Gregory van der Wiel

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Gregory van der Wiel
Gregory-van-der-Wiel3.jpg
Personal information
Full name Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel[1]
Date of birth 3 February 1988 (1988-02-03) (age 24)
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Right back
Club information
Current club Ajax
Number 2
Youth career
1996–2002 Ajax
2002–2005 Haarlem
2005–2007 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2007– Ajax 121 (10)
National team‡
2009– Netherlands 25 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 May 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 May 2011

Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɡrɛɡɔri vɑn dɛr ˈʋil]; born 3 February 1988) is a Dutch international footballer who plays professionally for Ajax, as a right back.

Born in Amsterdam to a father from Curaçao and a white Dutch mother, he is a product of the renowned Ajax youth system, who plays an attacking right back and is known for his speedy runs down the flank. In 2010, Van der Wiel was awarded the Johan Cruijff Award for "Young Player of the Year" in the Netherlands.

He made his debut for the Dutch national team in February 2009, and participated in the Netherlands' silver winning performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Dutch team-mate John Heitinga has labeled him the spiritual successor of Michael Reiziger for the Netherlands.[2]

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Youth and loan to Haarlem

Van der Wiel started his playing career at RKSV DCG in Amsterdam.[3] At the age of seven, the young defender was scouted by Ajax and brought to the Ajax Academy at "De Toekomst". In 2002, Ajax sent the player away to HFC Haarlem due to the player having a "mentality problem".[4] Talking about his period at Haarlem, Van der Wiel has said: "When I was there I realized how spoiled I was. At Ajax everything was always well organized. We received a new kit every season and were picked up with minivans and brought to the club. At Haarlem I arrived in a totally different world. The accommodation was much worse, we played in five year old outfits, and had to find our own way to the trainings. The atmosphere was better though, much more relaxed than at Ajax. The period at Haarlem was good for my social development. It was a wake-up call for me."[4]

Van der Wiel, seen here with former team-mates Edgar Davids and Thomas Vermaelen, has played for Ajax since 1996.

In 2005 Ajax approached him once again and brought him back to the Academy. His second stint at the club proved to be a much more successful experience. Following the departure of youth captain Donovan Slijngard, Van der Wiel was made the captain of Jong Ajax.[3]

[edit] Breakthrough in the first team

Playing for Ajax in the Champions League.

Van der Wiel made his professional debut for Ajax on 11 March 2007 in a 4–1 away win against FC Twente, coming on as a substitute for Jaap Stam.[5] He would play three more matches that season. For the 2007–08 season he participated in the 1–0 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the battle for the Johan Cruijff-schaal, resulting in winning his first career trophy.[6] His real breakthrough came in the 2008–09 season season under manager Marco van Basten, where he was ever present in the team: he played 32 league matches (43 matches in all competitions).

Van der Wiel started the 2009–10 season well under new Ajax manager Martin Jol, scoring his third league goal for Ajax on 8 August 2009.[7] The goal came in a 4–1 victory over RKC Waalwijk during which Ajax captain Luis Suárez scored a hat-trick and was van der Wiel's first goal at the Amsterdam ArenA.[7] Van der Wiel's second league goal of the season came on 25 October 2009, in a 2–4 away victory over defending champions AZ.[8] On 1 November 2009, van der Wiel scored in the "klassieker" against arch-rivals Feyenoord in a 5–1 thrashing of the Rotterdam side.[9] On 6 May 2010, Van der Wiel played in the final of the 2009-10 Dutch Cup as Ajax beat Feyenoord 4-1.[10] At the end of the season, Van der Wiel was awarded the Johan Cruijff Award for "Young Player of the Year".[11]

[edit] Eredivisie success

Following the 2010 World Cup Van der Wiel was in talks to make a transfer to Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich.[12] However, Ajax was not able to agree to a deal.[13] The 2010-11 season was another successful season for Van der Wiel, as he maintained his first-team position under new manager Frank de Boer. At the end of the season, Van der Wiel had played 32 league matches (51 matches in all competitions) and won his first Eredivisie title.[14] Ajax and Twente decided the Eredivisie title in the last league match of the season, and Van der Wiel played an instrumental role in the match with his assist on Siem de Jong for Ajax's opening goal in the match.[15]

[edit] International career

Van der Wiel has been capped at the under-21 level and participated at the 2007 Toulon Tournament. He made his senior debut for the Netherlands on February 11, 2009, coming on as a substitute for former Ajax teammate John Heitinga in the friendly game against Tunisia.[16] He made his first competitive debut on March 28, 2009, being in the starting lineup for the 3–0 2010 World Cup qualification victory over Scotland.[17] He again played the whole match for the 4–0 World Cup qualification victory over Macedonia on April 1, 2009.[18] Since them he has established himself as the first choice right-back in the Dutch squad.

