Klaas Jan Huntelaar
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| Klaas Jan Huntelaar | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Klaas Jan Huntelaar | |
| Date of birth | August 12, 1983 (age 23) | |
| Place of birth |  Drempt, Gelderland, Netherlands |
|
| Height | 186 cm / 6ft 1.25in | |
| Nickname | The Hunter | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | AFC Ajax |
|
| Number | 9 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1998-2000 2000-2002 |
De Graafschap |
|
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2002-2003 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2006 2006- |
PSV → → |
1 (0) 9 (0) 35 (26) 46 (34) 44 (35) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2006- | Netherlands |
5 (2) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Klaas Jan Huntelaar (born August 12, 1983 in Drempt, Gelderland, Netherlands) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Ajax Amsterdam and Netherlands, where he has replaced Ruud van Nistelrooy as striker after he fell out with coach Marco van Basten. He is seen as a rising star in Dutch football, having scored 33 goals in the 2005/06 Eredivisie campaign, making him top scorer. His nickname is 'The Hunter'.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] PSV
In 2000, aged 16, Huntelaar joined PSV Eindhoven’s academy and established himself as a prolific goalscorer for their youth team.
He made his debut for PSV during the first half of the 2002-2003 season but this was to prove his one and only Eredivisie appearance for the club.
[edit] De Graafschap / AGOVV
Having failed to establish himself in the first team he was loaned out to De Graafschap to gain experience. He made 9 Eredivisie appearances for ‘the Super Farmers’ but failed to score.
In the summer of 2003 Huntelaar was again loaned out. This time to AGOVV Apeldoorn in the Dutch First Division. He was an instant success scoring 26 times in his 35 league appearances and finished the season as the divisions top goalscorer.
[edit] SC Heerenveen
After the player turned down the opportunity to sign a new contract with PSV SC Heerenveen moved in to sign him for a transfer fee of €100,000. The following season he scored 17 goals in 31 matches to help Heerenveen qualify for the UEFA Cup. 2005/06 saw him score 17 goals in 15 matches, form which earned him a mid-season transfer to Ajax, who paid € 9 million + future extensives for the player. A substantial sum went to rivals PSV Eindhoven as a result of the training compensation rule imposed by FIFA.
[edit] Ajax
Huntelaar had an immediate impact at Ajax, scoring perhaps his most spectacular goal of the season, a bicycle kick in injury time of the KNVB Cup semifinal against Roda JC, which squared the match and allowed Ajax to go on to victory after the extra periods. Huntelaar then went on to score a brace, including the winner, against PSV Eindhoven to bring Ajax its 16th KNVB Cup.
Huntelaar was the first player to score a goal at Arsenal F.C.'s new Emirates Stadium in a testimonial match for Dennis Bergkamp on July 22nd, 2006 - a match Ajax ended up losing 2-1 (although in the second half, which started off with Ajax leading 1-0, 'legends' like Johan Cruijff, Marco van Basten and Ian Wright played instead).
Huntelaar started the 2006/07 campaign by scoring a brace against Copenhagen in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round.
[edit] Possible transfer from Ajax
Ajax recently issued a hands-off warning following speculation that Newcastle United was interested in signing the player in the January transfer window. [1] Manchester United and Liverpool are also said to be very interested in the player. Juventus, Arsenal, Olympique Lyonnais and Valencia are also interested in signing the striker. [2][3][4][5]
On 22th March 2007, he told in an interview to the Italian newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport" that his idols were Ruud Gullit and Dennis Bergkamp and today he loves Filippo Inzaghi, AC Milan's striker.[6]
FC Barcelona are also interested in signing the striker, with a reported 4 year €15 million deal in the works. [7]
[edit] International career
Despite being in the preliminary squad, Huntelaar was not chosen for the Dutch national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Coach Marco van Basten explained that he felt Huntelaar would benefit from more experience and from playing at the UEFA Under 21 football championships, going as far as to say that it was up to Huntelaar to "show us there that [by not selecting Huntelaar] we did not do the right thing".[citation needed] While Holland went on to score no goals against quality opposition at the World Cup in Germany, Huntelaar led the Dutch to victory as the top-scorer of the Under 21 tournament with four goals, including a wonderful strike in the semi-final against France and a brace in the final against Ukraine. Huntelaar was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament as a striker.
Marco van Basten decided to call Huntelaar as his starting striker in the Dutch National squad's friendly against the Republic of Ireland on August 16, 2006. Huntelaar paid immediate dividends by scoring two goals (another one was disallowed by a controversial off-side call by the referee, denying him the hat-trick), and making two assists, in Holland's 4-0 victory.
[edit] Career Stats
| Club | Season | Eredivisie |
Dutch Cup | Europe | Play-offs | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Ajax | 2006-07 a | 28 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | - | - | 40 | 30 |
| 2005-06 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 24 | |
| SC Heerenveen | 2005-06 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | - | - | 21 | 21 |
| 2004-05 | 31 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | - | - | 38 | 20 | |
| PSV (youth) | 2002-03 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Club | Season | Eerste Divisie |
Dutch Cup | - | - | Total | |||||
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| AGOVV Apeldoorn | 2003-04 | 35 | 26 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 35 | 26 |
| De Graafschap | 2002-03 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 0 |
| Total | 134 | 95 | 7 | 8 | 24 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 169 | 121 | |
| a Updated April 1, 2007 | |||||||||||
[edit] Honours
- 1 x Dutch First Division Top scorer: 2003-04
- 1 x Johan Cruyff Shield: 2005-2006
- 1 x Dutch Cup: 2005-2006
- 1 x Dutch Eredivisie Top scorer: 2005-2006
[edit] References
- ^ "Newcastle warned off Huntelaar and Emanuelson", ESPN Soccernet, 2006-11-21. Retrieved on December 14, 2006.
- ^ "Sosa And Huntelaar Followed By Juventus", Goal.com, 2006-12-28. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ "Juventus chief Bettega makes Huntelaar check", TribalFootball, 2006-12-29. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.
- ^ "Strikers A Priority For Lyon", Soccer365, 2007-01-15. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ "LOS TÉCNICOS DEL CLUB SIGUEN AL PUNTA DEL AJAX HUNTELAAR", AS, 2007-02-08. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
- ^ "Huntelaar: «Pronto per l'Italia» (Gazzetta dello Sport)", Goal.com, 2007-03-23. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ "Nu ook Barcelona geïnteresseerd in Huntelaar", V-Bal!, 2007-03-22. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. De Wedstrijden. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Dirk Kuijt |
Dutch Eredivisie Topscorer 2005-2006 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Ajax Amsterdam - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Stekelenburg | 2 Heitinga | 3 Stam | 4 Vermaelen | 5 Emanuelson | 6 Maduro | 8 Babel | 9 Huntelaar | 10 Sneijder | 11 Perez | 12 Vermeer | 13 Davids | 14 Roger | 15 Lindenbergh | 16 de Mul | 18 Gabri | 20 Ogăraru | 21 Mitea | 22 Grygera | 23 Leonardo | 24 Schilder | 25 Sarpong | 26 Manucharyan | 28 Vertonghen | 29 Poepon | 30 Gentenaar | 32 van Duin | Manager: ten Cate |
