Wesley Sneijder

Personal information
Full name	Wesley Benjamin Sneijder[1]
Date of birth	June 9, 1984 (1984-06-09) (age 25)
Place of birth	Utrecht, Netherlands
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Internazionale
Number	10
Youth career
1991–2002	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2007	Ajax	127	(44)
2007–2009	Real Madrid	52	(11)
2009–	Internazionale	9	(2)
National team‡
2003–	Netherlands	56	(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 December 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 February 2009

Wesley Sneijder ( pronunciation (help·info); born 9 June 1984, in Utrecht) is a Dutch footballer who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Internazionale as a midfielder.

He is a regular player for the Dutch national team, having made his debut in April 2003, and having represented his country at the 2006 World Cup and at two European Championships (2008 and 2004).

[edit] Early life

Wesley Sneijder was born on 9 June 1984 in Utrecht into a football family: his father was a player, his older brother Jeffrey played for Stormvogels Telstar, and his younger brother Rodney plays for the youth academy of AFC Ajax.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Club career

[edit] Ajax

Although Sneijder was not born in Amsterdam, he started his career in AFC Ajax's famous youth academy. Following his older brother's footsteps, he signed for Ajax as a seven-year-old, initially on trial but impressed enough to be signed on a permanent basis. He made his debut for Ajax in a 2-0 win at SBV Excelsior on 22 December 2002 when manager Ronald Koeman, troubled by an injury-filled squad, called him up, advised by Danny Blind, the then-coach of the Ajax youth squad. He rapidly established himself in the role of midfield general and occasional left winger. Despite his short height, he is quick, strong on the ball, and his passing range is enhanced by his ambidexterity.^[2][3] He began to earn the reputation as a dead-ball specialist.^[2]

[edit] Real Madrid

On 12 August 2007, Ajax agreed to sell Sneijder to Real Madrid for €27 million, according to the club's web-site, making him the second most expensive Dutch football player. He was the second of three Dutchmen to sign for Real Madrid for the 2007 season, joining Royston Drenthe and later Arjen Robben. He also was given the number 23, which was worn by David Beckham for four full seasons at Real.

In his first La Liga match for Real, he scored the winner in the Madrid derby against Atlético Madrid. On the second matchday, he scored two goals against Villarreal CF, one of them on a direct free-kick.

Sneijder capped a fine first season in Spain by hitting a stunning free kick in the last game of the season against Levante UD at the Bernabéu, taking his goal tally to nine in the La Liga season, a season which also saw Real retain their title.

On 3 August 2008, Sneijder was stretchered off in the pre-season friendly at Arsenal with a suspected cruciate ligament injury after a collision with Abou Diaby. Sneijder had an MRI which confirmed the extent of the injury to be not as bad as first feared. It is expected that he would be out for at least three months.^[4] However, he managed to recover in time and was included in the starting eleven for the Champions League clash against Juventus in Turin.

On 2 September 2008, AS reported that after Robinho's departure to Manchester City for €42 million, Sneijder would now be Real Madrid's new number 10.^[5]. One day later, Real Madrid confirmed on their web site Sneijder's new number, 10. His previous number, 23, was taken over by his fellow Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart ^[6], whose preferred number is 23.

Dutch magazine Voetbal International conducted a poll to decide who was the best Dutch free-kick taker. Sneijder received an overwhelming 70% of the votes while Arsenal's Robin van Persie came second with 21% and formerly-Ajax and current AC Milan striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was third with 3% of the vote.^[7]

[edit] Internazionale

On 27 August 2009, Sneijder was bought by Internazionale from Real Madrid for a reported fee of €15 million,^[8][9] signing a four-year contract. He was given the number 10 shirt and made his starting debut a day after he signed the contract in the winning derby match (4-0) against AC Milan, making an immediate impact to the Inter squad. On 3 October 2009 he scored his first, decisive goal, at the 92nd minute against Udinese in a 2-1 win, after a brilliant match.^[10][11] His second goal was scored on 24 October 2009 against Calcio Catania, directly from free kick, and he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Inter in a dramatic 1-2 win against Dynamo Kiev in the 89th minute.

[edit] International career

Sneijder (right) with Arjen Robben training for the Netherlands.

Sneijder debuted with the Netherlands under-21 side against the Czech Republic on 28 March 2003. His first game with the senior Dutch side was against Portugal on 30 April that same year, when he became the eighth youngest player to play for the Netherlands in the first team's history.

[edit] Euro 2004

Sneijder reached the UEFA Euro 2004 semi-finals with the Netherlands. He began the competition mainly on the bench, and was subbed into two group stage matches. He had also contributed two goals in the qualifying tournament.

[edit] World Cup 2006

Sneijder started all four games for the Netherlands at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He received one of the record 16 yellow cards doled out during the infamous Round of 16 clash with Portugal (titled the "Battle of Nuremberg"); Portugal went on to win 1-0.

[edit] Euro 2008

In the build-up to UEFA Euro 2008, Sneijder scored a free kick in a friendly against Wales on 31 May, making it his second strike from a direct free kick in a row. The game ended 2-0 with goals from fellow-Real Madrid teammate Arjen Robben.

