Nigel de Jong

Nigel de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɑjdʒəl də ˈjɔŋ]; born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch professional footballer. He is a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Milan and the Dutch national team. He joined the Ajax youth academy when he was young and made the first team at age 17.

Nigel de Jong
Personal information
Full name Nigel de Jong
Date of birth (1984-11-30) 30 November 1984
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club 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 2 (0)
National team‡
2004– Netherlands 63 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 September 2012
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 June 2012

De Jong moved from Ajax in 2006 to join Hamburg. He then moved to Manchester City in January 2009 for around £18 million.[1] 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".[2][2][3] He moved to Italian club Milan in August 2012.

Club career

Ajax

On 19 October 2002, de Jong played for the Ajax first team for the first time.[4] He scored his first goal on 18 February 2003 in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.[5] He started playing in the first team often in the next season. In this season, Ajax won the Eredivisie.[6] In 2004–05, de Jong was named Ajax Player of the Season.[6] 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.[7] His contract with Ajax was due to finish in July 2006.[8]

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.[9] He played for Hamburg for the first time two days later. In the match, Hamburg lost 2–1 to Nuremberg.[10] In March 2006, de Jong scored the winning goal in Bayern Munich's first ever loss at the Allianz Arena.[11] The week after, he got his first red card in a UEFA Cup match against Rapid Bucharest.[12] He had to stop playing in April because he needed surgery on a knee problem.[13] 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.[14]

Manchester City
De Jong (far right) with Manchester City teammates.

On 21 January 2009, de Jong moved to Manchester City for around £18 million.[1] He signed a four-and-a-half year contract.[15] He played for the first time against Newcastle United on 28 January 2009.[16] He played sixteen times in the Premier League.

De Jong was in the starting team against Arsenal on 12 September 2009.[17] He was given Man of the Match by Sky Sports after Manchester City won 2-1 over Chelsea on 5 December 2009.[18] 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.[19] De Jong scored his first goal for Manchester City when they won 2-1 against West Ham United on 1 May 2011.[20]

Milan

On 31 August 2012, de Jong joined Italian Serie A club Milan. He signed a three-year contract.[21][22]

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.[6] 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.[23]

De Jong was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[24] He was one of the starting players for their first match in the competition. In this match, they won 2–0 against Denmark.[25] He was not allowed to play in the semi final against Uruguay because he got his second yellow card in a match against Brazil.[26] He played in the Final, where the Netherlands lost 1–0 to Spain.

Nigel de Jong: international goals
#DatePlaceOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.6 June 2009Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland1 – 02 – 12010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Career statistics
As of 17:44, 19 September 2012 (UTC)[27]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ajax 2002–03 1700000101271
2003–04 322000050372
2004–05 315000081396
2005–06 162000073235
Total 969000030512614
Hamburg 2005–06 121000030151
2006–07 181000051232
2007–08 291000061352
2008–09 70200020110
Total 6632000162845
Manchester City 2008–09 160000000160
2009–10 340305000420
2010–11 321400050411
2011–12 21010419036[28]1
2012–13 100000002[28]0
Total 104180911501372
Milan 2012–13 2000001030
Total 2000001030
Career total 260131009062734121

Personal life

De Jong is married to Winonah. He has two children. His father is Jerry de Jong.

He owns a car dealership which exists in Europe and the Middle East.[29]

De Jong is addicted to the game Angry Birds. He plays it in the dressing room before games.[30]

Sponsorship

Puma SE sponsor de Jong. The deal began in January 2012.[31]

References
  1. "Manchester City agree fee for Hamburg's Nigel de Jong". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  2. "Nigel de Jong: I Am A Training Animal". goal.com. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  3. Wilson, Paul (22 January 2011). "Bolton's Stuart Holden: 'I got the x-ray results and thought: not again'". London: dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  4. "8 Nigel de Jong". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  5. "Ajax frustrates Arsenal at Highbury; Valencia wins". Sports Illustrated.com. 18 February 2003. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  6. "Nigel de Jong". ESPN. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  7. "'Departure Nigel de Jong sad for Ajax'". Ajax. 7 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  8. "Nigel de Jong joins Hamburger SV". Ajax. 26 January 2006. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  9. "Hamburg swoop for Ajax ace De Jong". CNN. 26 January 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  10. "Nuremberg jolt Hamburg's title bid". CNN. 28 January 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  11. "Hamburg get double over Bayern". Irish Examiner. 4 March 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  12. Hamilton, Fiona (10 March 2006). "Germans continue to lose ground in Europe". The Times. London. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  13. "Dutch squad trio face injury race". CNN. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  14. "De Jong darf mit, Team Ghana nichts sagen". Der Spiegel (in German). 6 June 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  15. "City complete De Jong deal". FIFA.com. 21 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  16. Soneji, Pranav (28 January 2009). "Man City 2–1 Newcastle". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  17. "City v Arsenal – News – Manchester City FC". Mcfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  18. "City do United a favour". Sky Sports. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  19. "34 Nigel De Jong". Mcfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  20. Magowan, Alistair (1 May 2011). "Man City 2 – 1 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  21. "De Jong: A.C. Milan official communication". acmilan.com. Associazione Calcio Milan. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  22. Clayton, David (31 August 2012). "De Jong joins AC Milan". mcfc.co.uk. Manchester City Football Club. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  23. "Nigel De Jong World Cup 2010 Player Profile". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. n.d. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  24. "Holland coach Bert van Marwijk finalises World Cup squad". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  25. "Netherlands-Denmark". FIFA. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  26. "De Jong rues semi-final absence". FIFA.com. 5 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  27. "Nigel de Jong". Soccernet. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  28. Includes one appearance in the FA Community Shield
  29. Taylor, Daniel (9 May 2009). "De Jong admits that City need to find a winning mentality". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  30. "Nigel de Jong reveals Angry Birds addiction". inside World Soccer. 17 September 2011.
  31. "Nigel de Jong Signs Deal to Wear Puma Boots". FootballBoots.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2012.

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