Georginio Wijnaldum

Early career

At age six, Wijnaldum developed himself rapidly at Sparta Rotterdam, winning two championship titles in his first two seasons. Soon Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord showed interest in the youngster, but Wijnaldum declined all offers: "I didn't watch football on TV and I didn't know any of the first team players of Sparta or any of the top clubs. I only knew the real famous players of Oranje, so the offers didn't impress me much. I had a good time at Sparta, I wanted to stay." After playing for Sparta Rotterdam for seven seasons and representing the Netherlands at various youth levels, Wijnaldum decided to accept a new Feyenoord offer. He was convinced playing for Feyenoord was better for his development as a football player and believed in Feyenoord's vision. At Feyenoord, Wijnaldum joined a successful generation with the likes of Leroy Fer and Luís Pedro. Wijnaldum stood out as an exceptional talent. In January 2007, a few weeks after turning 16, Wijnaldum was invited to the first team's training camp in Belek, Turkey, by Feyenoord manager Erwin Koeman.

Feyenoord

On 8 April 2007, Wijnaldum made his official debut in Feyenoord's starting line-up in the 4–0 Eredivisie home defeat to Groningen. At the age of 16 and 148 days, Wijnaldum became the youngest player ever to play in Feyenoord's first team and was chosen Feyenoord's man of the match. On 2 December 2007, Wijnaldum scored his first Eredivisie goal for Feyenoord, against Heracles Almelo in a 6–0…

Youth

Wijnaldum was one of the key players of the Netherlands under-17 squad on the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Belgium. However, the team finished third in their group behind England and Belgium, failing to qualify for the knockout stage. Quickly after the tournament, Wijnaldum was selected for the Netherlands under-19 squad. Despite excellent individual performances, the team underachieved and failed to qualify for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in the Czech Republic and 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Ukraine. On 12 November 2008, Wijnaldum was invited to the Netherlands B squad by manager Johan Neeskens but had to deny the invitation due to an injury. Wijnaldum had to deny his first Netherlands under-21 invitation on 9 August 2009. He received an invitation for the friendly match against England by manager Cor Pot. Wijnaldum made his official Netherlands under-21 debut on 4 September 2009 in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Finland, which ended in a 2–0 victory. Wijnaldum was selected for the Netherlands at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where he made three appearances and scored against both Germany and Russia, as the Jong Oranje reached the semi-final stage, where they were beaten by Italy.

Senior

On 30 May 2011, Wijnaldum was named in the Netherlands senior squad for friendlies against Brazil and Uruguay, but did not play in either match. He made his…

Wijnaldum was born and raised in Rotterdam, South Holland. When he was six years old, his parents, who are both of Surinamese descent, went through a divorce resulting in his mother moving to Amsterdam. However, Wijnaldum stayed in Rotterdam and moved in with his grandmother, where he lived for the remainder of his childhood. In Wijnaldum's younger years, he never showed interest in football. He never played with a ball or watched football on TV. His ambition was to become a gymnast or acrobat. This changed when Wijnaldum's cousin asked him to come to Sparta Rotterdam's opening day with him; then he was invited to the Sparta Rotterdam youth academy and his love for football started to grow slowly. Wijnaldum has two younger brothers, one of whom, Giliano Wijnaldum, most recently played for Sparta Rotterdam, as well as a half-brother, Rajiv van La Parra, who most recently played for Apollon Smyrnis. His cousin, Royston Drenthe, was another Feyenoord academy product who most notably played for Real Madrid. Wijnaldum was formerly known as Georginio Boateng, but following his mother's divorce, he took her maiden name (Wijnaldum).

On 20 November 2019, following racist abuse aimed at Ahmad Mendes Moreira in the Eredivisie, Wijnaldum celebrated a goal for the Netherlands against Estonia by gesturing at his skin colour in support of Mendes Moreira. On 23 June 2021, Wijnaldum announced that he would wear a rainbow armband under the slogan OneLove during the Netherlands' UEFA Euro 2020 round of 16 match against Czechia in a show of solidarity to both the LGBT community and German captain Manuel Neuer, who had a case opened against him at UEFA for wearing the rainbow armband. The case was later dismissed.