Van der Wiel with Dutch fans.

[edit] Twitter incident

In October 2009, Van der Wiel became embroiled in a controversy after he was unable to travel with the Dutch squad to Australia for a friendly game due to a concussion obtained while playing for Ajax. The player went to a Lil' Wayne concert while his Dutch teammates were in Australia and posted a picture of himself with the rapper on his Twitter page.[19] Several prominent figures in Dutch football criticised the player for his actions, including Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk who stated "It's rather strange that he was able to go to a concert, given that he told me that he was not allowed to fly by the Ajax medical staff."[20] Ajax manager Martin Jol defended the player, stating that the incident was blown out of proportion by the media and that it should not be seen as a lack of respect on the part of the player for the Dutch national team.[20] Van Marwijk has since forgiven Van der Wiel for the incident, stating that "he should not expect that this incident will have consequences for his place in the team".[21]

[edit] 2010 World Cup

Gregory van der Wiel (second from left) with (FLTR: Mark van Bommel, Demy de Zeeuw, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Van der Wiel was actively inolved in the 2010 World Cup qualification tournament. Van der Wiel was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup managed by Bert van Marwijk.[22] The player was in the starting line-up for their first two matches in the competition, 2–0 victory over Denmark and 1–0 victory over Japan.[23] He was also in the starting lineup for the match against Slovakia, the quarter final against Brazil, and the final against Spain, which the Dutch lost due to a late goal by Andres Iniesta.[24]

[edit] Euro 2012

Van der Wiel has been Van Marwijk's first choice right-back for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group E matches played by the Netherlands so far.

[edit] Career statistics

As of 15 May 2011[25][26]
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Netherlands League KNVB Cup Europe Total
2006–07 Ajax Eredivisie 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
2007–08 6 0 2 0 2 0 10 0
2008–09 32 2 2 0 9 0 43 2
2009–10 34 6 6 0 10 0 50 6
2010–11 32 1 5 0 14 0 51 1
2011–12 13 1 1 0 6 1 17 2
Career total 121 10 16 0 41 1 178 11

[edit] Honours

Van der Wiel (second from top right) with Ajax teammates in 2010.

