Romeo Erwan Marius Castelen (born 3 May 1983) is a Dutch former

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 played as a right winger.

Club career

ADO Den Haag

Born in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, Castelen started his professional career with

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 ...

, playing two full seasons in the second division. He made his first-team debut at not yet 18, and contributed with nine goals in 24 games in 2002–03 as the club returned to 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 ...

, as champions. Castelen made his top level debut on 16 August 2003, in a 0–1 away loss against RKC Waalwijk. He only missed six matches during the campaign as

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

side narrowly avoided relegation (15th position).

Feyenoord

Castelen moved to

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 ...

for 2004–05, making his official debut for his new team on 15 August and scoring a brace in a 6–1 home win against De Graafschap. He netted 19 goals in his first two years with the

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 ...

side combined, as it finished fourth and third respectively. Together with Salomon Kalou and Dirk Kuyt, Castelen was part of an efficient Feyenoord attack. He only appeared in 23 contests in his second year however, due to injury. Castelen could only amass 12 league matches in 2006–07 due to an

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

ailment, as Feyenoord finished in seventh position. On 22 April 2007 he scored his only game of the season, in a 1–1 home draw against NEC Nijmegen.

Hamburger SV

Castelen was declared fit prior to the start of the 2007–08 campaign, with his contract expiring at the end of that season. He was offered a new deal, but declined to sign it after deeming his future at the club as not very bright due to its recent results. However, when players like

Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan "Gio" van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who last managed Süper Lig club Beşiktaş J.K., Beşiktaş. Originally a midfielder, he moved to left-back lat ...

, Kevin Hofland and Roy Makaay were signed, he reconsidered, but eventually agreed on terms with

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in late July 2007, signing a four-year contract; he appeared in 79 official games for Feyenoord, scoring 21 goals. Castelen made his

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 ...

debut on 11 August 2007, playing seven minutes in a 1–0 away win against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

. During his spell at the Volksparkstadion, however, he was plagued with constant injury problems, and he was released in June 2012 after his contract was not renewed.

Later years

After nearly one year out of football, Castelen signed with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

team

FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod () was a Russian football club from Nizhny Novgorod, founded in 1998. In 2008, FC Volga won the Ural-Povolzhye (Volga Region in Russian) zone of the Russian Second Division and advanced to the Russian First Division. In ...

on 15 February 2013. He was released at the end of the season. On 3 July 2013, Castelen returned to his homeland and its top division, joining RKC. Roughly one year later, he signed a two-year contract with

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football, association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South W ...

. He participated with his new team at the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, scoring the opener against

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne (), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional association football, football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in 1958 and its colours are bl ...

in the fifth-place match, which ended in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

loss after a 2–2 draw. In the 2015–16 campaign, Castelen netted seven goals overall. Three of those came in the final series' semi-finals, a 5–4

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

win over

Brisbane Roar FC Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

. However, on 5 May 2016, he was released. On 14 July 2016, Castelen signed with K-League Classic team

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

. In the 2018 January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, the 34-year old returned to his country and joined

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

, making his debut against former club Den Haag. He retired from professional football later that year. Since then, he has worked as an agent, advising players such as Evert Linthorst and Simon Janssen.

International career

Castelen's solid beginnings with Feyenoord impressed newly appointed Dutch national team manager

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

, and the player made his debut with ''Oranje'' on 18 August 2004, starting in a 2–2 friendly draw in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. His physical condition, however, denied him a spot in the squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. Also in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, Castelen helped the under-21 team win the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Personal life

In 1989, both Castelen's mother and sister died in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crash in which 15 Surinamese footballers lost their lives.

Statistics

Club

International goals

International

Honours

Club

Den Haag *

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 ...

: 2002–03

Country

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

References

External links

*
Beijen profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castelen, Romeo 1983 births Living people Footballers from Paramaribo Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands Men's association football wingers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players ADO Den Haag players Feyenoord players RKC Waalwijk players VVV-Venlo players Bundesliga players Hamburger SV players Hamburger SV II players Russian Premier League players FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod players A-League Men players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players K League 1 players Suwon Samsung Bluewings players China League One players Shaoxing Keqiao Yuejia F.C. players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in China Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Russia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Australia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Dutch expatriate sportspeople in China ASC De Volewijckers players