Squad No: 1
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 27
Birth Date: Sept 22, 1982
Birth Place: Nara, Japan
Height: 6' 4" (1.94m)
Club: Ajax (Netherlands)
International Caps: 27
Club History
Ajax (NED): 2001-
from Wikipedia (full wiki)
Stekelenburg made his international debut for the Netherlands on 3 September 2004 against Liechtenstein, who they beat 3–0.
2006 FIFA World Cup
He was called up by then manager Marco van Basten for the squad of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, but he did not play any game during this tournament as Edwin van der Sar was first choice.
Euro 2008
Despite his international debut in 2004, Stekelenburg was called up to Marco van Basten's Euro 2008 squad to play as understudy to Edwin van der Sar. He took part in the Group C match against Romania on 17 June. With Netherlands already having qualified for the quarter finals, coach Marco van Basten fielded a second-string side, to give players like Stekelenburg a game.
In a September 2008 friendly match against Australia, Stekelenburg was sent off after 44 minutes into the first half for fouling Joshua Kennedy. Stekelenburg is the first goalkeeper of the Dutch national side ever to receive a red card.
2010 FIFA World Cup
Since the retirement of Edwin van der Sar from the national team, Stekelenburg has been the first-choice keeper under manager Bert van Marwijk. Stekelenburg was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that the player would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the competition.
from ESPN SoccerNet
None.
from FIFA.com
It can be no easy task to follow in the footsteps of a goalkeeper in Edwin van der Sar’s class. The Manchester United custodian picked up 130 caps in his international career and made 226 appearances for Ajax, but despite the pitfalls involved in picking up the baton, current Ajax No1 Stekelenburg intends to show that the Dutch tradition of uncovering fine goalkeeping talent remains strong.
Originally from Haarlem, Stekelenburg made his first career switch at the age of 15, leaving Schoten to join the Ajax academy. His reputation then begin to rise when he helped the Amsterdam club’s reserve team reach the semi-finals of the Dutch Cup in 2001/02.
An imposing presence at 1m94 tall, his first-team debut came on 24 February 2002, when the then 19-year-old featured in a 1-0 win over Breda. Over the next few seasons he made sporadic appearances without ever convincing the coaching staff that he deserved a regular starting berth, but that all changed in 2005/06, even if a series of injuries have interrupted his progress since.
Stekelenburg’s career has so far brought him a pair of Dutch Cup titles and he hopes to soon be adding a FIFA World Cup™ winner’s medal to his list of honours, having earned the trust of Oranje coach Bert van Marwijk since Van der Sar’s international retirement. “We’ve already overcome an important hurdle by qualifying for the finals,” he said recently. “Now, we have to continue our progress. We want to do great things during this World Cup and leave South Africa with the Trophy.”
Netherlands (Holland) National Country Flag 3' x 5'
Netherlands National Team World Cup 2010 Scarf
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