Marcel Sergio Orpheo Zijler (born 8 July 1987) is a Dutch former 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 played as a winger. Zijler, 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 ...

, began his football journey at the

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 ...

academy before making his professional debut with

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 ...

in 2006. He later joined Willem II, becoming a regular starter 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 ...

. Zijler's career also saw him competing abroad, with stints at clubs like

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

in Croatia,

Orduspor Orduspor is a Turkish football club founded in 1967. The club is located in Ordu, Turkey and played their home games at 19 Eylül Stadium. The team managed to qualify for the Turkish Super League again in 2011. But the last spell in top level ...

in Turkey, and

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

in Romania. His later years included experiences in lower-tier leagues. A youth international for the Netherlands, Zijler gained caps for the Netherlands under-16 and under-17 teams.

Club career

Born in

, Zijler spent part of his youth training at

's academy. In 2006, he moved to

, where he made his professional debut on 21 October 2006, as a substitute for

Otman Bakkal Otman Bakkal (born 27 February 1985) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He began his career at PSV Eindhoven, PSV, and was loaned to FC Den Bosc ...

in an

match against

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

. On 12 November 2006, he marked his first start for the senior team by scoring twice in a 7–1 victory over

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. During the 2007–08 season, Zijler made only one Eredivisie appearance. On 2 January 2008, he accepted an offer from Willem II, a move that Twente coach

Fred Rutten Fredericus Jacobus Rutten (; born 5 December 1962) is a Dutch football coach and former player. As a player, he spent his entire career with Twente during the years 1979 to 1992. Following his playing career, Rutten also managed Twente, before m ...

described as "beneficial for his development". Zijler signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Willem II. While he initially made limited appearances as a substitute during his first half-season, he became a regular starter over the following two seasons. His contract expired at the end of the 2009–10 season. After becoming a free agent, Zijler had trial periods with

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw (, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing sports club in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, best known for its Association football, football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, Swimming (sport), swimm ...

, and

FC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

that did not result in contracts. In January 2011, he signed a one-and-a-half-year deal with

. From June 2011 to January 2012, he played for

in Turkey before spending about a year without a club. He then joined Croatian second-tier club Zelina. In September 2014, after a trial, Zijler signed with

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 ...

on an amateur basis. In January 2015, he signed a short-term contract with Romanian club

following a successful trial. In March 2015, Zijler faced controversy when a photo surfaced of him in a

betting shop In the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, a betting shop is a shop away from a racecourse ("off-course") where one can legally place bets in person with a licensed bookmaker. Most shops are part of chains, includi ...

. The club suspended him, alleging illegal gambling. Zijler denied the claims, stating he had only visited a convenience store in the same building and viewed live football screens and betting lists, while also highlighting unpaid wages. In July 2015, the

Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...

's appeals committee ruled that Universitatea Cluj must meet its contractual obligations to him. In September 2015, Zijler joined

Lienden Lienden is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Buren, and lies about 9 km south of Veenendaal. Lienden was a separate municipality until 1999, when it was merged with Buren. History It was f ...

in the

Topklasse The Derde Divisie (; ), formerly known as Topklasse (; ), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league is placed between the Tweede Div ...

Sunday but parted ways with the club in December 2015. Due to lateness to practice, he made only three appearances and fell out of favour with head coach

Hans van de Haar Johannes "Hans" van de Haar (born 1 February 1975) is a Dutch Association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who is currently assistant coach of club TOP Oss. Professional career Netherlands, Austria ...

International career

Zijler was part of the Netherlands U-17 team in 2003.Sergio Zijler
at

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

.com In 2009, he played for the combination team of the

Suriname national football team The Suriname national football team (; Sranantongo: ) represents Suriname in international football. The team is controlled by the Surinaamse Voetbal Bond (), which is a member of CONCACAF. History Although the former Dutch colony is located ...

and the 'Suriprofs' (Surinamese professional players in the Netherlands) at the Parbo Bier Cup tournament.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zijler, Sergio 1987 births Living people Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers 21st-century Dutch sportsmen Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Dutch expatriate men's footballers AFC Ajax players FC Twente players Willem II Tilburg players Achilles '29 players FC Universitatea Cluj players HNK Rijeka players NK Zelina players Orduspor footballers FC Lienden players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Derde Divisie players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Liga I players Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Romania Men's association football wingers