Canadians in Holland

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Wally at Xtratime

Looks like Canadian U20 International and Hartwick College keeper Josh Wagenaar has signed a two year deal (starting July 1) with ADO den Haag of the top tier Holland Eredivisie.

http://www.adodenhaag.nl/nl/html/alg...RN4301K7J6E1KM


Photo courtesy CSA

[Joe MacCarthy]

Frisians snap up Canadian
By Simon Fudge - Created on 30 Mar 2006
http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?h...ap+up+Canadian


Heerenveen have signed Canadian international striker Will Johnson to a pre-contract agreement for next season.

The 19-year-old will join the Eredivisie club on an initial one-year contract from the beginning of July, with the club Dutch club having the option of extending the youngster's deal for another two seasons beyond that.

Johnson's impending move to the Abe Lenstra Stadion comes after the Toronto, Ontario-born player opted against signing a new deal with his former club in American Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire.

On the recommendation of Heerenveen's American midfielder Michael Bradley, Frisians boss Gertjan Verbeek handed the talented teenager a trial with the club earlier this month.

He has since gone on to impress the Dutch club with his abilities and earn himself a move into the European game for next season.

The striker told skysports.com of his delight at making the move to Holland and Heerenveen.

"I am very excited to be joining a club like Heerenveen," Johnson said.

"It is a big step up from the MLS and it will only make me a better player playing in a league like the Dutch First Division.

"All of the players and staff at the club made me feel welcome from the first day and made it an easy choice to sign without looking at other interests around Europe.

"I really look forward to pushing myself over there and furthering my career over in Europe.

"It is a very exciting time for me and I plan to make the best of this opportunity over in Holland."

In Johnson, Heerenveen have acquired a player of emerging talent, with the attacker having appeared for Canada's Under-20 side at last year's World Youth Championships in Holland.

He has gone to earn three senior caps with Frank Yallop's full Canada squad, with the latest being a late substitute appearance in a 2-0 friendly over Austria in Vienna on March 1.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Wow, it looks like two Canadians on the same day have signed with top tier Dutch clubs. First Will Johnson with a successful trial at Heerenveen and now earlier rumours look to be true (pending Dutch translation); it looks as though Marcel De Jong has signed with Roda JC.

http://www.rodajc.nl/default.asp

[Joe MacCarthy]

I could be totally off base here but I've put this through a translator and pending proper translation from somebody does it say Rob Friend has signed with Heerenveen?

sc Heerenveen zoekt het in Canada
31 maart 2006
http://www.sc-heerenveen.nl/web/show...contentid=3224

sc Heerenveen heeft deze week Will Johnson vastgelegd. Johnson is 19 jaar en afkomstig van de Amerikaanse club Chicago Fire, uitkomend in de Major League Soccer. Johnson is een snelle, multifunctionele aanvaller, die op alle posities voorin uit de voeten kan. Hij geldt in eigen land als een groot talent en is een vaste waarde in Canada U 21. Ondanks zijn jeugdige leeftijd heeft hij ook drie A-interlands achter zijn naam staan.

Johnson werkte de laatste weken een oefenstage af op voorspraak van Heerenveen-speler Michael Bradley, die hem van de MLS kende. Johnson heeft een contract getekend voor één seizoen met daarin een optie voor de club om het contract met nog eens twee seizoenen te verlengen.

sc Heerenveen heeft daarnaast overeenstemming bereikt met de Canadese international Rob Friend. Friend geldt als de vast spits van het Canadese nationale team en komt op dit moment uit voor het Noorse Molde FK, de club van Daniel Berg Hestad. Ook met zijn club bestaat overeenstemming over de transfersom.

De Canadees, 25 jaar oud, 1.93 meter en kopsterk, scoorde vorig seizoen 11 maal voor Molde. Rob Friend kwam tot dusverre 6 maal uit voor zijn land. Hij kwam in 2003 naar Noorwegen om voor het Noorse Moss uit te komen. Molde nam hem in 2004 over. In Amerika speelde hij voor de University of California. Friend wordt vandaag medisch gekeurd en zal bij goedkeuring een contract voor vier jaar tekenen met een optie voor de club om het contract met één jaar te verlengen.

