Piet Velthuizen ( born 3 November 1986) is a Dutch

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. He participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Club career

Vitesse

Velthuizen made his first team debut on 31 December 2006, in the 2–2 away match against

Willem II Willem II may refer to: People * William II, Prince of Orange (1626–1650), stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands * William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), King of the Netherlands Other uses * Willem II (football club), a Du ...

. His career developed rapidly, and according to

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...

, he was among the most promising goalkeepers in Europe in 2008. He broke into the Vitesse first team in the 2007–08 season, when he signed a contract extension until 2011.

Hércules

In the summer of 2010 Velthuizen joined Spanish side Hércules for €800,000 as they sought to strengthen their squad for their first season back in the top flight after a thirteen year absence. He had to settle as second choice to

Calatayud Calatayud (; 2014 pop. 20,658) is a municipality in the Province of Zaragoza, within Aragón, Spain, lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest town in the province after the capital, ...

, making just 5 appearances in all competitions.

Vitesse return

After one solitary season in Spain which culminated with Hércules being relegated Velthuizen re-joined Vitesse and instantly became first-choice goalkeeper again. He remained a constant in the Vitesse goal until November 2014 when he lost his place to

Eloy Room Eloy Victor Room (born 6 February 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Curaçao national team. Club career Vitesse Room joined Vites ...

. After his only appearance of the 2015/16 season coming in a 4-1 extra time defeat to

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

in a cup match in which Vitesse had to play the entire period of extra time with 8 men due to three sendings off, he departed at the end of his contract.

Hapoel Haifa

Velthuizen then moved on to Israel joining

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

. He was their main goalie as they finished in 8th place - their highest finish in 16 years.

Omonia Nicosia

On 17 July 2017, Velthuizen signed a contract with the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus official ...

club

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also tran ...

where he would play alongside compatriot

Hedwiges Maduro Hedwiges Eduard Martinus Maduro (born 13 February 1985) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player who is the assistant coach of Eerste Divisie club Almere City. Mainly a defensive midfielder during his playing career, he could al ...

. He would end up cancelling his contract on 1 January 2018 after just 9 games.

AZ Alkmaar

After two seasons away Velthuizen returned to the country of his birth joining

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and hos ...

on 28 August 2018 as back up to

Marco Bizot Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

after an injury to the normal number two Rody de Boer. This spell ultimately proved unsuccessful as he failed to make an appearance and was released at the end of the season.

Telstar

On 10 February 2020, after seven months without a club, he joined

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the f ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

. He left the club at the end of the season.

Fortuna Sittard

On 26 February 2021, Velthuizen joined

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

on a deal for the rest of the season. He got his debut for the club two days later against

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. ...

International career

Velthuizen received his first call-up to the Dutch squad on 21 March 2008 for the friendly match against Austria. On 5 September 2009, he made his debut for the national team in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Japan after coming on as a half time substitute for

Michel Vorm Michel Armand Vorm (born 20 October 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and was a goalkeeping coach at Tottenham Hotspur. Vorm began his professional career at FC Utrecht in 2005, spending his first season ...

. He managed to keep a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in the 3–0 win. Currently he is no longer part of the national football team.

2008 Summer Olympics

He was selected by

Foppe de Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch football coach. He is known for his long association with Frisian club SC Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national football team during 2011 and then rejoined Heerenveen' ...

to be in the squad for the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. Although being first choice in most of the run-up to the Olympics, he was told by De Haan he would be second choice after the other Dutch goalkeeper in the squad;

Kenneth Vermeer Kenneth Harold Vermeer (born 10 January 1986) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Vermeer has played for Jong Ajax, Willem II on loan, ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velthuizen, Piet 1986 births Living people Footballers from Nijmegen Dutch footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Association football goalkeepers Netherlands international footballers Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of the Netherlands SBV Vitesse players Hércules CF players Hapoel Haifa F.C. players AC Omonia players AZ Alkmaar players SC Telstar players Fortuna Sittard players Eredivisie players La Liga players Israeli Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Israel Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Quick 1888 players