Romeo Castelen

Football player infobox
playername = Romeo Castelen
fullname = Romeo Castelen


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|5|3
cityofbirth = Paramaribo
countryofbirth = Suriname
height = height|meters=1.70
nickname =
currentclub = Hamburger SV
clubnumber = 18
position = Winger
youthyears = 1993-1997
1997-1998
1998-2000
youthclubs = De Volewijckers
Sparta
ADO Den Haag
years = 2000–2004
2004–2007
2007-present
clubs = ADO Den Haag
Feyenoord
Hamburger SV
caps(goals) = 083 (20)
065 (20)
013 0(0)
nationalyears = 2004– present
nationalteam = Netherlands
nationalcaps(goals) = 010 0(1)
pcupdate = July 1, 2008
ntupdate = July 1, 2008

Romeo Castelen (born 3 May 1983 in Paramaribo, Suriname) is a professional Dutch football player who currently plays for Hamburger SV, as a quick winger with great technique and scoring ability. In 1989 both his mother and sister died in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crash in which 15 Surinamese footballers lost their lives.

Biography

ADO Den Haag

Castelen started his career at ADO Den Haag, playing in the second division; he made his debut in the 2000-01 season in which he had three appearances. In the following season he became a first team regular and also became a fan's favourite. In the 2002-03 season he was one of the key players that made Den Haag clinch the league title and win promotion to the Eredivisie. Once there he played another season as a first team regular at the club and impressed scouts from several clubs with his skills.

Feyenoord and breakthrough

In the 2004-05 season, he was signed by Feyenoord and secured his spot in the first team in the pre-season friendlies already. In his first season at his new club he would play 30 matches in which he scored 10 times. Together with Dirk Kuyt and Salomon Kalou he was part of the deadly and feared Feyenoord attack. [http://www.feyenoord.nl/pages/newsdetail/S1/10010000030815-999-10010000000003.aspx Romeo Castelen vertrekt naar HSV] , Feyenoord.nl] His stormy breakthrough at Feyenoord impressed recently appointed Dutch national team manager Marco van Basten. Castelen was called up for the team and made his debut in the first ever match with Van Basten as a manager against Sweden on August 18, 2004.

His second season at Feyenoord was statistically even better than his first. That season he would score 9 goals in 23 appearances. The low number of appearances were caused by an injury that kept him aside for several months at the end of the season. This eventually denied him a spot in Van Basten's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was however recovering from his injury and missing out on the World Cup made it possible to be called up by manager Foppe de Haan for the Dutch U-21 side that lifted the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Portugal.

After two successful seasons at Feyenoord his third was disappointing. The club ended the competition in seventh position and eventually missed out on European football through the additional play-offs when they lost to FC Groningen in a two-legged clash. Castelen only appeared in 12 matches during that season as an ankle injury sidelined him for the entire first half of the season as well as a part of the second half.

Foreign adventure

Castelen was declared fit prior to the 2007-08 preparations with Feyenoord, but only had a contract until the end of that season. He was offered a new contract, but denied to sign this as the future at Feyenoord wasn't bright due to the recent results. However, when players like Roy Makaay, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Kevin Hofland were signed to bring Feyenoord back to life he considered signing a new contract. Several clubs, including Middlesbrough FC, Paris Saint-Germain FC, AS Monaco and Olympique Marseille showed interest. Castelen however didn't sign a contract with any of these clubs and was considering to stay at the club until Hamburger SV showed up. Within a few days both the clubs and the player finalised the negotiations and a four-year contract was signed. In total Castelen played 79 official matches for Feyenoord (including cups, European matches and play-offs) in which he scored 21 times.

tatistics

References

External links

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