This is totally mental. Someone at the Dutch forum translated this for me after I put it through an online translator and it looks like Friend has signed a four year deal pending his medical.

This is probably the greatest Canadian signing day in history. Looks like three Canadians have signed with top tier Dutch clubs in one day.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Roda eye de Jong
By Jeffrey Glorie - Created on 23 Mar 2006
http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?h...da+eye+de+Jong


Roda JC are interested in signing Canadian Marcel de Jong from Helmond Sport.

De Jong, a Canadian youth international, has impressed watching scouts at Roda enough to tempt the club into making a move for the 19-year-old.

"I expect that both clubs will make an announcement this week," the player's agent Alex Kroes told Voetbal International.

"Marcel really wants to make the step up and I assume Helmond Sport will ask for a reasonable transfer fee."

De Jong has a contract with the Eerste Divisie club until 2008.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Roda land striker
By Alex Livie - Created on 31 Mar 2006
http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?h...a+land+striker

Roda JC have swooped to sign Marcel de Jong from Helmond Sport.

The 19-year-old Canadian caught the eye playing for Helmond Sport in the Gouden Gids Divisie this term, but fancied a jump in grade.

Helmond Sport are in with a chance of promotion, but de Jong has guaranteed his place in the Eredivisie by signing for Roda.

The striker has signed a four-year deal and will move to Kerkrade on July 1.

De Jong came through the youth system at PSV Eindhoven, before moving to Helmond Sport and quickly establishing himself as a fixture in the team.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Will Johnson signing at Heerenveen


Rob Friend signing with Heerenveen

http://www.sc-heerenveen.nl/web/show...contentid=3224

[Joe MacCarthy]

Heerenveen find a Friend
By Kent Hedlundh - Created on 1 Apr 2006
http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?h...+find+a+Friend

Dutch side Heerenveen have signed their second Canadian player of the week after swooping for Rob Friend from Molde.

Canadian striker Will Johnson signed a pre-contract agreement earlier in the week and he will have a fellow countryman to converse with after Friend signed on the dotted line.

Championship outfit Crystal Palace had been linked with the striker, but Heerenveen proved to be the most persuasive.

"When we received the offer from Heerenveen, Rob was crystal clear that he wanted to go," Molde director Terje Nordstrand Jacobsen told Nettavisen.

"The scenario that he might leave us on a free transfer at the end of the season made the choice easy."

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to El Hombre at Vs for Ramalho headsup.

Graham Ramalho of Jong Groningen was on the bench for the big team today. If he can stay up for the next season we will have gone from one player to seven playing in the Dutch Eredivisie in less than a month (three in one day!)

Jonathan de Guzman - Feyenoord
Will Johnson - SC Heerenveen
Rob Friend - SC Heerenveen
Josh Wagenaar - ADO den Haag
Marcel de Jong - Roda JC
Dylan Hughes - RKC Waalwijk
Graham Ramalho - Groningen

Also from planetfootball good news regarding keeper Josh Wagenaar's chances with ADO den Haag

Quartet to leave ADO
By Jeffrey Glorie - Created on 30 Mar 2006
http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?h...t+to+leave+ADO

ADO Den Haag are to usher a quartet of players through the door at the end of the season.

Dorus de Vries, Roy Stroeve, Spira Grujic and Cees Paauwe have been informed their contracts will not be renewed for next term

Keeper de Vries had been a fixture in the side for two years since his move from Stormvogels/Telstar, but has slipped out of the picture following the capture of Jaroslav Drobny.

Midfielder Stroeve has lost his place having made over 120 appearances for the club, while defender Grujic and keeper Paauwe have been struggling with injuries.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Knoert at Xtratime for translation of various articles

Wow, another Canadian signs in Holland.
http://www.rkcwaalwijk.nl/t2bcms/20052006.php?nr=0265

Dylan Hughes is a 21-year-old striker, played 9 times for Canadian youth teams and scored three times. He also played one youth match with a Welsh youth team, as he got a Welsh dad.

He signed a two year contract for RKC Waalwijk.

He played for Newcastle United in England and Kaiserlautern Amateurs and Jahn Regensburg in Germany.

