Nigel de Jong

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Nigel de Jong
Nigel de Jong 2011 (2).jpg
De Jong with the Netherlands national team in 2011
Personal information
Full name Nigel de Jong[1]
Date of birth (1984-11-30) 30 November 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Milan
Number 34
Youth career
1993–2002 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2006 Ajax 96 (9)
2006–2009 Hamburger SV 66 (3)
2009–2012 Manchester City 104 (1)
2012– Milan 79 (6)
International career‡
2002–2005 Netherlands U21 10 (0)
2004– Netherlands 80 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 04:29, 15 December 2015 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 04:40, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Nigel de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɑjdʒəl də ˈjɔŋ]; born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Milan and the Netherlands national team. He joined the Ajax youth academy as a youngster and worked his way through the ranks to make the first team at age 17. Two years later, in 2004, he made his international debut. Additionally, in 2010 he won a World Cup runners-up medal.

De Jong moved on from Ajax in 2006 to join Hamburg in search of first team football and then moved to Manchester City in January 2009 for an estimated £18 million,[2] where he became an important part of City's holding midfield. A tireless grafter, he has garnered a reputation of being a combative and feisty player in his performances, a reputation that has earned him nicknames such as "The Destroyer" and "Lawnmower".[3][4] He moved to Italian side Milan in August 2012.

Club career

Ajax

On 19 October 2002, De Jong made his debut for the Ajax first team.[5] He scored his first goal of his senior career on 18 February 2003 in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal in the Champions League.[6] He became a first team regular the following season, in which Ajax won the Eredivisie title.[7] In 2004–05, his last full season in Amsterdam, De Jong was named Ajax Player of the Season.[7] After a period when he appeared regularly in midfield, he found himself sitting on the bench more often than being in the starting line-up. On 7 December 2005, it was announced that De Jong did not wish to extend his contract with Ajax,[8] which was due to end in July 2006.[9]

De Jong made 126 official appearances for Ajax

Hamburg

On 26 January 2006, De Jong signed a four and a half-year contract at German Bundesliga club Hamburg, the transfer fee approximately €1 million.[10] At Hamburg he joined two other Dutchmen: Rafael van der Vaart and Khalid Boulahrouz. He made his Hamburg debut two days later in a 2–1 defeat at Nuremberg.[11] In March 2006, De Jong scored the winning goal in Bayern Munich's first ever defeat at the Allianz Arena.[12] The following week he received the first red card of his career for a second booking in a UEFA Cup match against Rapid Bucharest.[13] His season was cut short in April, when he required surgery on a knee problem.[14] The injury also kept him out of the Dutch squad for the 2006 World Cup, though he was later put on standby after regaining fitness.[15]

Manchester City

De Jong (far right) with Manchester City teammates.

On 21 January 2009, De Jong was signed to Manchester City for an estimated fee of £18 million[2] by manager Mark Hughes who deployed him in the role of midfield enforcer in a team whose defence badly needed reinforcement. He signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.[16] and was assigned the number 34 shirt. He made his debut for the club against Newcastle United on 28 January 2009.[17] He made sixteen appearances in the Premier League over the second half of the season.

De Jong was given a start against Arsenal on 12 September 2009.[18] He was named Man of the Match by Sky Sports in a 2–1 win over Chelsea on 5 December 2009.[19] By the end of the season he had become a firm fans' favourite as well as being one of new manager Roberto Mancini's first picks as defensive midfielder as the team narrowly missed out on a Champions League berth.[20] De Jong scored his first goal for Manchester City in a 2–1 victory against West Ham United on 1 May 2011.[21]

De Jong was a member of the City side which won the 2010–11 FA Cup and the 2011–12 Premier League, making 137 appearances and scoring twice before being sold to A.C. Milan in August 2012.

Milan

On 31 August 2012, De Jong joined Italian side Milan for £3.5 million rising to £5 million depending on appearances, signing a three-year deal.[22][23] De Jong scored his first goal for Milan in a 3–2 loss against Lazio on 20 October 2012.

On 4 May 2014, De Jong scored his second goal for Milan, the winning goal against Internazionale in the Derby della Madonnina at the San Siro.[24]

On 26 June 2015, Milan announced De Jong had signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2018.[25]

International career

On 31 March 2004, De Jong made his debut with the Netherlands in a friendly game against France. He was overlooked for the squad that went to play in UEFA Euro 2004,[7] and missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup with a knee injury.

