Brian Pinas

Football player infobox
playername = Brian Pinas
fullname = Brian Pinas
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|12|29
cityofbirth = Rotterdam
countryofbirth = Netherlands
height =
currentclub = FC Dordrecht
clubnumber =
position = Winger
youthyears =
youthclubs = DHC Delft
Ajax
Feyenoord
years = 1997-1998
1998-1999
1999-2003
2003-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-
clubs = Newcastle United
Feyenoord
→SBV Excelsior (loan)
FC Groningen
Cercle Brugge
NAC Breda
FC Dordrecht
caps(goals) = 00 (0)
04 (0)
092 (14)
043 (2)
032 (6)
023 (1)
031 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 21 June 2008
ntupdate =

Brian Pinas (born December 29, 1978 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch professional football player of Surinamese descent. He is a left-footed winger.

Pinas started playing football at DHC Delft, an amateur football club in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. He actually started as a goalkeeper, but discovered soon enough that he was better at other positions on the field. Oddly enough, Pinas was discovered by Ajax, and not their rivals Feyenoord, the biggest team in Rotterdam, where Pinas was living. But due to the distance being too long between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Pinas soon did move to Feyenoord.

In 1996, when Pinas was playing for the reserves of Feyenoord, he was discovered by Newcastle United at a youth tournament in Groningen. Pinas would stay in Newcastle for two seasons, in which he made a few appearances for the first team as a substitute. Pinas eventually returned to Feyenoord because of the lack of playtime and the departure of his best friends at the team, Faustino Asprilla and Jon Dahl Tomasson.

On his arrival at Newcastle in 1998, Pinas was ridiculed by The Sun newspaper with regards to his surname's closeness to penis. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/toptens/story/0,,1078421,00.html] The editorial joked that if Pinas was ever addressed by a referee, it would be the first time that a referee had been sent off for using foul language.

Having returned to Feyenoord, Pinas soon made it to the A-team under the influence of coach Leo Beenhakker. But despite his move from the reserves to the first team, Pinas never managed to get more than a few chances as a substitute. Knowing that he wouldn't really get more playtime, Pinas was loaned to SBV Excelsior in 1999. This time, Pinas soon became a key player. At the end of the season, teams as Twente and Willem II were interested in buying him, but then Pinas suffered a serious knee injury. Eventually, Pinas would stay at Excelsior for two more seasons, until Feyenoord would get him back in 2002. This situation would only last for a few months, because Pinas noticed that he wasn't getting the playtime he wanted, and he was again loaned to Excelsior.

In 2003, Pinas was transferred to FC Groningen where things all started well for him, until the team started playing with 2 attackers instead of 3. When Pinas' chances of playing decreased, he was offered a trial by the Belgian team Cercle Brugge, who were desperately seeking for a left-footed winger. Pinas immediately convinced the management of the Belgian First division team and he was offered a contract. Cercle Brugge supporters were pleased with the skills of Pinas, but these solid performances weren't constant enough. As a result, Pinas became rather uncertain of his place in the first team. In late August 2006, Pinas was sold to NAC Breda. He left Breda one year later and joined FC Dordrecht.

References

* [http://www.brianpinas.nl Brian Pinas official site] nl icon
* [http://www.cerclemuseum.be Cerclemuseum.be] nl icon
* [http://www.nac.nl/voetbal/spelerdetail.php?Speler_id=1015 Brian Pinas player info at the official NAC Breda site] nl icon