a 'y' and a number in Roman numerals) * Centre: "KNVB 31-7-2008" (KNVB standing for "Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbal Bond" or "Royal Dutch Football Association" followed by the dat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 played in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football, since its inception in 1956. Along with AFC Ajax, Ajax and Feyenoord, PSV is one of the country's "Big Three (Netherlands), big three" clubs that have dominated the Eredivisie. The club was founded in 1913 as a team for Philips employees. PSV's history contains two golden eras revolving around the 1977–78 UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup victory in 1978 and the 1987–88 European Cup victory as part of the Treble (association football), seasonal treble in 1987–88 PSV Eindhoven season, 1988. The team has won the Eredivisie 26 times, the KNVB Cup 11 times and the Johan Cruyff Shield a record of 14 times. Currently (as of May 2025), PSV is ranked 27th on the UEFA club coefficients ranking. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ESPN Soccernet
ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as SoccerNet, the website was acquired by ESPN in 1999. The domain ESPNFC.com now redirects to soccer news coverage on ESPN.com. History Originally titled SoccerNet, the website was established by Greg Hadfield and his then-teenage son Tom in 1995, initially providing live score updates, tables and news articles. Greg, at that time, worked for the ''Daily Mail'' and in order to gain capital, effectively rescinded ownership of the site to his bosses in return for £40,000 and a revenue sharing scheme. In 1999, Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG) acquired a controlling interest of 60 percent in SoccerNet from the Daily Mail and General Trust for £15M. Television program ESPN eventually launched a U.S. television studio program on ESPNews, ESPN2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jaap Stam
Jakob "Jaap" Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of all-time. Stam was part of the Manchester United team that won the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1999. Stam played for several European clubs including PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Lazio, Milan and Ajax before retiring in October 2007. As well as winning numerous club trophies including an Eredivisie, a Coppa Italia, an Intercontinental Cup and three Premier League titles, he won several personal awards including being voted the best defender in both the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions Leagues as well as being in three consecutive PFA Team of the Year sides from 1999 to 2001. Stam played 67 international matches for the Netherlands, scoring three goals. He was in their squads for three UEFA European Championships and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Aft ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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FC Twente
Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Boys. FC Twente's trophy cabinet includes the 2010–11 KNVB Cup, KNVB Cup, the 2011 Johan Cruyff Shield, Johan Cruyff Shield, and the 2009–10 Eredivisie, Eredivisie title. They were runner-up in the Eredivisie in two other seasons, and finished second in the 1974–75 UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup. They have also won the Dutch Cup three times, most recently in 2011. Twente's home ground since 1998 is De Grolsch Veste. Since 2019, the team have played in the Eredivisie, the top division of Dutch football. The club takes its name from the region of Twente, the eastern part of Overijssel. History Foundation and early years The club was formed in 1965 as a merger of two professional clubs, Sportclub Enschede and the Ensched ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jong Ajax
Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional football, winning the 2017–18 Eerste Divisie. That team featured players such as Noussair Mazraoui, Noa Lang and Danilho Doekhi. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more commonly known as Ajax 2''). The team is composed mostly of professional footballers, who are often recent graduates from the highest youth level (Ajax A1) Since 1992 Jong Ajax have competed in the Beloften Eredivisie, competing against other reserve teams such as Jong PSV, Jong FC Groningen or Jong AZ. It has won the Beloften Eredivisie title a record eight times, as well as the KNVB Reserve Cup three times, making it the most successful reserve squad in the Netherlands. By winning the Beloften Eredivisie title, Jong Ajax were able to qualify for the actual KNVB Cup, e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Donovan Slijngard
Donovan Carlos Saverio Slijngard (born 28 August 1987), simply known as Donovan Slijngard (), is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Club career Ajax Slijngard was born in Amsterdam and came through the Ajax youth ranks. In 2006, he was named AFC Ajax "Talent of the Future". He made his debut in professional football in the 2006–07 season where he played on loan for FC Groningen, while still under contract with Ajax. He made his debut for the senior squad of Ajax in the play-off game against FC Twente which finished 0–0. For the 2008–09 season, he was added to the first squad by manager Marco van Basten. Sparta Rotterdam After the 2008–09 season he left Ajax on a free transfer and signed a three-year contract with the club where he had already played on loan during the previous season, Sparta Rotterdam. Slijngard totally spent six seasons with the club after which he decided not to extend his expiring contract Cambuur On 28 August 2014, i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Reiziger
Michael John Reiziger (; born 3 May 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back. Reiziger currently manages the Netherlands U21 team. After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champions League, he went on to represent four teams in as many countries, notably Barcelona, for which he played 249 official games in seven years, as well as spells at A.C. Milan, Middlesbrough and PSV Eindhoven. Reiziger represented the Netherlands national team for a full decade, competing at three European Championships and the 1998 World Cup and finishing fourth in the latter tournament. Playing career Club Born in Amstelveen, North Holland to Surinamese parents, Reiziger started his career with hometown club Ajax, making his first-team debut at the age of 17 then serving two consecutive loan spells, with Volendam and Groningen; with the latter, in the 1993–94 season, he scored a career-best six goals while operating also as a midfi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Heitinga
John Gijsbert Alan "Johnny" Heitinga (born 15 November 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is currently the assistant manager at Premier League club Liverpool. He will become the manager of Eredivisie club Ajax on 1 July 2025. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he played for their first squad from 2001 to 2008. After a one-year spell at Atlético Madrid in Spain, he signed for Everton in 2009. Joining Fulham for six months in January 2014, he then signed with German side Hertha BSC the following summer, signing a two-year deal with the Berlin-based club. In June 2015, he returned to his boyhood club Ajax for a single season before retiring in 2016. After making his debut for the Netherlands national team in February 2004, Heitinga earned over 85 caps and represented his country at two World Cups (2006 and 2010) and three European Championships (2004, 2008, and 2012). In 2008, he was named Dutch Footballer of the Year. Club career Ajax Heitinga was part of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |