Lutsharel Emiliano Geertruida (; born 18 July 2000) 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 for

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 ...

club

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

and the Netherlands national team. Mainly a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he can also play as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and

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. ...

Club career

Geertruida was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, near

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

's home ground

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

. He started his footballing career at Overmaas Rotterdam, before moving to Spartaan '20 at the age of seven. Two years later, Geertruida joined

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

's youth academy, where he played for three years before being signed to Feyenoord's youth setup at

Sportcomplex Varkenoord Sportcomplex Varkenoord is a sports facility located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Varkenoord is the home base of Feyenoord Academy, the women's team and the amateur football club SC Feyenoord. The fields are also being used as training ground by ...

Feyenoord

Geertruida made his professional first team debut on 25 October 2017 in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

against

AVV Swift Amsterdamse Voetbalvereniging Swift is a football club based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They are currently members of the Vierde Divisie, the fifth tier of the Dutch football league system. They play their home matches at Sportpark Olympiaplein. ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 77th minute for

Jerry St. Juste Jeremiah Israël "Jerry" St. Juste (born 19 October 1996) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP. Early life St. Juste was born in Groningen to a Dutch mother and a Kittitian father. He ...

. Throughout the 2018–19 season, Geertruida was consistently part of the first-team squad at Feyenoord but saw limited playing time, making just two substitute appearances in the

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 ...

. He made his debut in the Eredivisie on 23 December 2018, 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 ...

, replacing club legend

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is the head coach of Eredivisie club Feyenoord. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and was ...

in the 79th minute. On 9 August 2018, Geertruida also debuted in European competition in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualifier that ended in a 4–0 loss against

AS Trenčín AS Trenčín () is a Slovak sports club in the town of Trenčín, most known for its football department. The first team currently plays in the Slovak First Football League after winning the 2010–11 Slovak First League. The club plays its hom ...

. During the 2019–20 season, Geertruida saw more playing time, often coming on as a substitute for regular starter

Rick Karsdorp Rick Karsdorp (born 11 February 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team. Club career Feyenoord Early years Born in Schoonhoven, Netherlands, Karsdorp starte ...

. His first start in the Eredivisie took place on 26 September 2019 in a match against AZ, which ended in a 3–0 loss for Feyenoord. Geertruida scored his first goal in professional football on 27 September 2020 in a 4–2 victory against ADO Den Haag. In August 2021, he extended his contract with Feyenoord until 2024. On 25 May 2022, Geertruida played in the UEFA Conference League final which ended in a 1–0 defeat against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. In the 2022–23 season, he was an integral part of the team which won the

title.

RB Leipzig

On 30 August 2024, Geertruida transferred to

club

for around €20 million, signing a five-year deal with the German club.

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Geertruida is of Curaçaoan descent. He is a youth international for the Netherlands. On 21 March 2021, Geertruida was called up to the

Netherlands national under-21 football team The Netherlands national under-21 football team is the national under-21 team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. Followin ...

for the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association ...

to replace the ill

Jurriën Timber Jurriën David Norman Timber (; born 17 June 2001) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Arsenal and the Netherlands national team. Timber joined Ajax's youth academy in 2014, from Feyenoord. He made his first- ...

. He was called up to the preliminary squad for the Curaçao national team for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was ...

. On 17 March 2023, Geertruida received his first call-up to the Netherlands senior national team for the

Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

matches against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. He made his debut one week later, being a starter in a 4–0 away loss against France. In June 2023, Geertruida was part of the Netherlands' squad for the

2023 UEFA Nations League Finals The 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League, 2022–23 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the third season of the international Association football, football competition involving the men's ...

, where he played the full match against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the semi-final and the first 45 minutes 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 ...

in the third place play-off. In May 2024, it was announced that Geertruida was part of the preliminary squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. Two weeks later, it was confirmed that he would be included in the final squad. He made his final tournament debut on 21 June 2024, coming in as a substitute in a goalless draw against

Personal life

During his early years at

, Geertruida was seldom seen in front of the camera due to his struggle with severe

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

. As a result, in consultation with the club, he chose not to participate in any interviews.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Feyenoord *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

: 2017–18, 2023–24 *

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 footbal ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual *

Talent of the Month: September 2020, January 2021 *

Team of the Month: September 2020, January 2021, February 2023, March 2023, May 2023, August 2023, October 2023, December 2023, January 2024, February 2024 *

Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Profile
at the Royal Dutch Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geertuida, Lutsharel 2000 births Living people Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch people of Curaçao descent Dutch men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Feyenoord players RB Leipzig players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players People with speech disorders Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 21st-century Dutch sportsmen