Wesley Sneijder
Personal information
Full name	Wesley Sneijder
Date of birth	June 9, 1984 (1984-06-09) (age 24)
Place of birth	Utrecht, Netherlands
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder, Left/Right Winger,
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid
Number	23
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2007 2007–	Ajax Real Madrid	126 (43) 030 0(10)
National team2
2003–	Netherlands	046 0(10)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 18, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of June 9, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Wesley Sneijder (born June 9, 1984 in Utrecht) is a Dutch professional footballer who is currently contracted to Real Madrid. He is also a regular member of the Dutch national team. His younger brother Rodney Sneijder plays for AFC Ajax C1.

Career

Club career

Ajax

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Although Sneijder came through the Ajax youth academy, he is not a native of Amsterdam. He was born in Utrecht in a football family: his father was a player, his older brother Jeffrey plays for Stormvogels Telstar and his younger brother Rodney plays for the youth academy of Ajax.

Sneijder made his debut for Ajax in a 2-0 win at Excelsior on December 22, 2002 when manager Ronald Koeman, troubled by an injury-filled squad called him up, advised by Danny Blind, the then-coach of the Ajax youth-squad. He rapidly established himself in the role of midfield general and occasional left winger. Despite his short height, he is strong on the ball and his passing range is enhanced by his two-footedness (ambidextrous).

Real Madrid

On August 12, 2007, Ajax agreed to sell Sneijder to Real Madrid for 27 million euros, according to the club's web-site, making him the second most expensive Dutch football player. He was the second of three Dutchmen to sign for Real Madrid for the 2007 season joining Royston Drenthe and later Arjen Robben. He also was given the number 23 which was worn by David Beckham which he wore for 4 full seasons at Real Madrid.

In his first La Liga match for Real Madrid he scored the winner in the Madrid derby against Atlético Madrid. On the second matchday, he scored two goals against Villareal, one of which was from a free-kick.

Sneijder capped a fine first season in Spain by hitting a stunning free kick in the last game of the season against Levante at the Bernabeu and taking his goal tally to 9 in La Liga in a season which also saw Real retain their title.

International career

Sneijder (right) with Arjen Robben training for the Netherlands.

Sneijder debuted with the Netherlands Under-21 side against Czech Republic on March 28, 2003. His first game with the Dutch national team was against Portugal on April 30 that same year, when he became the eighth youngest man to play for Holland in the team’s history.

Euro 2004/World Cup 2006

Sneijder reached the Euro 2004 semifinals with the Netherlands. He began the competition warming the bench, but he soon found a spot in the starting eleven and scored two goals. He was a also a starter in the four matches the Oranje played in the 2006 World Cup in Germany before they were eliminated by Portugal.

Euro 2008

In the build-up to Euro 2008, Sneijder scored a magnificent free kick in a friendly against Wales on May 31, making it his second strike from a direct free kick in a row. The game ended 2-0 with goals from Real Madrid pair, Arjen Robben and Sneijder.

Sneijder scored the second goal in the 31st minute of the Euro 2008 game against Italy. Following Giovanni van Bronckhorst's goal-line clearance and subsequent run into the Italian half, Sneijder received the ball via a header from Dirk Kuyt and slotted the ball between the post and the advancing Gianluigi Buffon. This brought the score to 2-0 after Ruud van Nistelrooy's controversial opener five minutes previously. The match finished with a 3-0 victory to the Dutch after a third goal was scored by Giovanni van Bronkhorst after another run by him following a crucial save from Edwin van der Sar. Sneijder's second goal contributed to the Netherlands first victory over Italy in thirty years and it was the biggest defeat Italy had suffered since Sweden beat them by the same margin in 1983.

Club career statistics

(correct as of 1 June, 2008)

International goals^[1]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2003-10-11	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	Moldova	2-0	5-0	Euro 2004 qualifying
2	2003-11-19	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Scotland	1-0	6-0	Euro 2004 qualifying playoffs
3	2004-08-18	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Sweden	1-1	2-2	Friendly match
4	2005-06-08	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Finland	1-1	3-1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	2005-08-17	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain	Andorra	0-3	0-3	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	2007-03-24	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Russia	2-0	4-1	Friendly match
7	2007-09-08	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Bulgaria	1-0	2-0	Euro 2008 Qualification
8	2007-10-17	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	Slovenia	1-0	2-0	Euro 2008 Qualification
9	2008-05-01	Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Wales	1-0	2-0	Friendly match
10	2008-06-09	Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Berne, Switzerland	Italy	2-0	3-0	UEFA Euro 2008

Individual awards

• 2004: Talent of the Year Ajax Amsterdam
• 2007: Player of the Year Ajax Amsterdam

Awards (at Ajax Amsterdam)

• National Championship: 2004
• KNVB Cup: 2006, 2007
• Johan Cruijff Shield: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007

Awards (at Real Madrid)

• La Liga: 2008

Personal life

Sneijder married Ramona Streekstra on June 18, 2005. They have one son, Jessey, born September 4, 2006.

On 8 May 2008, it was reported that Sneijder had prevented his younger brother Rodney from a summer transfer to his current club, Real Madrid. Sneijder said, "Real Madrid wanted him and Rodney was very happy about that. But when I heard, I stopped the discussions. I am not in favour of juniors increasingly going to top clubs. I've told him that he first must make a break through at Ajax."^[2]

In the popular EA Sports football game FIFA 08, Sneijder is left-footed; however, in real life, he is actually right-footed.

References