Jonathan de Guzmán

Football player infobox
playername = Jonathan de Guzmán
fullname = Jonathan de Guzmán


position = Midfielder
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1987|9|12
cityofbirth = Toronto
countryofbirth = Canada
height = height|m=1.74
currentclub= Feyenoord
clubnumber = 33
youthyears = 1999–2005
youthclubs = Feyenoord
clubs = Feyenoord
years = 2005–
caps(goals) = 83 (18)
nationalyears = 2008–
2008
nationalteam = Netherlands U-21
Netherlands
nationalcaps(goals) = 05 0(2)
pcupdate =
ntupdate = 28 August, 2008

Jonathan de Guzmán (born September 12 1987, Toronto, Canada) is a Canadian-born Dutch midfielder playing for Feyenoord of the Eredivisie. He is of Jamaican and Filipino descent and is the younger brother of Spanish Deportivo La Coruña's Julián de Guzmán.

Career

Feyenoord

Jonathan joined the Feyenoord Rotterdam youth side at 12. He was not allowed to play for the first team until he turned 18, but on his birthday, he had his debut against SC Heerenveen. Jonathan scored his first professional goal in the 9th minute against Willem II on September 30 2005. In April, he signed a contract extension with Feyenoord until 2010.

International career

After much speculation on which country De Guzmán would choose to represent internationally, Jonathan made himself available for selection by the Dutch national team, immediately after receiving his Dutch citizenship in February 2008, having applied for it the previous year. His decision was met with disappointment in Canada, which witnessed a similar situation when Owen Hargreaves chose to play for the English national team. Controversially, De Guzmán appeared on a nationally televised Canadian sports show a week before this announcement and claimed that he had not made up his mind on his international status, and was focusing on his club career in the Netherlands. [ [http://www2.sportsnet.ca/blogs/gerry_dobson/2008/02/06/goodbye_to_de_guzman/ Goodbye to De Guzmán] ] His brother Julián does play for the Canadian national team.

After failing to make the final cut in a senior call up, De Guzmán made his international debut for the Netherlands U21 squad on March 26, 2008, in a European Championship qualification match against Estonia. He played a significant role, scoring the first and third goal and providing the assist for the second in a 3-0 victory. He was later named in the Netherlands squad for the 2008 Olympics

References

External links

* [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=69579&cc=5901 soccernet profile]