He was on trial, and impressed in a friendly versus amateur side UDI'19.

**********************************************

Hughes' status for Canada is still in the air due to the convoluted FIFA capping rules.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Winnipeg Fury at Vs for headsup

Kelowna’s Rob Friend is climbing pro soccer’s ladder
Kelowna Capital News
Apr 21 2006
http://kelownacapnews.com/portals-co...d=633659&more=


Scanpix/contributor
Kelowna’s Rob Friend will play the 2006-07 soccer season in Heerenveen, Holland. The 25-year-old striker recently signed a five-year deal with the Dutch premier league team.

Two million Euros: Rob Friend is humbled that his soccer talents would warrant such an extravagant asking price.

More than 2.7 million Canadian dollars is just what Heerenveen of the Dutch premier league was willing to pay the Molde, Norway football club to acquire the services of the hard-nosed, 6 foot 4 striker from Kelowna.

“It’s still kind of hard to believe it,” said Friend, 25, from his home in Norway this week.

“It seems like a crazy amount of money for one player, but that’s the way the business is. They thought enough of me to spend that, now I need to face up to the challenge and repay them on the field.”

When Friend signed his name to a four-year contract—with a team option for a fifth—last month with Heerenveen, it marked yet another dramatic step in his evolution on the soccer pitch.

Heerenveen—a city of about 30,000—is traditionally one of the top teams in Holland’s elite men’s league with a history of producing star players and household names in Europe such as Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jon Dahl Tomasson.

The crowds are big, the money is good, and the soccer is just a step away from the big time—the premier leagues in England, Italy, Spain and Germany.
In Heerenveen—smack dab in the middle of soccer country—the team regularly sells out its 21,000-seat stadium.

And with an expansion project underway to push capacity to 27,000, Friend will find himself in a much broader spotlight than ever before on the pitch.
To Friend, none of it seemed a likely scenario even as recently as four or five years ago.

“It’s funny, when I started playing at Western Michigan (1999-2000) I hadn’t even planned on playing professional,” he said. “Things just started happening for me after that…I made all-American at Santa Barbara, just kept working hard and the opportunities came.

"I’ve been blessed and I feel pretty lucky to be where I am right now.”
After 1 1/2 seasons in Moss, Norway to launch his pro career, Friend jumped to Molde in 2004—the Norwegian premier league—where he quickly became one of the club’s most productive and reliable players.

Last year, Friend established himself as a force in Norway scoring 13 goals in 26 games, while playing an instrumental role in Molde winning the national championship. Edit: Cup title not national title

Heerenveen—traditionally one of the top four or five clubs in Holland—was in need of a striker, liked what they saw in Friend, and were quick to knock on Molde’s door.

And the Dutch premier club isn’t the only team taking a profound interest in his talents these days.

Frank Yallop and the Canadian men’s squad have summoned the services of Friend twice in the last two months, including playing his sixth cap at the beginning of March in Austria.

And while the national program and wearing red-and-white remains on his radar screen, Friend will be focusing his attention predominantly on satisfying his newest employer.

“It’s always something you strive for, to play for your country and I think with all the talent we have right now, it’s going to be a strong next few years for Canada.

"But at the end of the day, it’s the club that’s paying me I need to be committed to. As long as I’m playing well for them, scoring some goals and doing my job, the national team will come.”

Friend will finish out his commitment to Molde this July before joining Heerenveen for the start of the new season in August.

As for the next big step in his soccer career, Friend will try to meet it like every other challenge that has come his way in the past—head on.

“Of course it’s going to be harder and there’s going to be pressure. But I have to face up to it and do the job. I have an opportunity to play four or five years here and I think I have at least that much soccer left in me.

“Of course my goal eventually is to get to the Premier League maybe in England, or in Germany. But right now, I have to make sure to prove myself at this level.”

enderson@kelownacapnews.com

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to James at Vs for headsup

Local player impresses his way from fan to farm team:
Ajax opens its doors to teen;
Scott Petersen Edmonton Journal 07-13-2006

EDMONTON - There's going overseas to play soccer, and then there's going overseas to play soccer for your family's favourite team.

