Hedwiges Maduro

Hedwiges Maduro

Personal information
Full name	Hedwiges Martinez-Maduro
Date of birth	13 February 1985 (1985-02-13)
Place of birth	Almere, Netherlands
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Centre back / Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Valencia
Number	3
Youth career
	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2008	Ajax	70	(9)
2008–	Valencia	71	(2)
National team‡
2005–	Netherlands	18	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 September 2011

Hedwiges Martinez-Maduro (born 13 February 1985 in Almere, Flevoland) is a Dutch footballer who plays for Valencia CF in Spain.

Mainly a central defender, he can also operate as a defensive midfielder, where he started his career at Ajax Amsterdam.

Club career

Ajax

At AFC Ajax, Maduro was voted as the Amsterdam club's brightest emerging talent in 2003–04. He made his Eredivisie debuts in the 2004–05 season, first appearing against Roda JC on 27 February 2005, in a 2–1 away win.

Maduro with a Spanish journalist.

In the following seasons, Maduro started more often than not for Ajax, helping the team to two domestic cups and three Supercups. Overall, he appeared in 105 games for the club, scoring 11 goals.

Valencia

In mid-January 2008, after helping Ajax to the third consecutive Johan Cruijff-schaal, Maduro joined La Liga side Valencia CF, in a four 1/2-year deal worth €3 million. Compatriot Ronald Koeman was the team manager.

His official debut came on 27 January, in a 0–1 home loss against UD Almería. He started in all 11 matches he played in his first season, but the Che could only finish 10th, even though they won the Spanish Cup, with the player being an unused substitute in the final against Getafe CF - Koeman had already been fired at that point.

In his first full season with Valencia, Maduro started playing a small role, a situation which was created after his late return from the 2008 Summer Olympics. However, new coach Unai Emery eventually awarded him with first-team action due to injuries and suspensions, and he performed well in various positions, including right-back. On 25 April 2009, he scored his first official goal for the club, netting from a corner kick to make it 1–1 against FC Barcelona, in an eventual 2–2 home draw. With Valencia finally finishing in sixth position, he appeared in more than 30 official games during the campaign, in spite of facing stiff competition from the likes of Alexis or Carlos Marchena, as only Raúl Albiol was an undisputed starter in the back-four sector.

International career

Shortly after making his league debuts with Ajax, Maduro gained his first cap for the Netherlands on 26 March 2005, in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Romania. He was picked for the final squad-of-23 by national team manager Marco van Basten (also his coach in Ajax's youth system), appearing four minutes in the 0–0 group stage draw against Argentina, in an eventual round of 16 exit.

In 2007, despite already having amassed 12 senior caps, Maduro took part in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship which was held in the Netherlands, and scored the competition's first goal when the Jong Oranje beat Israel 1–0. He also played in the second match, a 2–1 win against Portugal which secured a semifinal spot and qualification to the Olympic tournament.

In the semifinals against England (1–1 after 120 minutes), Maduro successfully converted his penalty shootout attempt, as Holland won it 13–12 after 32 shots. The Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating Serbia 4–1 in the final, as he was named in the 'UEFA Team of the tournament'.

Club statistics

Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Cup	Apps	Goals	Continental	Apps	Goals
2004–05	Ajax		12	2		0	0		1	0
2005–06	Ajax		28	3		6	0		9	0
2006–07	Ajax		15	0		7	1		7	0
2007–08	Ajax		15	4		3	1		2	0
2007–08	Valencia		11	0		4	0		0	0
2008–09	Valencia		22	1		6	0		6	0
2009–10	Valencia		18	0		1	0		5	1
2010–11	Valencia		13	1		0	0		0	0
Total			134	11	Total	27	2	Total	30	1

Honours

Club

Team	Award	Year(s)
Ajax	Dutch Cup	2005–06, 2006–07
Ajax	Dutch Supercup	2005, 2006, 2007
Valencia	Spanish Cup	2007–08

International

Team	Award	Year(s)
Netherlands	UEFA Under-21 European Championship	2007

Personal

Maduro's father is originally from Aruba, and his mother from Curaçao, both islands in the Caribbean.

External links

• Valencia official profile
• Stats at Voetbal International (Dutch)
• BDFutbol profile
• Hedwiges Maduro profile and stats at Wereld van Oranje (Dutch)
• Hedwiges Maduro at National-Football-Teams.com
• Hedwiges Maduro – FIFA competition record
• Transfermarkt profile
• CiberChe stats and bio (Spanish)

Awards
Preceded by Kenneth Vermeer	AFC Ajax Talent of the year 2004	Succeeded by Murat Yıldırım