About

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is a Dutch striker who currently plays for Real Madrid and the Netherlands. He has also played for PSV Eindhoven, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, SC Heerenveen and AFC Ajax.

Huntelaar was named Dutch Football Talent of the Year and Ajax "Player of the year" in 2006. He was a part of the Dutch squad that won the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he became the tournament's top goal-scorer. He was also named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

Huntelaar is also the all-time highest goal-scorer for the Netherlands U21 squad with 18 goals in 22 matches.

Background

Huntelaar was born in Drempt, a village in the Achterhoek region of Holland, but when he was six weeks old he moved to Hummelo. He lived with his parents Dirk-Jan and Maud Huntelaar, and his two brothers Niek and Jelle.

Along with his brothers and at the age of five, he joined the local football team v.v. H.en K. where he played for the next six years.

Go Ahead Eagle, a football club in the Netherlands, scouted Huntelaar as a youth talent but the distance required to travel to the team's base in Deventer prohibited him from joining the club.

Soon after, he was scouted by De Graafschap where on April 6, 1994 he signed his first youth contract, aged eleven.

During his first two years with De Graafschap, Huntelaar played as a left back, left winger, attacking midfielder, and even as a goalkeeper; only in his third year was he deployed as a striker.

In the 1997–98 season, the 14 year old Huntelaar was the first striker for the C-team at De Graafschap, and scored 33 goals in 20 matches. The following season saw him promoted to the B1 team, and in the 1999–00 season he became top scorer of the B1 league with 31 goals.

His goal-scoring abilities drew the attention of PSV Eindhoven, who signed him in June 2000.

Huntelaar is a striker who plays as a centre forward (the traditional "number 9"), or an "out-and-out" striker, rather than as a supporting striker. He has a good technical ability and can score goals with his head and with either foot. He has been compared in playing style to Marco van Basten and Fernando Morientes.

Club Football

PSV

Huntelaar scored 26 goals in 23 games he played for PSV's Al youth team in his first year at the club. That impressive amount of goals helped him become the top scorer in the youth league.

In his second season at PSV, he was promoted to the senior team which was managed by Guus Hiddink.

He made his first team debut as a substitute for Mateja Kežman on November 23, 2002 in a 0–3 away win over RBC Roosendaal.

De Graafschap

Huntelaar was sent on loan to his old club De Graafschap, where his uncle was the financial director, as he couldn't find a place in PSV's starting lineup.

His senior debut for De Graafschap was on February 8, 2003, coming on as a substitute for Hans van de Haar against Roosendaal.

His first appearance in the starting lineup was on February 16, 2003 as De Graafschap were beaten 1–5 by SC Heerenveen the same team that signed Huntelaar later.

May 29, 2003 marked his last game with De Graafschap which the team lost 2-1 to FC Zwolle, and as a result they were demoted from the Eredivisie.

AGOVV

After De Graafschap decided not to extend Huntelaar's contract, PSV once against sent him on loan, this time to AGOVV Apeldoorn.

Huntelaar scored on his debut against Top Oss and scored a hat-trick in his second league game against Heracles Almelo.

He ended the year impressively as he scored 26 goals in 35 league games making him become the league's top goal scorer. He was also named the Eerste Divisie's Player of the Season.

In 2007, AGOVV named one of the stands at Sportpark Berg & Bos the "Klaas-Jan Huntelaar stand".

SC Heerenveen

After Huntelaar turned down the opportunity to sign a new contract with PSV, Frisian club SC Heerenveen moved in to sign him for a transfer fee of €100,000.

In the 2004-05 season, Huntelaar scored in his debut against AZ and went on to score 10 goals in 17 games at the winter break.

At the end of the season, the total was 17 goals in 31 matches, an impressive amount of goals that helped Heerenveen qualify for the UEFA Cup.

In the 2005–06 season, Huntelaar scored 17 goals in 15 matches and that attracted European legends, AFC Ajax.

Ajax signed him for €9 million plus future incentives for the player. A substantial sum went to rivals PSV Eindhoven as a result of a training compensation rule imposed by FIFA.

Ajax

Huntelaar scored his first goal for Ajax against his former team, Heerenveen, in a a KNVB Cup tie. During February Huntelaar scored nine goals in seven matches for Ajax, including against Inter Milan on his Champions League debut.

At the end of the season he was the league's top scorer, with 33 goals.

