Maceo Rigters
Personal information
Full name	Maceo Rigters
Date of birth	22 January 1984 (1984-01-22) (age 25)
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.79 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Blackburn Rovers
Number	TBA
Youth career
?–2003	Ajax
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2004 2004–2005 2005–2007 2007– 2008 2008–2009	Heerenveen Dordrecht NAC Breda Blackburn Rovers → Norwich City (loan) → Barnsley (loan)	02 (0) 17 (8) 61 (5) 02 (0) 02 (0) 19 (0)
National team2
2005–2007	Netherlands U21	09 (6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:12, 11 March 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 17:52, 3 July 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Maceo Rigters (born 22 January 1984) is a Dutch footballer, who plays for Blackburn Rovers in England. He has also played for the Netherlands Under-21 team. He plays as a striker and was born in Amsterdam.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 SC Heerenveen, FC Dordrecht & NAC Breda 1.2 Blackburn Rovers 2 International career 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] SC Heerenveen, FC Dordrecht & NAC Breda

Rigters started his football career at Eredivisie club, SC Heerenveen where he made his senior debut during the 2002-03 season. He had a short spell at Eerste Divisie club FC Dordrecht in the 2004-05 season. On 1 January 2005 he signed a four-and-half-year contract with Eredivisie club NAC Breda where he scored just five goals in 61 appearances.^[1][1]

[edit] Blackburn Rovers

Rigters was signed by Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee on 2 July 2007, with the striker signing a four year contract with the Lancashire club.^[2][3] He made his first official appearance or Blackburn in a UEFA Intertoto Cup match against Lithuanian club, FK Vėtra on 22 July 2007 as a second half substitute replacing Benni McCarthy in the 65th minute. His first start came on 30 August against Finnish club, MyPa, in a UEFA Cup first round match, and he made his Premier League debut on 29 September.

Rigters played only one more league game for the club that season on 11 February 2008, and after struggling to make an impact at the club,^[4] he joined Championship club Norwich City 19 March on loan until the end of the 2007-08 season.^[5] He made his first appearance for Norwich as a 78th minute substitute in a 5–1 win over Colchester United. However, in only his second substitute appearance for the club on 29 March, during a home defeat to Bristol City, Rigters lasted just fifteen minutes as he sustained a torn hamstring, and he subsequently returned to Blackburn for treatment. He since joined Barnsley FC however has failed to make a first team impact there.

On 8 August he joined Barnsley on loan for the 2008-2009 English football Championship league season.^[4] In the summer of 2009, Rigters went on trial at Southend United but failed to earn a contract.

In July 2009 Rigters was told he was free to find himself a new club. He subsequently undertook a trial at Southend F.C. in an attempt to earn himself a contract with the club. However the trial was not successful and he returned to Blackburn Rovers to wait for another trial offer.

[edit] International career

Rigters scored on his debut for the Netherlands national under-21 team on 5 February 2008 when he came on as a second half substitute in a 3–0 win over Russia Under-21s, scoring the third Dutch goal.^[6] On 23 March he scored as the Dutch Under-21s drew 1–1 with Czech Republic Under-21s.^[7]

He was called up by under-21 team coach Foppe de Haan as a last minute addition to the squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship on the eve of the tournament which was held in the Netherlands.^[1] Rigters played in all three group stage matches, a 1–0 win against Israel Under 21s and a 2–1 win over Portugal Under-21s to secure a semi-final spot and therefore qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. He won the penalty from which Ryan Babel scored the first Dutch goal and he scored the second Dutch goal of the match and was named Man of the match by UEFA.^[6] In the last group match against Belgium Under-21s, Rigters scored in a 2–2 draw.^[8]

In the semi-finals against England Under-21s, Rigters scored a 90th minute equaliser with a bicycle kick to take the match to extra time and eventually a penalty shoot-out, in which Rigters also scored as well, and the Dutch team won the shoot-out 13–12. He was also voted Man of the match for the second time.^[9]

The Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating Serbia Under-21s 4–1 in the final. Rigters scored the third goal, his fourth of the tournament, which put him ahead of England's Leroy Lita and gave him the Golden Boot as top scorer.^[10] After the tournament he was named in the UEFA Team of the tournament.^[11]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Maceo Rigters' official site
• Maceo Rigters career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at Blackburn Rovers official website

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