Nigel de Jong

Nigel de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɑjdʒəl də ˈjɔŋ]; born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He joined the Ajax youth academy when he was young and made the first team at age 17.

Nigel de Jong
De Jong with the Netherlands national team in 2011
Personal information
Full name Nigel de Jong[1]
Date of birth (1984-11-30) 30 November 1984[2]
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder[4]
Youth career
1993–2002 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2006 Ajax 96 (9)
2006–2009 Hamburger SV 66 (3)
2009–2012 Manchester City 104 (1)
2012–2016 AC Milan 79 (6)
2016 LA Galaxy 18 (0)
2016–2018 Galatasaray 18 (1)
2018 Mainz 05 11 (0)
2018–2019 Al Ahli 21 (4)
2019–2021 Al-Shahania 36 (0)
Total 449 (24)
National team
2002–2005 Netherlands U21 10 (0)
2004–2015 Netherlands 81 (1)
Honours
Representing  Netherlands
Men's football
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up2010 South Africa
Third place2014 Brazil
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

De Jong moved from Ajax in 2006 to join Hamburg. He then moved to Manchester City in January 2009 for around £18 million.[5] He became an important part of Manchester City's midfield. He has earned a reputation of being combative and feisty player. This got him nicknames like "The Terrier" and "Lawnmower".[6][6][7] He moved to Italian club Milan in August 2012.

Club career

Ajax

On 19 October 2002, de Jong played for the Ajax first team for the first time.[8] He scored his first goal on 18 February 2003 in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.[9] He started playing in the first team often in the next season. In this season, Ajax won the Eredivisie.[10] In 2004–05, de Jong was named Ajax Player of the Season.[10] Later, after starting in midfield for quite a while, he found himself sitting on the bench more often than being one of the players at the start of a match. On 7 December 2005, it was announced that de Jong did not want to stay with Ajax.[11] His contract with Ajax was due to finish in July 2006.[12]

Hamburg

On 26 January 2006, de Jong signed a four and a half year contract at German Bundesliga club Hamburg. He moved there for about €1 million.[13] He played for Hamburg for the first time two days later. In the match, Hamburg lost 2–1 to Nuremberg.[14] In March 2006, de Jong scored the winning goal in Bayern Munich's first ever loss at the Allianz Arena.[15] The week after, he got his first red card in a UEFA Cup match against Rapid Bucharest.[16] He had to stop playing in April because he needed surgery on a knee problem.[17] The injury also meant that he could not play for the Netherlands at the 2006 World Cup. However, after becoming fit again, he was put on standby.[18]

Manchester City
De Jong (far right) with Manchester City teammates.

On 21 January 2009, de Jong moved to Manchester City for around £18 million.[5] He signed a four-and-a-half year contract.[19] He played for the first time against Newcastle United on 28 January 2009.[20] He appeared sixteen times in the Premier League.

De Jong was in the starting team against Arsenal on 12 September 2009.[21] He was given Man of the Match by Sky Sports after Manchester City won 2-1 over Chelsea on 5 December 2009.[22] By the end of the season, the fans liked him. He was one of Roberto Mancini's first picks as defensive midfielder as the team just missed out on the Champions League.[23] De Jong scored his first goal for Manchester City when they won 2-1 against West Ham United on 1 May 2011.[24]

Milan

On 31 August 2012, de Jong joined Italian Serie A club Milan. He signed a three-year contract.[25][26]

International career

On 31 March 2004, de Jong played his first game with the Netherlands in a friendly against France. He was not picked to play in UEFA Euro 2004.[10] He missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup because his knee was injured.

He scored his first goal for the Netherlands against Iceland on 6 June 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match. This match made the Netherlands go through to the 2010 World Cup.[27]

De Jong was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[28] He was one of the starting players for their first match in the competition. In this match, they won 2–0 against Denmark.[29] He was not allowed to play in the semi final against Uruguay because he got his second yellow card in a match against Brazil.[30] He played in the Final, where the Netherlands lost 1–0 to Spain.

