Luuk de Jong
{{Infobox football biography
| playername = Luuk de gladbacher Jong
| image = 
| fullname = Luuk de Jong
| birth_date = 27 August 1990
| birth_place = Aigle, Switzerland
| height = 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
| position = Striker
| currentclub = [[Newcastle]
| clubnumber = 9
| youthyears1 = –2001| youthclubs1 = DZC '68
| youthyears2 = 2001–2008 | youthclubs2 = De Graafschap
| years1 = 2008–2009 | clubs1 = De Graafschap | caps1 = 14 | goals1 = 2
| years2 = 2009–2012 | clubs2 = FC Twente | caps2 = 76 | goals2 = 39
| nationalyears1 = 2008–2009 | nationalteam1 = Netherlands U19
| nationalcaps1 = 5 | nationalgoals1 = 5
| nationalyears2 = 2009–2011 | nationalteam2 = Netherlands U21
| nationalcaps2 = 2 | nationalgoals2 = 3
| nationalyears3 = 2011– | nationalteam3 = Netherlands
| nationalcaps3 = 7 |nationalgoals3 = 1
| pcupdate = 22 April 2012
| ntupdate = 29 February 2012
}}
Luuk de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlyk də ˈjɔŋ], born 27 August 1990) is a Dutch footballer, currently playing for FC Twente Enschede in the Netherlands.
Born in Aigle, Switzerland, a son of two Dutch volleyball players who played professionally in that country. The family moved to the Netherlands when Luuk was 4-years old, and his brother Siem six.
Early career
De Jong started his football career with amateur club, DZC'68, together with his brother Siem. They were both recruited by the professional team, De Graafschap. Siem was scouted and enlisted by Ajax when playing in De Graafschap's youth, while Luuk stayed with the club.
De Graafschap
He made his Eredivisie debut in a match versus NAC Breda coming on as a substitute. After another match coming of the bench against SC Heerenveen Luuk de Jong became a starter joining newly acquired Ben Sahar. In their first match together against Willem II Luuk de Jong gave an assist to Ben Sahar giving De Graafschap a 1–0 win. Luuk de Jong made his first Eredivisie goal in a home match against FC Twente he scored the 2–1. Moments later Luuk de Jong made a hand ball giving FC Twente a penalty which Blaise N'Kufo scored, the match ended in 2–2. His second goal came in a home match versus Heracles Almelo. Resit Schuurman took a free kick and Rogier Meijer headed it on. Luuk who was standing with his back to the goal then scored with a beautiful overhead kick which gave De Graafschap the 1–0 victory. In the home game versus NEC Nijmegen he injured his ankle and he was substituted in the first half. De Jong came back from injury in the play-offs for promotion/relegation. He scored the winner in the home game versus RKC Waalwijk but it wasn't enough to keep De Graafschap in the Eredivisie.
Twente
On 6 April 2009 it was confirmed that Luuk de Jong signed a contract for 3 years with an option for another year with FC Twente. His contract would start on the first of July 2009. He played his first minutes for FC Twente in the cup match against SC Joure, he came on as a second half substitute replacing Dario Vujičević. He provided 2 assists in the 8–0 victory over sc Joure. He scored his first two goals for FC Twente in the cup match against Capelle.
Luuk made his Europa League debut against FC Sheriff Tiraspol replacing Miroslav Stoch he also played against Fenerbahçe S.K. when he came on as a substitute. He scored two goals in the cup match against Helmond Sport, Twente would go on and win the match 3–0. In the away game against FC Utrecht Luuk made his debut in the Eredivisie he replaced Kenneth Perez in the 90th minute.
Because Blaise N'Kufo was injured, De Jong deserved a starting spot against Werder Bremen in the knockout stage (32 teams) of the Europa League. Luuk scored his first goal in the Europa League for FC Twente in the away game against Werder Bremen. FC Twente were already 3–0 behind when De Jong headed the 3–1 past goalkeeper Christian Vander.
De Jong scored his first Eredivisie goal for FC Twente in the home game against NEC at 28 February 2010. FC Twente won this game with 2–1. He scored his second Eredivisie goal in the home game against SC Heerenveen at 10 April 2010. He scored the second goal for FC Twente in injurytime, the matched finished 2–0.
He was very important in the Johan Cruyff Schaal scoring the winning goal against Ajax in the 8th minute. He started the match because Marc Janko was injured. Luuk intercepted a pass from Maarten Stekelenburg to Gregory van der Wiel and then stayed calm and scored the winner in the match which ended 1–0.
2011–12
De Jong's first goal of the season came in the first leg of Twente's Champions League play-off game against Benfica, a 2–2 home draw on 16 August.[1] Four days later he scored his first Eredivisie goal of the campaign in a 5–1 demolition of SC Heerenveen.[2] The following week, on de Jong's 21st birthday, he found the back of the net two more times as Twente smashed VVV Venlo 4–1.[3]
De Jong scored two goals against RKC Waalwijk on 21 January 2012, one was a tap in to an open goal and the other a penalty, as Twente ran out 5–0 winners.[4] In Twente's following fixture against FC Groningen on the 29 January, de Jong netted a hat-trick, each goal coming off an assist from Ola John,[5] and provided an assist for Leroy Fer as his side won 4–1 and climbed to second in the Eredivisie table.[6] On 10 February, de Jong found the back of the net two more times but Twente missed the chance to go top of the league table, as they lost 3–2 to SC Heracles.[7] De Jong's two goals, meant he had scored seven times in the past three Eredivisie fixtures.
On 4 March, de Jong scored a goal in Twente's 6–2 thrashing of fellow title contenders PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion.[8] Four days later in a Europa League match against Schalke 04, De Jong was the protagonist of a controversial penalty simulation that resulted in a red card for a Schalke defender and a penalty kick which he himself successfully converted, to ensure the win for his side by 1–0.[9] However Twente ended up falling out of the competition, losing 4–1 in the second leg in Germany, as de Jong's fellow Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted a hat-trick.[10]
De Jong scored twice in two minutes on 14 April to put his side 2–1 up away to NAC Breda, but an injury-time strike from Nourdin Boukhari denied Twente the chance to close the gap on title-rivals Ajax.[11]. He finished the season with 25 goals on a joint-second place, 7 behind top-scorer Bas Dost.
International career
De Jong received his first call-up for the Netherlands senior team for the friendly against Austria on 9 Feb 2011 and made his debut in the same match, replacing Dirk Kuyt. He scored his first goal with the national squad on 6 September 2011 in the 2–0 win during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying game against Finland that secured Dutch qualification to the Euro 2012.[12] On 7 May 2012, he was named in the provisional list of 36 players for the Euro 2012 tournament by Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk. He was one of the 23 players chosen to represent Netherlands on the Euro 2012, but he did not make any appearance.
Statistics
Club statistics
- As of 12 May 2012
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other[13] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| De Graafschap | 2008–09 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 3 |
| Total | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 19 | 3 | |
| FC Twente | 2009–10 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 7 |
| 2010–11 | 32 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 49 | 20 | |
| 2011–12 | 32 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 32 | |
| Total | 76 | 39 | 12 | 9 | 29 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 119 | 59 | |
| Career total | 90 | 41 | 14 | 9 | 29 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 138 | 62 | |
International goals
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 6 September 2011 | Olympic Stadium, Helsinki |  Finland |
2–0 | 2–0 | Euro 2012 qualifier |
Honours
Club
- FC Twente
Individual
- Top goalscorer and top assist provider for FC Twente in the 2010–11 season.
- Top goalscorer for FC Twente in the 2011–12 season.
References
- ^ http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/matches/round=2000262/match=2007555/postmatch/report/index.html
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=321903&cc=5901
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=321895&cc=5901
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=327542&cc=5901
- ^ http://www.fctwente.nl/en/2012/01/twente-earn-convincing-win-over-fc-groningen/
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=327575&cc=5901
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=321743&cc=5901
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/321710?cc=5901
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2012/matches/round=2000274/match=2007462/postmatch/report/index.html
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/321661?cc=5901
- ^ http://www.goal.com/en/match/56712/finland-vs-netherlands/report
- ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Eredivisie Playoffs and the Johan Cruijff Shield
|  | |