Maarten Stekelenburg

Ajax

Stekelenburg began his career at Zandvoort '75 before joining VV Schoten, which he left for Ajax when he was 15 years old. He made his official debut for Ajax on 24 February 2002, in a match against NAC Breda. At the start of the 2002–03 season, he won his first silverware when Ajax won the Johan Cruyff Shield. In 2004, he and Ajax won the Eredivisie, having played ten matches that season. Stekelenburg became the first choice goalkeeper at Ajax in the 2005–06 season and won his first KNVB Cup. At the start of the 2006–07 season, he won his second Johan Cruyff Shield, which he helped his team defend the next season, and later on in 2006–07, he won his second KNVB Cup.

Stekelenburg was named Ajax "Player of the Year" for the 2007–08 season, succeeding Wesley Sneijder. During the 2008–09 season, he lost his place in the goal to Kenneth Vermeer due to injuries. He re-established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper under new manager Martin Jol and subsequently had a very strong season for both Ajax and the Dutch national side. During the 2009–10 season, Stekelenburg went on to have a consistent season, playing in all of Ajax's Eredivisie and Europa League matches, the latter after they were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in the group stage. However, Stekelenburg sustained a finger injury which kept him out for the remainder of the season. He made a total of 51 appearances in the 2010–11 season in all competitions. After winning the 2010–11 Eredivisie…

Stekelenburg was a member of the Dutch squad at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made his international debut for the Netherlands on 3 September 2004 against Liechtenstein, whom they beat 3–0. Stekelenburg was called up by manager Marco van Basten for the squad of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, but he did not play any match during this tournament as Edwin van der Sar was first choice. Despite his international debut in 2004, Stekelenburg was called up to Van Basten's UEFA Euro 2008 squad to play as understudy to Van der Sar. He participated in the Group C match against Romania on 17 June—with the Netherlands already having qualified for the quarter-finals, the coach fielded a second-string side to give players like Stekelenburg an appearance. He kept a clean sheet in the 2–0 win at the Stade de Suisse in Bern. In a September 2008 friendly match against Australia, Stekelenburg was sent-off after 44 minutes of the first half for fouling Joshua Kennedy, becoming the first goalkeeper of the Dutch national side to receive a red card.

After Van der Sar's retirement from the national team, Stekelenburg became the Netherlands' first-choice goalkeeper under manager Bert van Marwijk. Stekelenburg was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On 27 May 2010, Van Marwijk announced he would be part of the final 23-man squad participating in the competition. Stekelenburg helped the Netherlands reach the final of the competition against…

Club

International

Stekelenburg has hearing loss in one ear.