Elrio van Heerden

Elrio van Heerden

Personal information
Full name	Elrio van Heerden
Date of birth	11 July 1983 (1983-07-11)
Place of birth	Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position	Midfielder Winger
Club information
Current club	Golden Arrows
Number	70
Youth career
1995–1997	Glenville Celtic
1998–2001	NMMU
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2006	Copenhagen	26	(5)
2006–2009	Club Brugge	57	(1)
2009–2010	Blackburn Rovers	0	(0)
2010	Sivasspor	6	(0)
2010–2011	Westerlo	20	(0)
2011-	Golden Arrows	0	(0)
National team‡
2004–	South Africa	33	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 June 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21 June 2011

Elrio van Heerden (born 11 July 1983) is a South African footballer who plays as midfielder for Golden Arrows in the Premier Soccer League. He is also an established member of the South African national team. He is managed by ExtraTime S.L.

Club career

Van Heerden started his career with Glenville Celtic and moved 1998 in the Soccer School of Excellence which was part of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

FC Copenhagen

He came to Denmark in 2002, where he spent his first two years learning from the older players. Elrio got his debut in 2004 against AaB at Parken Stadium, and the little South African immediately wrote history with his equalizer short before the final whistle. The goal meant, that FC København could secure the championship in the next (and last) round against FC Nordsjælland at Farum Park, which they did with a 4–2 victory.

Club Brugge

A move to Club Brugge was made on the 24th January 2006, where he spent two years with the Belgian club scoring two goals from his 67 appearances.

Blackburn Rovers

It was announced on 2 June 2009 that Heerden had agreed a two year deal with the Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, arriving on a free transfer from Club Brugge. Since signing for the Lancashire club back in June 2009, he has only played in two matches in the League Cup against Gillingham in the second round, and Chelsea in the quarter-finals both as a second half substitute.

On January 8, 2010 it was reported that Elrio was close to signing for Turkish club Sivasspor, Goal.com revealed that Elrio was due to travel to Turkey for a medical ahead of signing on Monday January 11, 2010.

Sivasspor

On 11 January 2010, Blackburn Rovers F.C. announced the transfer of the South African midfielder to Sivasspor.

Westerlo

On 27 July 2010, Belgian Pro League side Westerlo announced the signing of Van Heerden.

International career

He has so far won 28 full international caps for South Africa, scoring three goals, he represented Bafana Bafana at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 July 2005	Home Depot Center, USA	Mexico	2–0	2–1	2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2	23 January 2008	Tamale, Ghana	Angola	1–1	1–1	2008 African Cup of Nations
3	31 January 2008	Kumasi, Ghana	Senegal	1–0	1–1	2008 African Cup of Nations

External links

• Elrio van Heerden – FIFA competition record
• F.C. Copenhagen statistics