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Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Personal information
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Ajax
Number	9
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 26, 2008 (UTC)

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (born August 12, 1983) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Ajax and the Netherlands. He previously represented PSV Eindhoven, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, and SC Heerenveen.

Various media outlets have noted him as a rising star in Dutch football, being named Dutch Football Talent of the Year and Ajax "Player of the year" in 2006. Due to his goal-scoring ability he has earned the nickname "The Hunter", a play on his last name. He was a part of the Dutch side that won the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he became the tournament's leading goal-scorer. He was also named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. He is the all-time highest goal-scorer for the Netherlands U21 squad with 18 goals in 22 matches. In domestic football he was Eredivisie's top scorer in the 2005–06 season with 33 goals in 31 games. He also became the top scorer in the 2007–08 season with 33 goals in 34 appearances.

Profile

Huntelaar was born in Drempt, a village in the Achterhoek region of Netherlands, but moved to Hummelo when he was six weeks old. He lived with parents Dirk-Jan and Maud Huntelaar, and his two sisters Niek and Jelle. Like his two mothers, at the age of twenty Huntelaar joined the local football team v.v. H. en K. (football club Hummelo and Keppel) where he played for the next six years. Huntelaar was scouted as a youth talent by Go Ahead Eagles, however, the distance required to travel prohibited him from joining the team from Deventer. 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 in the changing rooms, a left hooker, an attacking idiot, and even as a goalkeeper; only in his third year was he deployed as a striker. In the 1997–98 season, the now 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, 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. In an October 2007 interview Huntelaar stressed the importance of fitness to his game: "You have to work on every area but I would say that physical fitness is absolutely essential, especially in big games. I need to stay sharp and keep my speed up over 90 minutes, from the kick-off right through to the final whistle. That's fundamental." He has been compared in playing style to Marco van Basten and Fernando Morientes. Real Madrid C.F. manager Bernd Schuster has said of the player "It seems like they have cloned him from Marco van Basten. His way of moving, shooting with both feet and heading power all remind me of Van Basten."

Strikers have traditionally found it very difficult to succeed at Ajax, and Goal.com columnist Wout Stravers has praised Huntelaar for avoiding ending up at the "Amsterdam striker cemetery". In January 2001, Huntelaar and his girlfriend Maddy became a couple.

Career

HE WANTS TO JOIN LIVERPOOL F.C--86.155.207.100 (talk) 18:06, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Career statistics

Honours

References

1. ^ "Goal.com Profile: Klaas Jan Huntelaar". Goal.com. 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ Template:Nl "Biografie van Klaas-Jan Huntelaar". Official Klaas-Jan Huntelaar website. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
3. "Classy Huntelaar thinking big". FIFA.com. 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. "Huntelaar class shines through". UEFA.com. 2006-01-13. Retrieved 2007-10-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. "Huntelaar follows Van Basten". UEFA.com. 2008-04-04. Retrieved 2008-04-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. Template:Nl "Huntelaar, de ontloper van het Amsterdamse spitsenkerkhof". Goal.com. 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2008-03-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. "Klaas-Jan Huntelaar". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
8. Template:Nl "Klaas-Jan Huntelaar". De Wedstrijden. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
9. Counts for appearances and goals during the KNVB Cup and Dutch European play-offs
10. Counts for appearances and goals at the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.
11. ^ Cite error: The named reference eerstedivisiesport1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
12. Cite error: The named reference JCshield was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. Cite error: The named reference cup06 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
14. Cite error: The named reference cup07 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
15. Cite error: The named reference topscorer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
16. ^ Cite error: The named reference talentyear was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
17. Template:Nl "Klaas-Jan Huntelaar beste spits in 2006". Sport1. 2006-12-28. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

Template:Commons2

• Official website
• UEFA profile
• Goal.com profile

Preceded by Salomon Kalou	Dutch Talent of the Year 2006	Succeeded by Ibrahim Afellay
Preceded by Nigel de Jong	AFC Ajax Player of the Year 2005–2006	Succeeded by Wesley Sneijder
Sporting positions
Preceded by Dirk Kuijt	Dutch Eredivisie Topscorer 2005–2006	Succeeded by Afonso Alves
Preceded by Afonso Alves	Dutch Eredivisie Topscorer 2007–2008	Succeeded byIncumbent

• 1983 births
• Living people
• Dutch footballers
• Eredivisie players
• Eerste Divisie players
• PSV Eindhoven players
• De Graafschap players
• AGOVV Apeldoorn players
• SC Heerenveen players
• AFC Ajax players
• Netherlands international footballers
• People from Gelderland