Dirk Kuyt Biography
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Dirk Kuijt, ”Dirk Kuyt’ ‘(born 22 July 1980) is a Dutch professional footballer who currently plays for English club Liverpool. His primary position is as a striker, but now he is more often deployed as a winger for both Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.
Full name: Dirk Kuijt
Date of birth: 22 July 1980
Place of birth: Katwijk aan Zee, Netherlands
Height: 1.84 m
Playing position: Winger / Striker / Second Striker
Club career: Utrecht – Feyenoord – Liverpool
- Dirk Kuyt
Kuyt began his professional career with FC Utrecht in 1998 and quickly became part of their first team. He spent five years at the club and in his final season he won his first senior honour, the Dutch Cup, and was chosen as the season’s Dutch Golden Shoe Winner. Following this, he left Utrecht in a €1 million transfer to Feyenoord. He became the club captain in 2005 and was a prolific goalscorer at the Rotterdam club; he was the club’s top scorer for three consecutive seasons, the top goalscorer in the 2004–05 Eredivisie season, and the 2005–06 Dutch Footballer of the Year. Kuyt missed only five games over seven seasons from 1999 until 2006 and appeared in 179 consecutive matches between 2001–06.
He left Feyenoord after three years, having scored 71 league goals in 101 appearances, and joined Premier League side Liverpool for £10 million.He made his Premier League debut late in 2006 and immediately became part of the first team squad. He scored in his first ever UEFA Champions League final with Liverpool against AC Milan, with Kuyt offering late hope for Liverpool although eventually losing 2–1.
He made his international debut in 2004 and has represented the Netherlands at three major international tournaments, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
2010 World Cup: Kuyt was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that the player would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the competition.
Kuyt scored Holland’s second goal in the 85th minute of their 2-0 win over Denmark in their opening group match on a tap-in after Eljero Elia’s shot hit the post. In the July 2 quarterfinal match against Brazil, Kuyt flicked a corner on to Sneijder who headed the ball into the net, effectively giving the Dutch a 2-1 lead. He also assisted the goal scored by Arjen Robben against Uruguay in the semi-finals.
Dirk Kuyt Video (Dirk Kuyt 09/10 All Goals)