Matt Lam can claim the latter as he prepares to fly to Amsterdam alongside one very proud grandmother and join Ajax. She will be moving back to her home country with her 16-year-old grandson to purchase a home and help him adjust to life in pursuit of a dream in a foreign country.

"It's great. I'm just really excited to get over there and start playing right away," said Lam, who leaves Edmonton July 27, and joins one of the powerhouse Dutch club's youth teams Aug. 1.

"They just said I could fit in with the Under-19s when I'm there, so they're just going to put me in right there."

Lam's grandparents on his mother's side are direct from Amsterdam, the heart of Ajax country. So he grew up clad in the team's red and white, followed any televised games he could and even got to drop in to watch a live match while on a vacation in Holland a few years ago.

Now to enter their developmental system? It's much more than he figured possible before he first caught the eyes of talent scouts overseas with a tryout for Middlesbrough, an English Premiership team, last year.

"After I went to England, I kind of used this status to bring myself closer to home and my agent helped me get a trial with Ajax," said Lam. "It was a dream come true because that's my family's club, we're big Ajax fans. So I just went over and tried out there."

Agent Edmund Chu used his contacts overseas to fly Lam out at the beginning of May and have him spend two months training and playing with the Ajax Under-17 team. Despite separating his shoulder twice during the try out and having to fly home for surgery and rehab of the recurring injury, he impressed team officials enough to get invited back.

"I felt pretty confident actually," said Lam. "The first day I was already put into a game situation and it just felt very comfortable. The pace of the game over there is so much higher, so that is a pretty big jump from here to there, but I thought I coped with it pretty well."

Upon his return to Holland, Lam will be slotted in with the Under- 19 team, just two steps removed from the first team. It's unusual for Ajax to recruit foreign players, preferring to develop local products, but something caught their eye with Lam. Now he already has the full team kit of training gear and a dream of playing in the 52,000-capacity Amsterdam Arena, where he got to see the wild atmosphere of a game on a previous visit.

"Just being in the crowd with all the fanatic fans, it was just an amazing experience," said Lam, a five-foot-10 midfielder who starred for the Edmonton Juventus Under-16 team last year.

He turns 17 in September and will begin hashing out a formal contract with the team at that time.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Friend makes case for national team
By NEIL DAVIDSON
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Can...964598-cp.html

(CP) - Rob Friend waited a long time for another chance to show what he can do in a Canadian jersey.

The big striker from Kelowna, B.C., was left on the outside looking in for two years - during which time the Canadian soccer team played 17 internationals. He returned to the fold last January for a friendly versus the U.S. in San Diego and has appeared in Canada's last three games, bringing his number of caps to seven.

Then-coach Frank Yallop summoned Friend for his first game, against Barbados in January 2004, but then did not call again.

"I felt like for a while I was kind of forgotten about," Friend said in an interview from the Canadian team's Florida training base prior to leaving for Jamaica on Friday.

"But I wasn't too concerned. I knew as long as I was performing at the club level, my time would come. And it did."

Back in the national team fold this year, the six-foot-four 210-pound forward scored his debut goal for the senior side in its most recent outing, a 1-0 win over Jamaica in Montreal on Labour Day.

The two teams meet in a rematch Sunday, this time at the national stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, in a game interim Canadian coach Stephen Hart expects will be competitive. Playing in Jamaica can be intimidating, the coach said.

While Canada may have been slow to pick up on Friend, others weren't. After a banner season with Norway's Molde, he joined Dutch side Heerenveen (pronounced Heron-vain) in July for a reported two million euros (C$2.84 million).

The former Canadian Olympic and under-20 regular has started every game this season with one goal to date - he had more in a productive pre-season - as Heerenveen (3-2-1) stands seventh in the table.

He's enjoyed the step up in football after three seasons in Norway, where the long-ball game dominates. The Dutch game is more technical, revolving around ball possession.

"I've definitely, definitely learned a lot in the last three months, more than I have in the last three years actually," he said.

Friend, 25, has also been well received by the local soccer-crazy fans. He has bought a house there with his California fiancee (they met while he was attending University of California Santa-Barbara).

Heerenveen is about 100 kilometres northeast of Amsterdam in the province of Friesland, which follows the team closely. The team jersey displays the flag of the region.

