Nigel de Jong - TheSportsDB.com

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Name
Nigel de Jong

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70%

Born
1984 (39 years old)

Birth Place

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Position
Defensive Midfield

Status

Ethnicity

Team Number

Height
174 cm

Outfitter

Kit

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Agent

Wage Year

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Player Action Render

Sport

Soccer

Team
_Retired Soccer

2nd Team

League
_No League Soccer

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No

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Nigel de Jong (born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and current English language pundit for beIN Sports covering Premier League and Champions League football.

De Jong joined the Ajax youth academy and made the first team at age 17. He moved in 2006 to join Hamburg and then joined Manchester City in January 2009 for an estimated £18 million, where he became an important part of their holding midfield. A tireless grafter, he garnered a reputation of being a combative and feisty player in his performances, a reputation that earned him nicknames such as "The Destroyer" and "Lawnmower". He moved to Italian side A.C. Milan in August 2012, before joining MLS side LA Galaxy in February 2016. He subsequently had spells with Galatasaray in Turkey, Mainz 05 in Germany, and Al Ahli and Al-Shahania in Qatar.

De Jong made his international debut at the age of 18, and obtained 81 caps between 2004 and 2015, scoring one goal. He took part at two European Championships and two editions of the FIFA World Cup with the Netherlands, winning a World Cup runners-up medal in 2010, and a bronze medal at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

On 31 March 2004, De Jong made his debut with the Netherlands in a friendly game against France. He was overlooked for the squad that went to play in UEFA Euro 2004, and missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup with a knee injury.

He was selected by Marco van Basten to play for the Oranje at UEFA Euro 2008. During the tournament, he was played as a "screening midfielder", partnering with Orlando Engelaar in central midfield. This resulted in De Jong playing three out of the four games that saw the Netherlands reach the quarter-final stage, where they lost to Russia.

De Jong scored his first international goal against Iceland on 6 June 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, which sealed the Netherlands' passage to the 2010 World Cup.

De Jong was part of the Dutch team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup managed by Bert van Marwijk. The player was in the starting line-up for their first match in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark. He was suspended in the semi-final against Uruguay after receiving his second yellow card of the tournament in the Netherlands' quarter-final win over Brazil. He played in the Final of the competition, which the Netherlands lost 1–0 to Spain after extra time. In the early stages of the match, De Jong made a chest high challenge on Xabi Alonso, with his studs making contact with the Spaniard's ribs. Referee Howard Webb later stated that he would have sent off De Jong if he'd had a better view of the incident.

De Jong was part of the Netherlands UEFA Euro 2012 squad. The Dutch were eliminated in the first round after losing all three matches.

He was also selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was in the starting line-up for all three group matches. However, a groin injury led to his substitution in the 9th minute of the Round of 16 match win over Mexico and it was later confirmed the De Jong would be unable to take any further part in the tournament. Despite this, he later recovered to play 62 minutes of the semi-final against Argentina, which the Netherlands lost 4–2 on a penalty shoot-out, following a 0–0 draw after extra-time.