Jan Kromkamp

Club

International

Early years, AZ

Born in Makkinga, Friesland, Kromkamp made his professional debut for Go Ahead Eagles in Eerste Divisie, his first appearance in the competition being on 12 September 1998 in a 3–0 home win against FC Top Oss. He played two full seasons with the team, scoring four goals in 33 games in his second. Kromkamp moved to the Eredivisie with AZ for the 2000–01 campaign, being a regular first-team starter right away. In his fourth year he appeared in 34 league matches as the Alkmaar side finished fourth, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup and reaching the semifinals in the continental competition.

Villarreal, Liverpool

At the start of the 2005–06 season, Kromkamp signed with Villarreal of Spain. On 29 December 2005, however, the La Liga club agreed on an exchange deal with Liverpool, with Josemi going in the opposite direction. Kromkamp made his debut for the Reds on 7 January 2006, in a 5–3 win over Luton Town in the third round of the FA Cup. During his stint at Anfield, however, he was unable to dislodge Irish international Steve Finnan from the starting lineup, but did make a number of appearances from the bench, most notably in the domestic cup final; he was described as being a fair crosser of the ball with a lack of pace, who had difficulty in stopping opposition wingers getting crosses in.

PSV, later career

Kromkamp played one league game for Liverpool in the 2006–07 season. On 31 August 2006, he was sold to PSV Eindhoven, taking over…

Kromkamp was first called up by the Dutch national team under coach Marco van Basten. He won his first cap on 18 August 2004 in a 2–2 draw in a friendly against Sweden and in the following year he established himself as the first-choice right-back. Shortly after Kromkamp's move to Liverpool, however, van Basten admitted that he would rather see the player appear more regularly for his club – labelling the transfer as a bad move. Kromkamp hit back at this criticism by saying that he was very pleased to have joined Liverpool and that he would work hard to make it into van Basten's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad; in May 2006 the manager announced his final list of 23, which included Kromkamp, although he was not used during the tournament itself.

Liverpool

FA Cup: 2005–06 PSV

Eredivisie: 2006–07, 2007–08