Nigel de Jong: international goals
#DatePlaceOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.6 June 2009Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland1 – 02 – 12010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Career statistics

Club
As of 2 March 2018[10][31]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ajax 2002–03 Eredivisie 1700000101271
2003–04 Eredivisie 322000050372
2004–05 Eredivisie 315000081396
2005–06 Eredivisie 162000073235
Total 969000030512614
Hamburg 2005–06 Bundesliga 121000030151
2006–07 Bundesliga 181000051232
2007–08 Bundesliga 291000061352
2008–09 Bundesliga 70200020110
Total 6632000162845
Manchester City 2008–09 Premier League 160000000160
2009–10 Premier League 340305000420
2010–11 Premier League 321400050411
2011–12 Premier League 21010419036[32]1
2012–13 Premier League 100000002[32]0
Total 104180911501372
A.C. Milan 2012–13 Serie A 121000040161
2013–14 Serie A 3321000100442
2014–15 Serie A 293110000304
2015–16 Serie A 5010000060
Total 7963100140967
LA Galaxy 2016 Major League Soccer 140001020160
Galatasaray 2016–17 Süper Lig 181600000241
2017–18 Süper Lig 0000000000
Total 181600000241
Mainz 05 2017–18 Bundesliga 110100000120
Al Ahli 2018–19 Qatar Stars League 21 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 4
Al Shahaniya 2019–20 Qatar Stars League 23[33] 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 27 1
Career total 3842021110073749629


International
As of 28 March 2015[34]
Netherlands
YearAppsGoals
200450
200550
200640
200750
2008110
200991
2010110
201160
2012110
201320
2014110
201510
Total811

Scores list Netherlands' tally first.

Nigel de Jong: international goals
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
16 June 2009Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland
1–0
2–1
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Ajax[35]

Manchester City

Netherlands

Individual

  • Ajax Player of the Year (Rinus Michels Award): 2004–05[40]

References
  1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players: Netherlands" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2014. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2020.
  2. "Nigel de Jong: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. "Nigel de Jong: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  4. "Nigel de Jong: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  5. "Manchester City agree fee for Hamburg's Nigel de Jong". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  6. "Nigel de Jong: I Am A Training Animal". goal.com. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  7. Wilson, Paul (22 January 2011). "Bolton's Stuart Holden: 'I got the x-ray results and thought: not again'". London: dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  8. "8 Nigel de Jong". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  9. "Ajax frustrates Arsenal at Highbury; Valencia wins". Sports Illustrated.com. 18 February 2003. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  10. "Nigel de Jong". ESPN. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  11. "'Departure Nigel de Jong sad for Ajax'". Ajax. 7 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  12. "Nigel de Jong joins Hamburger SV". Ajax. 26 January 2006. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  13. "Hamburg swoop for Ajax ace De Jong". CNN. 26 January 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  14. "Nuremberg jolt Hamburg's title bid". CNN. 28 January 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  15. "Hamburg get double over Bayern". Irish Examiner. 4 March 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  16. Hamilton, Fiona (10 March 2006). "Germans continue to lose ground in Europe". The Times. London. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  17. "Dutch squad trio face injury race". CNN. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  18. "De Jong darf mit, Team Ghana nichts sagen". Der Spiegel (in German). 6 June 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  19. "City complete De Jong deal". FIFA.com. 21 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  20. Soneji, Pranav (28 January 2009). "Man City 2–1 Newcastle". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  21. "City v Arsenal – News – Manchester City FC". Mcfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  22. "City do United a favour". Sky Sports. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  23. "34 Nigel De Jong". Mcfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  24. Magowan, Alistair (1 May 2011). "Man City 2 – 1 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  25. "De Jong: A.C. Milan official communication". acmilan.com. Associazione Calcio Milan. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  26. Clayton, David (31 August 2012). "De Jong joins AC Milan". mcfc.co.uk. Manchester City Football Club. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  27. "Nigel De Jong World Cup 2010 Player Profile". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. n.d. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  28. "Holland coach Bert van Marwijk finalises World Cup squad". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  29. "Netherlands-Denmark". FIFA. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  30. "De Jong rues semi-final absence". FIFA.com. 5 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  31. Nigel de Jong at Soccerway
  32. Includes one appearance in the FA Community Shield
  33. Includes one appearance in the Relegation/Promotion playoffs
  34. de Jong, Nigel at National-Football-Teams.com
  35. "Nigel de Jong – Honours". Soccerway. 22 November 2020.
  36. McNulty, Phil (14 May 2011). "Man City 1–0 Stoke". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014.
  37. Smith, Ben (12 August 2012). "Chelsea 2–3 Man City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016.
  38. "Netherlands 0–1 Spain: Line-ups". FIFA. Archived from the original on 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  39. "Brazil 0–3 Netherlands". FIFA. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  40. Smith, Ben (6 December 2005). "Het woord is aan Nigel de Jong". NU.nl.

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