Eljero Elia

Early career

Born in Voorburg, Elia played as a youth for local side SV Voorburg, before it merged to become Forum Sport in 1998. He later moved to cross-city rivals TONEGIDO and played in their youth department. In 1996, at age nine, Elia moved to the youth system of ADO Den Haag. He then moved to Ajax in 2000. Elia reflected on his time at the club, saying: "Already as a kid I loved playing for that club. Walking across the street wearing a big Ajax bag, I thought that was great. That Amsterdam bluff also suits me, I think. Challenging, fooling around, just like on the streets. Making an opponent crazy, that's the best thing there is." At under-13 level, he was sent away: "Together with Nordin Amrabat and Jeremain Lens. They thought I wasn't making a difference often enough. No, I never actually played as a winger for Ajax. Usually I was right mid, sometimes right back and sometimes central in the defence. Henny de Regt told me at the time that I was not allowed to stay. I felt so awful." He then rejoined the youth system of ADO Den Haag two years later. Then youth coach Carlos Roeleveld said: "I soon saw that he was special. But I also got a disappointed boy with whom I had to work. That was in the under-15. He was disappointed because he had been sent away from Ajax. He was thinking a lot."

ADO Den Haag

Elia made his professional debut for ADO Den Haag on 23 January 2005 against FC Groningen at age 17, coming on as 81st-minute substitute in a 3–0 loss.…

Youth career

In March 2005, Elia was called up to the Netherlands national under-19 team, making his debut for the U19 national team, starting the whole game, in a 2–2 draw against Austria U19. He scored his first goals for the Netherlands U19, in a 2–0 win against Czech Republic U19 on 14 May 2005. Elia then scored his third goal for the U19 national team, in a 1–0 win against Iceland U19 on 2 September 2005. A month later on 19 October 2005, he scored twice for Netherlands U19, in a 2–2 draw against Germany U19. Elia went on to make ten appearances and scoring six times for the U19 national team. Elia developed rapidly and at the beginning of 2006, he was selected for Netherlands U21 the first time. Elia made his debut for the U21 national team, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute and scored from a penalty, in a 2–2 draw against Germany U21 on 15 August 2006. He later made two more appearances for Netherlands U21 by the end of the year. It wasn't until on 10 August 2007 when Elia was called up to the U21 national team and made an appearance, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 win against Macedonia U21 twelve days later. He went on to make seven appearances and scoring two times for Netherlands U21. On 7 February 2007, Elia made his debut for Netherlands U20, coming on as a second half substitute, in a 3–1 loss against Denmark U20. A month later on 23 March 2007, he scored his first goals for the U20 national team, in a 3–2 win against Ukraine U20.…

Club

International

Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elia goal.

Born in the Netherlands and raised in The Hague, Elia is of Surinamese descent. In addition to speaking Dutch, he speaks German and English. His first name is an homage to his sister's favourite jazz singer, Al Jarreau. As a child, he idolised Brazilian footballer Romário. In an interview with Trouw, Elia said that he is a religious person and became a first-time father when his long-term girlfriend Sanne gave birth to a daughter. In 2012, Elia's second daughter was born. In June 2015, Elia announced his marriage to Sanne. In 2019, he became a third-time father when his first son was born. In September 2008, Elia was fined €200 for assaulting a scooter rider three months earlier. On 7 March 2016, Elia was brought in for questioning and arrested for his alleged involvement in a brawl in Rotterdam city centre the week before. After spending a night in jail, he was released and Feyenoord's manager Van Bronckhorst was said to be disappointed with his action and the club fined Elia as a result. Although Elia maintained that he did not make contact in the brawl, he, nevertheless, was fined three months by the Rotterdam court. Throughout his football career, Elia developed a reputation as a bad boy by the Dutch media. Elia has disputing the characterisation: "I'm a quiet guy, I'm with my family the whole time and I don't do nothing – I don't go out. [...] the things they were saying in the newspaper was not the truth. It's not the truth. You can see it by yourself." Elia described…