Ron Vlaar

Football player infobox
playername= Ron Vlaar
fullname = Ron Vlaar
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1985|2|16
cityofbirth = flagicon|Netherlands Hensbroek
countryofbirth = Netherlands
height = Height|m=1.89
currentclub = Feyenoord Rotterdam
clubnumber = 20
position = Central Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs = Apollo'68
SVW Heerhugowaard
years = 2004-2006
2006-
clubs = AZ Alkmaar
Feyenoord Rotterdam
caps(goals) = 10 (0)
40 (2)
nationalyears = 2005-
nationalteam = Netherlands
nationalcaps(goals) = 02 (0)
pcupdate = 29 November 2007
ntupdate = 4 July 2007

Ron Vlaar (16 February 1985, Hensbroek) is a Dutch football player currently playing for Feyenoord.

Vlaar earned a youth contract at AZ Alkmaar in the year 2002. Due to injuries and bans he made his official debut in the first team against RKC Waalwijk on 23 April 2005. He made his UEFA Cup debut shortly after that in the semi-finals against Sporting Clube de Portugal. In the few matches the promising defender played, he made enough of an impression to be noticed by Marco van Basten, the coach of the Dutch national side. He was selected for the qualifier against Romania in june 2005, but did not play. The first international match in which he played was the clash against the Czechs on 8 October, 2005.

During 2005-2006, his performances did not remain unnoticed and AZ Alkmaar were keen to offer him a new contract (as Vlaar was still playing on a youth contract). However, Vlaar was not willing to sign the new contract and Feyenoord Rotterdam, Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax Amsterdam showed serious interest. He came to an agreement with Feyenoord and has signed a three-and-a half-year contract starting 1 January, 2006.

Later in 2006 he was part of the Netherlands national under-21 football team that lifted the trophy at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship after beating Ukraine in the final. In 2007 Vlaar was the captain of the squad that defended their title at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship held in the Netherlands. Vlaar participated in both of their first round group matches against Israel (1-0 win) and Portugal (2-1 win) to secure a semi final spot and to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the semi finals against England Vlaar's mistake made Leroy Lita score the first goal of the match and later he would leave the pitch with a knee injury. Howerver the Dutch equalled and reached the final after winning in a penalty shootout with 32 kicks taken. The Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating Serbia 4-1 in the final. Vlaar's injury forced him to see the match from the sideline.

External links

* [http://www.vi.nl/vi/show/id=40053/dbid=49580/typeofpage=40054/sc=521c7e Vlaar's stats at vi.nl]
*wvo|499