Nigel de Jong
Dutch association football player From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Nigel de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɑjdʒəl də ˈjɔŋ]; born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He joined the Ajax youth academy when he was young and made the first team at age 17.
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De Jong moved from Ajax in 2006 to join Hamburg. He then moved to Manchester City in January 2009 for around £18 million.[5] He became an important part of Manchester City's midfield. He has earned a reputation of being combative and feisty player. This got him nicknames like "The Terrier" and "Lawnmower".[6][6][7] He moved to Italian club Milan in August 2012.
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Club career
Ajax
On 19 October 2002, de Jong played for the Ajax first team for the first time.[8] He scored his first goal on 18 February 2003 in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.[9] He started playing in the first team often in the next season. In this season, Ajax won the Eredivisie.[10] In 2004–05, de Jong was named Ajax Player of the Season.[10] Later, after starting in midfield for quite a while, he found himself sitting on the bench more often than being one of the players at the start of a match. On 7 December 2005, it was announced that de Jong did not want to stay with Ajax.[11] His contract with Ajax was due to finish in July 2006.[12]
Hamburg
On 26 January 2006, de Jong signed a four and a half year contract at German Bundesliga club Hamburg. He moved there for about €1 million.[13] He played for Hamburg for the first time two days later. In the match, Hamburg lost 2–1 to Nuremberg.[14] In March 2006, de Jong scored the winning goal in Bayern Munich's first ever loss at the Allianz Arena.[15] The week after, he got his first red card in a UEFA Cup match against Rapid Bucharest.[16] He had to stop playing in April because he needed surgery on a knee problem.[17] The injury also meant that he could not play for the Netherlands at the 2006 World Cup. However, after becoming fit again, he was put on standby.[18]
Manchester City
On 21 January 2009, de Jong moved to Manchester City for around £18 million.[5] He signed a four-and-a-half year contract.[19] He played for the first time against Newcastle United on 28 January 2009.[20] He appeared sixteen times in the Premier League.
De Jong was in the starting team against Arsenal on 12 September 2009.[21] He was given Man of the Match by Sky Sports after Manchester City won 2-1 over Chelsea on 5 December 2009.[22] By the end of the season, the fans liked him. He was one of Roberto Mancini's first picks as defensive midfielder as the team just missed out on the Champions League.[23] De Jong scored his first goal for Manchester City when they won 2-1 against West Ham United on 1 May 2011.[24]
Milan
On 31 August 2012, de Jong joined Italian Serie A club Milan. He signed a three-year contract.[25][26]
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International career
On 31 March 2004, de Jong played his first game with the Netherlands in a friendly against France. He was not picked to play in UEFA Euro 2004.[10] He missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup because his knee was injured.
He scored his first goal for the Netherlands against Iceland on 6 June 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match. This match made the Netherlands go through to the 2010 World Cup.[27]
De Jong was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[28] He was one of the starting players for their first match in the competition. In this match, they won 2–0 against Denmark.[29] He was not allowed to play in the semi final against Uruguay because he got his second yellow card in a match against Brazil.[30] He played in the Final, where the Netherlands lost 1–0 to Spain.
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Career statistics
Club
International
- As of 28 March 2015[34]
Scores list Netherlands' tally first.
Honours
Ajax[35]
- Eredivisie: 2003–04
- Johan Cruyff Shield: 2005
Manchester City
- Premier League: 2011–12[3]
- FA Cup: 2010–11[36]
- FA Community Shield: 2012[37]
Netherlands
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2010;[38] third place: 2014[39]
Individual
- Ajax Player of the Year (Rinus Michels Award): 2004–05[40]
References
Other websites
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