"It's actually pretty amazing," said Friend, who has a four-year contract. "Our town is 28,000 people and we get 27,000 every game (which is a sellout)."

While the club is home to players from Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S., and the coach is Dutch, a lot of the communication takes place in English. But all the imports take Dutch lessons three times a week.

Fellow Canadian Will Johnson, a 19-year-old forward, is also with the club, and has been playing for the second team.

"He's young. He's got a good attitude," Friend said. "I know he's going to do well. He just needs to put in his time, I guess."

Notes: Hart was unable to call up MLS players Dwayne De Rosario, Ante Jazic and Adrian Serioux because of club commitments ...

Hart says goalie Lars Hirschfeld, the former Canadian No. 1 who has not played for his country since March 2005, is not out of the national team picture. Hart says Hirschfeld's position with Norway's Rosenborg is more stable and hinted he may figure in games to come.

The coach also intimated that forward Iain Hume, who was not called up this time, may be back for the Hungary game in Budapest in November ...

Defender Chris Pozniak was not called up for the Jamaica rematch because he is in only just getting back from a foot injury suffered in the first game.

Midfielder Jim Brennan, Toronto FC's first signing, was not summoned because he is without a club this season and has not played. He was in the squad for the first Jamaica match, but was not in game shape ...

Veteran Martin Nash of the Vancouver Whitecaps, brother of Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, was a late call-up, to help fill a void on the left side of midfield. ...

Canada is ranked 71st by FIFA, compared to No. 77 for Jamaica.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Big game for Canadians today as Rob Friend and Will Johnson (Heerenveen) face off against Jon De Guzman's Feyenoord. Friend subs in at 67' and Johnson in at 77'. Friend scores two at 75 and 80 minutes.

De Guzman gets soccer's version of a Gordie Howe hattrick (goal, assist, fight). De Guzman got two assists, a yellow card at 68' and scored the winner at 85' for the 4-3 victory for Feyenoord.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Ed at Vs for headsup

De Guzman doing fine at Feyenoord
by Berend Scholten
http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/n...id=491401.html


Jonathan De Guzman scores a UEFA Cup goal against Wisła Kraków (©Getty Images)

Canadian-born 19-year-old Feyenoord midfielder Jonathan De Guzman has emerged as one of the most promising players in the Nethelands.

Professional dreams
De Guzman was brought up in Scarborough, a small town near Toronto, but although Jonathan and elder brother Julian wanted to play basketball, they lacked the height to compete at the top level, and at their father Bobby's suggestion they took up football instead. Having to go abroad to pursue their professional dreams, Julian joined the Olympique de Marseille academy in 1997 and two years later Jonathan, then aged 12, headed for Rotterdam. Within two weeks he had earned a three-year contract with the Feyenoord youth department and moved in with a host family in the Dutch city. After his iniitial deal was up he signed for another three years, and was soon Feyenoord youth captain.

Special award
In 2005 he was named as the brightest young star in the Netherlands, having top the scoring charts at youth level that season. "That was very special to me," he said. "It proved I was on the right path and it was also an honour because, even though I am Canadian, I was seen as the Netherlands' biggest talent. There are not many Canadians playing football at such a high level." He began 2005/06 in the senior squad, making his Eredivisie debut five days after his 18th birthday as a substitute against SC Heerenveen. He started the next game. In December he signed a contract until the summer of 2010 and by the end of the season had played 29 league matches, scoring four goals and making nine assists.

Vital goal
Now he is an established first-team player at Feyenoord, and is already up to five goals for this season. Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman said: "Everyone thinks he already is in his mid-20s, but he still is only 19. Jonathan is a huge talent. He has the potential to go to a top European club one day."

Cocu recognition
He has also caught the eye of PSV Eindhoven captain Phillip Cocu, who said of De Guzman: "He is an all-rounder. He has already made his mark at Feyenoord even though he is only at the start of his career." Dutch national coach Marco van Basten is another fan, though he rued: "We certainly have been thinking about him [for the national team], but unfortunately he is Canadian." However unlike Julian, now with RC Deportivo La Coruña, who has been capped by Canada, Jonathan has not been called up, and there has been talk of him applying for Dutch citizenship.