Maarten Stekelenburg facts for kids
Stekelenburg with Southampton in 2015
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 22 September 1982 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Haarlem, Netherlands | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.97 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| Zandvoort '75 | ||||||||||||||||
| VV Schoten | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | Ajax | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2011 | Ajax | 191 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Roma | 48 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Fulham | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | → Monaco (loan) | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | → Southampton (loan) | 17 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2016–2020 | Everton | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2020–2023 | Ajax | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 314 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Netherlands U21 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2004–2021 | Netherlands | 63 | (0) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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Maarten Stekelenburg (born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for many years.
Stekelenburg started his career at Ajax, a famous Dutch club. He played 282 matches for them in his first time there. He won nine trophies, including two Eredivisie titles. Later, he played for clubs like Roma, Fulham, Monaco, Southampton, and Everton. He returned to Ajax in 2020 and retired in 2023.
He also played for the Netherlands national team. He made his debut in 2004 and played 63 games in total. He was the main goalkeeper when the Netherlands reached the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He also played in Euro 2012 and Euro 2020.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting at Ajax
Maarten Stekelenburg began playing football at small clubs called Zandvoort '75 and VV Schoten. When he was 15, he joined the famous Ajax youth academy. He played his first official game for Ajax on 24 February 2002.
Early in his career, he won his first trophy, the Johan Cruyff Shield, in 2002. In 2004, he and Ajax won the Eredivisie, which is the top Dutch football league. He played ten matches that season.
Stekelenburg became Ajax's main goalkeeper in the 2005–06 season. He won his first KNVB Cup that year. He also helped his team win the Johan Cruyff Shield again in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, he won his second KNVB Cup.
He was named Ajax "Player of the Year" for the 2007–08 season. He had a strong season for both Ajax and the Dutch national team. In the 2009–10 season, he played in almost all of Ajax's league and European matches. He made 51 appearances in the 2010–11 season.
After winning the 2010–11 Eredivisie title in May 2011, Stekelenburg was named Ajax Player of the Year for the second time.
Moving to Roma
On 1 August 2011, Stekelenburg moved to Roma in Italy. He was the first Dutch footballer to play for the club. He chose the number 24 shirt because his son was born on the 24th. He played his first game for Roma on 11 September 2011.
Playing for Fulham and Loans
On 3 June 2013, Stekelenburg joined Premier League club Fulham in England. He signed a four-year contract. He played his first game for Fulham on 17 August, but he got injured during the match. He returned to play in October, but Fulham struggled and was later relegated from the Premier League.
In August 2014, Stekelenburg went on loan to Monaco in France for a season. He mostly played in cup matches there. He helped Monaco win a penalty shootout in one game. After his loan, he returned to Fulham.
On 22 June 2015, he joined Southampton on a season-long loan from Fulham. He played his first game for Southampton in a European match in July. He also made his Premier League debut for them on the first day of the 2015–16 season.
Time at Everton
On 1 July 2016, Stekelenburg signed a three-year contract with Everton. He made his debut on 13 August. On 15 October, he saved two penalties in one game against Manchester City, which was a great achievement. He got a leg injury in December 2016 but returned to play in April 2017.
Later, he faced groin injuries and lost his starting spot to another goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford. However, he signed a new two-year contract with Everton. In June 2020, he extended his contract until the end of the season, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Return to Ajax and Retirement
On 22 June 2020, Stekelenburg returned to Ajax. In February 2021, he became the starting goalkeeper again because the main goalkeeper was banned. In May, he signed a contract extension until 2022.
On 18 May 2023, Maarten Stekelenburg announced that he would retire from football at the end of that season.
International Career
Stekelenburg played for the Dutch youth team at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made his first game for the senior Netherlands on 3 September 2004. They won 3–0 against Liechtenstein.
He was part of the Dutch squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. However, he was a backup goalkeeper to the famous Edwin van der Sar. In Euro 2008, he played one group match and kept a clean sheet.
In September 2008, he became the first Dutch national team goalkeeper to receive a red card in a friendly match against Australia.
After Van der Sar retired from the national team, Stekelenburg became the Netherlands' first-choice goalkeeper. He was chosen for the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad in South Africa. He helped the Netherlands reach the final of the tournament by making important saves, especially against Brazil in the quarter-finals. In the final, he made many saves, but Spain scored the only goal in extra time, and the Netherlands lost.
Stekelenburg played all three matches in the group stage of UEFA Euro 2012. The Netherlands did not do well in that tournament.
On 7 October 2016, four years after his last international game, Stekelenburg played in a World Cup qualification match against Belarus, which the Dutch won 4–1.
In March 2021, he was called up for World Cup qualification matches. He was also picked as the starting goalkeeper for UEFA Euro 2020 because the regular goalkeeper had to miss out due to COVID-19.
On 13 August 2021, after the Netherlands were knocked out of Euro 2020, Stekelenburg announced his retirement from international football.
Personal Life
Maarten Stekelenburg has hearing loss in one ear.
Honours and Awards
Ajax
- Eredivisie: 2003–04, 2010–11, 2020–21, 2021–22
- KNVB Cup: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2020–21
- Johan Cruyff Shield: 2002, 2006, 2007
Netherlands
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2010
Individual Awards
- Ajax Player of the Year: 2007–08, 2010–11