Sneijder marked his 24th birthday in style by scoring one of the goals of the tournament; the second goal in the 31st minute of the Euro 2008 match against the World Cup champion, Italy. Following Giovanni van Bronckhorst's goal-line clearance and subsequent run into the Italian half, Sneijder received a headed ball from Dirk Kuyt and volleyed it with an acrobatic strike past Gianluigi Buffon. This brought the score to 2-0 after Ruud van Nistelrooy's opener five minutes previous. The match finished with a 3-0 victory to the Dutch after a third goal was scored by van Bronkhorst after another run by him, following a crucial save from Edwin van der Sar. Sneijder's goal contributed to the Netherlands' first victory over Italy in 30 years, which was the biggest defeat Italy had suffered since Sweden beat them by the same margin in 1983. Many fans and pundits agreed that this goal was one of the best of the tournament. On 13 June, he scored another goal for the Oranje in the Euro 2008 group stage match against France: in the 92nd minute, from outside the box, Sneijer struck the ball into the corner of the net, bouncing off the crossbar on its way in. The match finished 4-1 for the Netherlands. Although the Dutch lost to the Russians in the quarter-final, Sneijder was named in the Team of the Tournament for his strong performances.

Wesley Sneijder: International goals^[12]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2003-10-11	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	Moldova	2-0	5-0	Euro 2004 qualifying
2	2003-11-19	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Scotland	1-0	6-0	Euro 2004 qualifying playoffs
3	2004-08-18	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Sweden	1-1	2-2	Friendly match
4	2005-06-08	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Finland	1-1	3-1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	2005-08-17	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain	Andorra	0-3	0-3	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	2007-03-24	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Russia	2-0	4-1	Friendly match
7	2007-09-08	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Bulgaria	1-0	2-0	Euro 2008 Qualification
8	2007-10-17	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	Slovenia	1-0	2-0	Euro 2008 Qualification
9	2008-05-01	Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Wales	2-0	2-0	Friendly match
10	2008-06-09	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne, Switzerland	Italy	2-0	3-0	UEFA Euro 2008 group stage
11	2008-06-13	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne, Switzerland	France	4-1	4-1	UEFA Euro 2008 group stage
12	2009-05-09	Grolsch Veste, Enschede, Netherlands	Japan	2-0	3-0	Friendly match

[edit] Career statistics

As of 04 November 2009.

[edit] Personal life

Sneijder married Ramona Streekstra on 18 June 2005. They have one son, Jessey, born 4 September 2006. The couple divorced on 21 January 2009.^{[citation needed]}

On 8 May 2008, it was reported that Sneijder had prevented his younger brother Rodney from a summer transfer to his club at the time, Real Madrid. Sneijder said, "Real Madrid wanted him and Rodney was very happy about that. But when I heard, I stopped the discussions. I am not in favour of juniors increasingly going to top clubs. I've told him that he first must make a break through at Ajax."^[13]

[edit] Club Playing Honours

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 2003-04
• KNVB Cup: 2005-06, 2006-07
• Johan Cruijff-schaal: 2002, 2005, 2006

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 2007-08
• Supercopa de España: 2008

[edit] Individual Playing Honours

• Amsterdam Talent of the Year: 2003
• Johan Cruijff Prijs: 2004
• Ajax Talent of the Year: 2004
• Ajax Player of the Year: 2007
• UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament^[14]
• Man of the Match in Euro 2008 (2): v. Italy, vs France
• Best Goal of Euro 2008: vs France^[15]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wesley Sneijder

• Official website
• Official 2009/10 Internazionale profile

Netherlands Squad v • d • e Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 van der Sar • 2 Reiziger • 3 Stam • 4 Bouma • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 Cocu • 7 van der Meyde • 8 Davids • 9 Kluivert • 10 van Nistelrooy • 11 van der Vaart • 12 Makaay • 13 Westerveld • 14 Sneijder • 15 F. de Boer • 16 Overmars • 17 van Hooijdonk • 18 Heitinga • 19 Robben • 20 Seedorf • 21 Bosvelt • 22 Zenden • 23 Waterreus • Coach: Advocaat v • d • e Netherlands squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 van der Sar • 2 Jaliens • 3 Boulahrouz • 4 Mathijsen • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 Landzaat • 7 Kuyt • 8 Cocu • 9 van Nistelrooy • 10 van der Vaart • 11 Robben • 12 Kromkamp • 13 Ooijer • 14 Heitinga • 15 de Cler • 16 Maduro • 17 van Persie • 18 van Bommel • 19 Vennegoor of Hesselink • 20 Sneijder • 21 Babel • 22 Timmer • 23 Stekelenburg • Coach: van Basten v • d • e Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 van der Sar • 2 Ooijer • 3 Heitinga • 4 Mathijsen • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 De Zeeuw • 7 van Persie • 8 Engelaar • 9 van Nistelrooy • 10 Sneijder • 11 Robben • 12 Melchiot • 13 Timmer • 14 Bouma • 15 De Cler • 16 Stekelenburg • 17 De Jong • 18 Kuyt • 19 Huntelaar • 20 Afellay • 21 Boulahrouz • 22 Vennegoor of Hesselink • 23 van der Vaart • Coach: van Basten

Awards
Preceded by John Heitinga	AFC Ajax Talent of the year 2002	Succeeded by Kenneth Vermeer
Preceded by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	AFC Ajax Player of the year 2006–2007	Succeeded by Maarten Stekelenburg