Following Ajax's second place finish in the Eredivisie, Huntelaar featured in the play-offs for Champions League qualification, scoring in consecutive games against Feyenoord, as well as playing in the defeat of FC Groningen to secure Ajax's place in the following season's Champions League.

In the KNVB Cup semi-final, Huntelaar scored an injury-time bicycle kick equalizer against Roda JC, taking the game to extra time. Ajax went on to win 4–1, with Huntelaar scoring another goal in the 109th minute.

In the final, against PSV, Huntelaar scored twice, including the winning goal. He was awarded the 2005–06 Eredivisie Johan Cruijff Award award and was named Ajax player of the year.

He was then named as Ajax vice-captain for 2006–0 and became the first player to score a goal at Arsenal F.C.'s new Emirates Stadium in a testimonial match for Dennis Bergkamp.

Huntelaar scored eight goals in seven matches with Ajax in the UEFA Cup.

In the Eredivisie Huntelaar finished the season with 21 goals as Ajax again finished second. In the KNVB Cup, Huntelaar scored four goals in six matches, including one in the final victory against AZ.

Ajax again had to play in the European play-offs to secure Champions League football for the next season.

Huntelaar scored two goals in the second leg of the semi-final against Heerenveen in a 4–1 aggregate win and Ajax went on to beat AZ 4–2 on aggregate to secure a place in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Ajax were again knocked out of the Champions League at the qualifying stage in 2007–08, with Huntelaar missing a penalty against SK Slavia Praha.

Ajax were also eliminated from the UEFA Cup by NK Dinamo Zagreb on away goals, with Huntelaar's two goals not enough to secure Ajax's place in the competition.

In the first Eredivisie match of the season Huntelaar scored four goals to help them past newly promoted De Graafschap in an 1–8 away victory.

With the retirement of Jaap Stam in October 2007, Huntelaar was temporarily made the Ajax captain, pending Edgar Davids' return from injury.

By the end of the season, Huntelaar had scored 33 goals in 34 apps, making him the top scorer of the Eredivisie with eleven more than FC Twente's Blaise Kufo.

At the start of the 2008–09 season, new Ajax manager Marco van Basten named Huntelaar as the first team captain, becoming the permanent successor to Jaap Stam.[citation needed]

Real Madrid

Real Madrid C.F. signed Huntelaar from Ajax in January 2009 for €20m, rising to a potential €27m.

His league debut was against Villarreal on 4 January 2009, which Real Madrid won thanks to a stunning goal from Arjen Robben.

Huntelaar hasn't yet been registered for the Champions League squad as Real Madrid are still negotiating with the UEFA to allow both of him and newly signed teammate, Lassana Diarra, to play in the tournament. The UEFA says that the club must choose one of the players.

International Football

Youth squads

Huntelaar participated in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship for the Netherlands under coach Louis van Gaal. He scored two goals in the tournament before the Dutch were eliminated in the quarter finals by Egypt.

Huntelaar was part of the preliminary Dutch squad prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but was not chosen and instead participated in the UEFA Under 21 football championships in Portugal.

Huntelaar was the top-scorer of the tournament with four goals, including two in the final, where the Netherlands beat Ukraine.

Huntelaar was named as one of the strikers in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

After the tournament, Huntelaar retired from the under-21 squad, where he remains the all-time highest goal-scorer with 18 goals in 22 matches.

Senior squad

Marco van Basten called up Huntelaar for the Dutch squad's friendly against the Republic of Ireland on August 16, 2006.

As usual, Huntelaar scored twice and made two assists on his debut to help his national team win 4-0. He was the first player to score on his Netherlands debut since Dick Nanninga in 1978.

After being left out of the squad for a number of games, he was then recalled to the squad in October 2007 for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying matches against Romania and Slovenia.

Due to the suspension of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Huntelaar was in the starting line-up against Slovenia, scoring his first competitive international goal in a 2–0 win.

Huntelaar was also included in Netherlands' Euro 2008 squad, scoring his only goal in the tournament with the opening goal of their final Group C game against Romania in a 2–0 win.

International Goals

Awards and Honours

Ajax

• KNVB Cup:2005–06, 2006–07
• Johan Cruijff-schaal: 2006, 2007

International

• UEFA U-21 Championship: 2006

Personal Awards

Career Statistics

M = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists

Personal Info

Huntelaar is currently living in Madrid where he plays for Real Madrid.

Wife / Girlfriend

Sponsors

On July 2, 2007, Huntelaar signed a sponsorship deal with Nike, having previously been under contract with Adidas.

Important Links

Official website

References