Maarten Stekelenburg

Maarten Steklenburg is a professional football player of Dutch origin. He was born on 22 September 1982 in Haarlem, Netherlands. He plays as the goalkeeper for the Everton club in the Premier League and also the Netherlands national team.

Background

Stekelenburg began his professional career with Zandvoort’75. Later, he joined VV Schoten and then left that to join Ajax when he was 15 years old. He made his debut for the team in 2002. He played for the club for nine consecutive seasons and also won nine honours during his tenure there. He even won the “Player of the year” award a couple of times during his time there. He was also a part of the Dutch squad for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Debut

Stekelenburg made his debut for the Netherlands national team on 3 September 2004 against Liechtenstein. The match ended with a 3-0 victory for the Dutch team. He made his debut for Ajax on 24 February 2002 in a match against NAC Breda. For Roma, he made his debut on 11 September 2011 in a match against Cagliari. For the club Fulham, he made his debut on 17 August 2013 in a match against Sunderland.

Rise to glory

Stekelenburg began rising to prominence very quickly in his career. He started with Ajax and played 282 games over nine seasons. He won two Eredivise titles. He won the “Player of the year” award for the 2007-08 season. When he signed for Roma, he became the first ever Dutch player to ever play for the Italian club. Because of his performances for the two clubs, he was able to procure deals from various other clubs over the years.

Club career

Stekelenburg’s club career began with Ajax. As already mentioned, he stayed with them for nine years. On 1 August 2011, it was officially announced that he had signed a deal with the club Roma. He played for the club for two years. On 3 June 2013, it was confirmed that Stekelenburg was being transferred to Fulham. He had signed a four-year deal with the club. After this, he joined Monaco on 9 August 2014 on loan. A year later on 22 June 2015, he joined another club called Southampton on loan. On 1 July 2016, it was announced that Stekelenburg had signed a deal with Everton. He made his debut for the club on 13 August 2016.

Awards and achievements

Stekelenburg was a member of the squad that ended as the runner up in the FIFA World Cup 2010. He won the AFC Ajax Player of the year award in 2008 and 2011.