Guus Til

Guus Til is a Zambian-born Dutch professional football player who currently plays for Dutch Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar. Born on 22nd December 1997, Til is an Attacking midfielder.

The right-footed player introduced himself to the footballing world by scoring two goals in two consecutive games against PEC Zwolle and Sparta Rotterdam last season.

Background

Born in the Southern African country of Zambia and lived in Mozambique and Namibia, Til finally moved to Amsterdam. He started his career with SV Diemen before joining the AZ Alkmaar academy in 2010. In the summer of 2014, Til was promoted to AZ Alkmaar U19 from AZ Alkmaar U17. Two seasons later, he was promoted to the AZ Alkmaar U21.

On 4th September 2016, Til was called up for Netherlands U20 side when they drew 1-1 against Czech Republic U20. He played at this level for six matches before being promoted to the U21’s where he played 4 matches starting with a match against Austria U21 in a 0-1 loss on 27th March 2017 where he came on as an 85th-minute substitute.

Debut

On 4th August 2016, Til made his professional debut as a substitute in a UEFA Europa League play-off match against PAS Giannina coming on for Joris van Overeem in the 71st minutes. He earned his first full international call-up in March 2018. On 26th March 2018, he made his debut as a substitute in a 3-0 win over Portugal.

Rise to glory

Til came on late against PEC Zwolle last season to take on a pass by Wout Weghorst on the break, take a touch and drive a shot to the keeper’s far post which went in off the post. He started the next game against Sparta Rotterdam and scored a header in the first five minutes as immediately picked up where he left off in the previous match.

Club career

Til was given a professional contract by AZ Alkmaar at the start of 2016 season and was immediately loaned out to Tweede Divisie club AZ Jong where he featured in 14 matches scorning thrice. He then returned to the parent club where he played in 39 matches in the 2016-17 season and 2017-18 season finding the back of the net on 8 occasions.