Siem de Jong

Football player infobox| playername= Siem de Jong
fullname = Siem de Jong
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1989|1|28
cityofbirth = Aigle
countryofbirth = Switzerland
height = height|m=1.85
currentclub = Ajax
clubnumber = 22
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 2001–2005 2006–-2007
youthclubs = DZC '68 De Graafschap Jong Ajax
years = 2007–
clubs = Ajax
caps(goals) = 28 (2)
nationalyears = 2006–2007
2007–
nationalteam = Netherlands U19
Netherlands U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 06 (2)
05 (0)
pcupdate = July 4 2008
ntupdate = July 4 2008

Siem de Jong (born 28 January, 1989 in Aigle, Switzerland) is a Dutch football player who plays for Ajax.

Club career

Youth

Siem de Jong started his football career at the Doetinchem amateur club DZC'68 and was scouted by De Graafschap, when he was 12. Siem grew up in Doetinchem and graduated from the same school (het Rietveld Lyceum) as Guus Hiddink, Paul Bosvelt and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, which grants him immediate university access (he has considered studying economics)Fact|date=July 2008. He played with De Graafschap until 2005, when he was picked up by the Ajax youth academy.

Ajax

Siem de Jong is one of the many talentedWho?|date=July 2008 players brought up by the Ajax Youth System, known as the Toekomst. Aged 19 and already playing for the Ajax 1 team, Henk ten Cate did and Adrie Koster does put a lot of trust into his youth.Fact|date=July 2008 Also having signed Jan-Arie van der Heijden, Robbert Schilder, Mitchell Donald, Gregory van der Wiel, Jeffrey Sarpong, Vurnon Anita and John Goossens, Siem de Jong is one of the representatives for the next generation of homegrown AFC Ajax talent.Fact|date=July 2008 At age 19, he extended his contract with Ajax to June 2013. [cite web|url=http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154417/contentid=65251 |title=Siem de Jong langer bij Ajax |publisher=Ajax |date=2008-01-15 |accessdate=2008-01-15 ]

De Jong went to his first AFC Ajax game when they played Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Cup. On the 26th of September 2007, he made his debut under coach Henk ten Cate in the first team of Ajax in the game Kozakken Boys - Ajax (1-2 a.e.t.) after subbing for Jan Vertonghen (80'). He was only 18 years old when he made his debut and his first goal for Ajax. In his first Eredivisie game, he came on as substitute in the away game against Sparta Rotterdam. With his goal in injury time, he helped his side to a 2-2 draw, helping Ajax to 1 point. His other goal was of even more importance, scoring against Feyenoord in "De Klassieker", a famous Dutch football match. In 2007-08, he was one of the youngest players and the only player under 20 years old to play more than 20 games. [cite web|url=http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=59715 |title=Alle Wedstrijden |publisher=Ajax |date=2007-11-11 |accessdate=2007-11-11 ] In the game against Willem II (4-1 win) he got an injury in his leg, the first injury of the season. This made him miss all the games from March 16 onward (the very important games PSV-Ajax, FC Twente-Ajax and SC Heerenveen-Ajax). He recovered from this injury in early April, returning fit for the match against De Graafschap. He did not start that game, but he was substituted in in the 81st minute for Edgar Davids. The season did not finish nicely for Ajax.POV-statement|date=July 2008 They finished second in the Eredivisie and in the play-offs were stopped by FC Twente to go the UEFA Champion's League.

Siem de Jong has played 28 games in the AFC Ajax number 38 shirt in the 2007-08 season. He has scored a total of 2 goals, against Sparta Rotterdam and Feyenoord Rotterdam.

International career

De Jong is also activeClarifyme|date=July 2008 in the Netherlands Under 19. He started his career in spring 2007, his first game against Czech Republic (0-2 win). He played three games there but the Netherlands did not qualify for the Under 19 Championship. In the next qualifying campaign he was more successful. He has played three games and scored in two of them. He scored in the qualifying campaign for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship once in his debut game in 83rd minute against Georgia (2-0 win). He started the second game but did not score. In the final game, against Norway, he scored in the 15th minute (3-1 loss). In total Siem de Jong has played six games for Netherlands Under 19. [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/standings/round=15034/group=700207.html |title=UEFA Under 19 Euro Championships Qualifiers Group 8 |publisher=UEFA |date=2007-10-23 |accessdate=2007-10-28 ]

On November 12 2007 Siem de Jong was called up to the Netherlands U21 bij Foppe de Haan for the game against FYR Macedonia. The game was played on November 16 2007. On November 17 2007 Foppe de Haan stated that Siem de Jong was no longer in the selection for Netherlands U21. [cite web|url=http://www.knvb.nl/oranje/nieuws |title=Oranje Nieuws |publisher=KNVB |date=2007-11-17 |accessdate=2007-11-17 ] [cite web|url=http://www.vi.nl/NieuwsItem/DeHaanRoeptBakkalOpEnLaatDeJongGaan.htm |title=De Haan roept Bakkal op en laat De Jong gaan |publisher=Voetbal International |date=2007-11-17 |accessdate=2007-11-17 ] However, on February 5, 2007, Foppe de Haan said that he would call up Siem de Jong for the Olympic Games in China. De Jong was selected for the lost friendly against Italy in Italy, in which he started.Because of his injury in March, he missed the qualifying game against Estonia (3-0 win). His replacement was Jonathan de Guzman. He recovered from this injury in early April, so coach Foppe de Haan put him back in the team. However, he ended up not making enough impression on the coach and was put on the reserves for the Olympic games. [cite web|url=http://www.onsoranje.nl/news/content/news/olympisch/foppe-maakt-selectie-bekend.html |title=De achttien olympiers zijn bekend |publisher=OnsOranje |date=2008-7-15 |accessdate=2008-07-15 ]

Total record

These statistics only apply with competition games in professional leagues. In the case of Siem de Jong, this means that the only games that apply are the games he has played for AFC Ajax in the Eredivisie, and with Netherlands U19 and with Netherlands U21. Any other youth teams do not apply. It does not include any of his youth teams, such as Ajax Juniors (Jong Ajax) or De Graafschap Juniors or DZC '68. The table also includes other games Siem de Jong has played. These would include practice games, like the ones AFC Ajax has before the season. The other category are games that he has played but do not fit into any other column.

Statistics correct as of July 6 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154417/contentid=62399 "Ajax interview with Siem"] nl
* [http://www.fcupdate.nl/nieuws/2007/10/08/siem-de-jong-volgt-voorbeeld-van-basten-en-cruijff/ "News item describing Ajax's tradition of scoring debutants like Kluivert, Wooter, van Basten and Cruijff] " nl
* [http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154417/contentid=63112 "De Jong presented with Ajax Talent of the year award"] nl