Lion Kaak (born 26 June 1991) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

Club career

Kaak played as a youth for Pax Hengelo and then joined local

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

in 2001. He progressed through the youth system until he was promoted to the first team in 2009. Two years later, Kaak made his professional debut for the club, on 13 March 2011 in a home match against

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

, where he replaced

Gregor Breinburg Gregor Breinburg (born 16 September 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Aruba national team. Club career He formerly played for De Graafschap and joined NEC in 2014. After a s ...

. In June 2012, Kaak signed a two-year contract with AGOVV. Six months later, in January 2013, the club went bankrupt and he joined

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

on a free until the end of the season. In the summer of 2013, he trained with his former club, De Graafschap. In July 2013, Kaak signed with Spanish club

Valencia CF Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' Ciud ...

, the reserve team of

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

. He also trained several times with the Valencia first team and on the last matchday of the 2013–14 season, he sat on the bench. However, he did not make an appearance. In 2014, he returned to the Netherlands, where he began playing for second-tier

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 ...

club

Achilles '29 Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands, competing in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse. The club is known for its successes in the Dutch domestic cup, having knocked FC Volendam, Heracles Almelo, RKC Waalwijk, Telstar and ...

. In the first league match on 9 August against

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively fo ...

(0–2 away loss), Kaak made his debut in the starting lineup, where he would remain in the following months. On 1 December, he provided an assist from a corner kick to Mehmet Dingil against

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024 ...

. Because he played for Achilles '29 on an amateur basis, he was able to sign on a free transfer with his childhood club, De Graafschap, in January 2015, on a one-and-a-half-year contract. On 27 January 2015, Kaak made his official return to the club as a 83rd-minute substitute in a 2–0 away win over

SC Telstar Sportclub Telstar () is a Dutch professional football club based in the town of Velsen-Zuid, North Holland. The team competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in t ...

. In the summer of 2017, Kaak moved to

FC Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbreviati ...

, which became TOP Oss from 1 July 2018. In 2019, he signed a contract extension, which would keep him in Oss until 2022. On 20 June 2022, De Graafschap announced that Kaak would return to the club from the 2022–23 season, his third spell with the club.

International career

Kaak has represented the Netherlands at under-16 level, gaining his first cap as a starter in a friendly against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 14 March 2007, before being replaced by

Cayfano Latupeirissa Cayfano Latupeirissa (born 28 April 1991) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. He most notably played for NEC. International career Latupeirissahas represented the Netherlands at under-15, under-16 and under-17 le ...

in the 58th minute of a 2–1 loss.

Style of play

Kaak is right-footed. He typically plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. During his time with TOP Oss, he has been described as a strong personality on the pitch who is "guarding the standards, values and mentality of the club".

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaak, Lion 1991 births Living people Footballers from Hengelo Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders De Graafschap players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Go Ahead Eagles players Achilles '29 players TOP Oss players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century Dutch sportsmen