Euro 2008: Ryan Babel

Ryan Guno Babel (born 19 December 1986 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch professional football player who currently plays for Liverpool. He is right footed and plays as a left winger, but can also play as a forward. He has been a member of the Netherlands national football team since 2005.

Club career

Ajax

In 1997, Babel attended a youth selection day with AFC Ajax. He made it through the first selection round, but failed to progress any further.^[1] However, the next year Ajax did take him on and he played the 1998–99 season for their D1 team.^[1] After having also passed through the C1, B1 and A1 teams, Babel signed his first professional contract in January 2004.^[1]

On February 22, 2004, just two months after his 17th birthday, Ajax coach Ronald Koeman gave Babel his first team debut in Ajax's 4–0 home win over ADO Den Haag in the Eredivisie.^[2] Ajax went on to win the Dutch league title, but Babel didn't feature again that season. Nine months later, on 20 November 2004 Babel scored his first senior goal against De Graafschap in a 5–0 victory.^[3]

In July 2005, Babel signed a new contract with Ajax. He started the new season by scoring the winning goal in Ajax's 2–1 defeat of PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Super Cup. Babel scored in both legs of the Champions League third qualifying round against Brøndby as Ajax made it to the group stage. 2005–06 was a tougher season for Babel in general though as he managed only two league goals. He did however continue to feature for the national team, and scored his second goal against Italy in November. At the end of the season, Babel came on as a second-half substitute in Ajax's 2–1 victory over PSV in the Dutch Cup final.

Babel marked the start of 2006–07 with another Dutch Super Cup winners medal, as Ajax defeated PSV 3–1. Babel was linked with Arsenal and Newcastle United during the January transfer window of the 2006-07 season but no move materialised.^[4]^[5] Amidst the transfer speculation, Babel agreed to a new three-year deal with Ajax on February 2, 2007.^[2]^[6] In May, Babel got another Dutch Cup winners medal as Ajax successfully defended the title. The match against AZ went to a penalty shoot-out, but Babel was substituted off after 120 minutes.^[7]

Liverpool

On July 10, 2007, it was reported that Liverpool F.C. had made a £14 million offer to the Amsterdam club.^[8] On July 12, it was reported that Liverpool and Ajax agreed a fee in the region of £11.5 million, and later Liverpool confirmed that Babel would sign a five year contract on 13 July.^[9] He was unveiled on July 13 with Yossi Benayoun. Babel was handed the number 19 shirt. He made his debut on July 17 against Werder Bremen in a friendly. He was due to play in the first round of the Barclays Asia Trophy 2007 but for a delay in the granting of international clearance. This was sorted out in time for the final against Portsmouth.^[10]

He made his Premiership debut in the 2007–08 Premiership curtain raiser against Aston Villa away after coming on off the bench. A week later and he made his Anfield debut, coming off the bench against Chelsea. Babel plays in the right or left midfielder or up front position. On September 1, Babel scored his first goal for Liverpool against Derby County. Babel scored his first brace for Liverpool in the Champions League on November 6, 2007 against Beşiktaş J.K. after coming on as a substitute. He nearly got a third, to complete a hat-trick, off a header from a Harry Kewell cross but was denied by the crossbar. Liverpool and Celtic legend Kenny Dalglish has said that Babel has the ability to terrorise defenders in the Premier League with his pace and trickery with the ball. ^[11] Babel scored the fourth and last goal in Liverpool's vital UEFA Champions League 2007-08 group stage campaign match against Olympique de Marseille, which they needed to win. Since then Ryan Babel has scored 7 more goals for the 1st team bringing his tally up to ten goals in 48 appearances. He came off the bench in the second leg of the quarter final against Arsenal in the Champions League to win a penalty and score a goal. Liverpool won the game 4-2 (5-3 agg). He also came on as a substitute against Chelsea in the semi-final and despite scoring a goal, Liverpool crashed out 3-2 in extra time.

International career

Babel took part in the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Babel scored two goals in four games as the Netherlands reached the quarter-finals. There they were defeated by Nigeria, 10–9 in a penalty shoot-out (Babel scored his penalty).^[12]

Later that season, Babel made his international debut on March 26, 2005, away against Romania. He entered the game as a first-half substitute for Arjen Robben and went on to score the second goal in a 2–0 victory.^[3] The goal made Babel the youngest goalscorer in 68 years for the Netherlands^[3] and the fourth-youngest of all time.^[13] Babel had been a first team regular with Ajax in 2004–05 and finished with seven league goals in 22 appearances.

In 2006, Marco van Basten included Babel in the Dutch squad for 2006 FIFA World Cup. Due to a knee injury however,^{[citation needed]} Babel only featured once, as a second-half substitute for Ruud van Nistelrooy in the group match against Argentina.^[14] Van Basten has been quoted as saying Babel "has all the potential to become the next Thierry Henry.^[13]

In June 2007, Babel was part of the Netherlands under-21 team competing in the UEFA Under-21 Championship, being held in the Netherlands. In the group stage, Babel scored a penalty against Portugal, helping the Dutch to secure a semi-final spot and thus qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. His second tournament goal came during his man of the match performance in the final as the Netherlands defeated Serbia 4–1 to retain their title.^[15]

In May 2008, Babel was selected for the Dutch squad which will compete in the Euro 2008 Finals. On May 31, it was announced that Babel had had to withdraw from the squad after tearing ankle ligaments in training. Van Basten added Chelsea F.C defender Khalid Boulahrouz to his squad in place of Babel. ^[16]

Statistics

Career honours

References

^ ^a ^b ^c (Dutch) Biography. Biography on www.ryanbabel.nl. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
^ ^a ^b Extension for Ryan Babel. Report on ajax.nl (2007-02-02). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c Babel rewarding Van Basten's faith. Article on fifa.com (January 16, 2006). Retrieved on July 11, 2007.
^ Burt, Jason (2007-01-09). West Ham in for Ljungberg as Arsenal line up Dutch star. Article in The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
^ van Leeuwen, Gerrit (2007-01-18). Babel catching Magpies' eye. Sky Sports. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
^ Ajax star wowed by Wenger. Sky Sports News (June 14, 2007).
^ (Dutch) Ajax win cup in thriller. Article on knvb.nl (Dutch FA website) (May 6, 2007). Retrieved on July 11, 2007.
^ Liverpool make improved Babel bid. BBC.co.uk (July 10, 2007).
^ Paul Eaton (July 12, 2007). Babel set to sign on Friday. LiverpoolFC.tv.
^ Reds reach Asia Trophy final. Article on Skysports.com (July 24, 2007). Retrieved on June 30, 2007.
^ KENNY: BABEL IS TERRIFYING
^ Nigeria 1-1 Netherlands. Match report on fifa.com. Retrieved on July 11, 2007.
^ ^a ^b Burt, Jason (2007-01-27). Gunners ready to snare Babel, 'the new Henry'. Article in The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
^ Netherlands 0-0 Argentina. Match report on fifa.com (June 21, 2006). Retrieved on July 11, 2007.
^ Babel pays tribute to best vintage. Interview on uefa.com (June 25, 2007). Retrieved on July 11, 2007.
^ Injury rules Babel out of Euros. Herald Tribune. BBC Sport. Retrieved on May 31, 2008.
^ Counts for appearances and goals during the KNVB Cup
^ Counts for appearances and goals at the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.
^ ^a ^b 8 Ryan Babel. ESPN (2007-05-07). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
^ Ryan Babel stats. Stats centre on guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on July 11, 2007.

Persondata
NAME	Ryan Babel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Dutch footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	December 19, 1986
PLACE OF BIRTH	Amsterdam, Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH