Barry Opdam (born 27 February 1976) is a Dutch retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He spent most of his 16-year professional career with AZ, amassing

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

totals of 316 games and 13 goals over the course of 11 seasons, all with that club.

Club career

Born in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

, South Holland, Opdam began his professional career with

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

, being relegated to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in his first year and immediately promoting back in the following. Subsequently, he became an undisputed starter for the North Holland side, amassing more than 400 official appearances. