Mees Victor Joseph Hilgers (born 13 May 2001) is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who plays 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 ...

for

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 ...

club

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Indonesia national team.

Club career

Early career

Hilgers started playing football at ASC Nieuwland in his hometown of

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

. After moving to

Nijkerk Nijkerk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ''Niekark'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city located in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. Population centres Some people state that ''Groot Corlaer'' is a ...

, he played in the youth team of

Sparta Nijkerk Voetbalvereniging Sparta Nijkerk, is an association football club from Nijkerk, Netherlands. The club was founded in 1931, is currently (season 2022–23) playing in the Derde Divisie. History In one of their most notable matches of recent memor ...

. At the age of ten, he moved to the academy of FC Twente.

Twente

On 6 December 2018, Hilgers signed his first professional contract with

. He made his professional debut with

in a 2–1

win over

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

on 5 December 2020.

2022–23 season

In the 2022–23 season, Hilgers was out of action for some time from March due to a groin injury. After returning he lost his starting place to Julio Pleguezuelo. He seemed to be heading for a departure from Twente, but he signed a new contract in July 2023 until mid-2026.

2024–25 season

On 13 August 2024, Hilgers scored a goal against Red Bull Salzburg in the second leg of UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round in a 3–3 draw, but Twente lost 4–5 on aggregate. On 25 September 2024, Hilgers started and played the full 90 minutes against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in a 1–1 draw in the

2024–25 UEFA Europa League The 2024–25 UEFA Europa League was the 54th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 16th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. This was the first season played under ...

league stage. He also played the following match, a 1–1 draw against Fenerbahçe at home, where he became the first Indonesian to play in the Europa League.

International career

Hilgers is a former youth international for Netherlands at under-21 level. In September 2024, Hilgers confirmed that he had decided to represent Indonesia at international level. On 1 October 2024, he was called up for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers matches against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. On 10 October 2024, he made his debut against Bahrain in a 2–2 draw.

Personal life

Born in the Netherlands, Hilgers is of Indonesian descent. On 30 September 2024, Hilgers officially obtained Indonesian citizenship after being sworned as citizens of Indonesia during a ceremony at the Indonesian Embassy alongside Eliano Reijnders.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilgers, Mees 2001 births Living people Footballers from Amersfoort Indonesian men's footballers Indonesia men's international footballers Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Indonesian people of Dutch descent Dutch people of Indonesian descent Sportspeople of Indonesian descent Minahasa people Indo people Men's association football central defenders FC Twente players Eredivisie players Indonesian expatriate men's footballers naturalised citizens of Indonesia 21st-century Indonesian sportsmen 21st-century Dutch sportsmen Naturalised association football players