[edit] Club

Netherlands Ajax

[edit] National Team

Netherlands Netherlands

[edit] Individual

[edit] References

  1. ^ "List of Players". FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/01/22/85/78/fwc_2010_squadlists.pdf. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 
  2. ^ "Heitinga: wat Alves kan, kan Van der Wiel ook" (in Dutch). Nu Sport. 2010-06-04. http://www.nusport.nl/voetbal/2262309/heitinga-alves-kan-kan-van-wiel.html. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 
  3. ^ a b "Gregory van der Wiel profile" (in Dutch). Ajaxinside.nl. http://www.ajaxinside.nl/spelers/profiel/9/Gregory-van-der-Wiel. Retrieved 2011-07-25. 
  4. ^ a b "Gregory van der Wiel: ‘Bij Haarlem ben ik wakker geschud’" (in Dutch). Spitsnet.nl. 2010-05-31. http://blog.spitsnet.nl/2010/05/31/gregory-van-der-wiel-bij-haarlem-ben-ik-wakker-geschud/. Retrieved 2011-07-25.  QUOTE: "Daar merkte ik goed dat ik heel erg verwend was. Bij Ajax was alles altijd goed geregeld. We kregen elk seizoen een nieuw tenue en werden met busjes opgehaald en naar de club gebracht. Bij Haarlem kwam ik in een heel andere wereld terecht. De accommodatie was stukken minder, we speelden in shirtjes van vijf jaar oud en we moesten op eigen gelegenheid naar de trainingen. De sfeer was wel beter. Meer ontspannen dan bij Ajax. Die periode bij Haarlem is goed voor mijn sociale ontwikkeling geweest. Ik ben daar wakker geschud."
  5. ^ "Twente Enschede 1 – 4 Ajax Amsterdam". ESPN Soccernet. March 11, 2007. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=199706&cc=5739. Retrieved November 4, 2009. 
  6. ^ a b "Ajax - Gabri bezorgt Ajax Johan Cruijff Schaal" (in Dutch). Ajax.nl. 2007-08-11. http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154417/contentid=63755. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 
  7. ^ a b "Suarez hits hat-trick as Ajax cruise past Waalwijk". Reuters. August 8, 2009. http://football.uk.reuters.com/eredivisie/news/L8666211.php. Retrieved October 22, 2009. [dead link]
  8. ^ "AZ Alkmaar 2 – 4 Ajax Amsterdam". ESPN Soccernet. October 25, 2009. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=271864&cc=5739. Retrieved October 25, 2009. 
  9. ^ "Ajax Amsterdam 5 – 1 Feyenoord Rotterdam". ESPN Soccernet. November 1, 2009. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=271727&cc=5739. Retrieved November 1, 2009. 
  10. ^ a b "Report: Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Ajax Amsterdam - Dutch Cup". ESPN Soccernet. 2010-05-06. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=291558&cc=5739. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 
  11. ^ a b Bart van Dooijeweert (2010-05-03). "Van der Wiel gekozen tot Talent van het Jaar" (in Dutch). Elfvoetbal.nl. http://www.elfvoetbal.nl/nieuws/103105_van-der-wiel-gekozen-tot-talent-van-het-jaar. Retrieved 2010-05-03. 
  12. ^ "Bayern move for Van der Wiel". Sky Sports. July 14, 2010. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_6260826,00.html. Retrieved October 22, 2010. 
  13. ^ "Van der Wiel's Bayern move breaks down". FourFourTwo. July 21, 2010. http://fourfourtwo.com/news/england/60201/default.aspx. Retrieved October 22, 2010. 
  14. ^ "Ajax snatch title from champions Twente in decider". BBC News. 2011-05-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13405939.stm. Retrieved 2011-07-25. 
  15. ^ "Ajax vs. Twente". Soccerway. 2011-05-15. http://www.soccerway.com/matches/2011/05/15/netherlands/eredivisie/afc-ajax/stichting-fc-twente-65/941713/. Retrieved 2011-07-25. 
  16. ^ "Match Facts: Tunisia v Holland". Sky Sports. February 11, 2009. http://www.skysports.com/football/match_facts/0,19762,11065_3088748,00.html. Retrieved March 29, 2009. 
  17. ^ "Netherlands 3–0 Scotland". BBC News. March 28, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7963110.stm. Retrieved March 29, 2009. 
  18. ^ "Netherlands – FYR Macedonia". FIFA. April 1, 2009. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=250471/match=300041214/report.html. Retrieved April 3, 2009. 
  19. ^ "'Raar dat Van der Wiel concert bezoekt'" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. March 22, 2009. http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1049/Oranje/article/detail/436145/2009/10/09/Raar-dat-Van-der-Wiel-concert-bezoekt.dhtml. Retrieved October 9, 2009. 
  20. ^ a b "Jol vindt Twitter-affaire Van der Wiel erg opgeblazen" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. October 14, 2009. http://www.vi.nl/Nieuws-item/171294/Jol-vindt-Twitteraffaire-Van-der-Wiel-erg-opgeblazen.htm. Retrieved October 22, 2009.  QUOTE: "Het is wel raar dat hij dan wel bij een concert is, terwijl hij zich bij mij had afgemeld omdat hij niet mocht vliegen van de arts van Ajax"
  21. ^ "Van Marwijk vergeeft Van der Wiel na 'twitter-incident'". Sportweek. October 22, 2009. http://www.sportweek.nl/voetbal/115187/Van_Marwijk_vergeeft_Van_der_Wiel_na_twitter-incident. Retrieved October 22, 2009.  QUOTE: "hij hoeft er niet van uit te gaan dat dit gevolgen zal hebben voor zijn plek bij Oranje."
  22. ^ "Holland coach Bert van Marwijk finalises World Cup squad". Press Association. The Guardian. 2010-05-27. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/27/holland-world-cup-23-man-squad. Retrieved 2010-05-27. 
  23. ^ "Netherlands-Denmark". FIFA.com. 2010-06-14. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=249722/match=300061478/report.html. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 
  24. ^ "FIFA Player Statistics: Gregory VAN DER WIEL". FIFA.com. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=291410/index.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25. 
  25. ^ "Gregory Van Der Wiel Statistics". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=87222&cc=5739. Retrieved October 20, 2009. 
  26. ^ "Gregory Van Der Wiel Statistics". Voetbal International. http://www.vi.nl/Spelers/Speler/Gregory-van-der-Wiel.htm. Retrieved October 20, 2009. 
  27. ^ "Suarez en van der Wiel gehuldigd met trofeeën" (in Dutch). Ajax1. May 10, 2009. http://www.ajax1.nl/?q=node/5130. Retrieved October 22, 2009. [dead link]

[edit] External links

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