De Jong (right) in action for the Netherlands at the UEFA Euro 2012

He was selected by Marco van Basten to play for the Oranje at UEFA Euro 2008. During the tournament, he was played as a "screening midfielder", partnering with Orlando Engelaar in central midfield.[7] This resulted in De Jong playing three[7] out of the four games that saw the Netherlands reach the quarter-final stage, where they lost to Russia.[26]

De Jong scored his first international goal against Iceland on 6 June 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, which sealed the Netherlands' passage to the 2010 World Cup.[27]

De Jong was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup managed by Bert van Marwijk.[28] The player was in the starting line-up for their first match in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark.[29] He was suspended in the semi-final against Uruguay after receiving his second yellow card of the tournament in the Netherlands' quarter-final win over Brazil.[30] He played in the Final of the competition, which the Netherlands lost 1–0 to Spain after extra time. In the early stages of the match, De Jong made a chest high challenge on Xabi Alonso, with his studs making contact with the Spaniard's ribs. Referee Howard Webb later stated that he would have sent off De Jong if he'd had a better view of the incident.[31]

De Jong was part of the Netherlands UEFA Euro 2012 squad. The Dutch were eliminated in the first round after losing all three matches.

He was also selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was in the starting line-up for all three group matches. However, a groin injury led to his substitution in the 9th minute of the Round of 16 match win over Mexico and it was later confirmed the De Jong would be unable to take any further part in the tournament.[32] Despite this, he later recovered to play 62 minutes of the semi-final against Argentina.

Scores list Netherlands' tally first.

Nigel de Jong: international goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 6 June 2009 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Iceland
1 – 0
2 – 1
 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Style of play

De Jong in action for the Netherlands

De Jong began his career as a creative midfielder or forward.[33] At Ajax he played a number of positions, including central midfield and right wing.[5] De Jong credits his conversion to a defensive-minded player to Huub Stevens, under whom he played at Hamburg. His new approach earned him the nickname "der Rasenmäher" ("the Lawnmower").[33] De Jong is typically the most defensively oriented midfielder in his team. When his team's defenders are in possession of the ball, De Jong will often drop back towards them to receive it.[34] Sometimes De Jong is the sole holding midfielder, but often he plays alongside another defensive player, such as Gareth Barry at Manchester City or Mark van Bommel for the Dutch national team.[35] De Jong had the highest passing completion percentage in the Premier League in the 2010–11 season out of the top 50 players (90%).[36]

During an international friendly on 3 March 2010, De Jong fractured the leg of Bolton Wanderers' American international Stuart Holden as the result of a late challenge, causing Holden to be sidelined for nearly two seasons.[37] In the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final he kicked Spanish player Xabi Alonso in the chest, a challenge for which De Jong admitted he was lucky not to have received a red card.[38] On 3 October 2010, in a Premier League match against Newcastle United, a tackle by De Jong on Hatem Ben Arfa resulted in the latter being carried off the pitch with a double fracture of his left tibia and fibula.[39] De Jong was later dropped from the Dutch national team for an unspecified period of time, but has since been reprieved.[40] De Jong however has never received a red card during his time at Manchester City. To date the only red card De Jong has received in his professional career was a sending off for two bookable offences in a match for Hamburg against Rapid Bucharest in the 2005–06 edition of the UEFA Cup.[13]

In December 2013, Spanish football website El Gol Digital ranked De Jong tenth in its list of the world's dirtiest footballers.[41] This style of play earned him a title as the most violent footballer in the world, according to French newspaper L'Équipe.[42]

Career statistics

Personal life

De Jong is of Surinamese-Indonesian descent; Surinamese parentage from his father and Ambonese from his mother.

De Jong is married to Winonah, with whom he has two children. His father is former Dutch international Jerry de Jong.

He owns a specialist car dealership operating in Europe and the Middle East.[33]

Sponsorship

Puma SE have a four-year partnership with De Jong, that commenced in January 2012.[45]

Honours

Club

Ajax
Manchester City

International

Netherlands

Individual

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

External links

Script error: The function "top" does not exist.

Script error: The function "bottom" does not exist.

Script error: The function "top" does not exist.

Script error: The function "bottom" does not exist.

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Includes one appearance in the FA Community Shield
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Nigel_de_Jong&oldid=3286702"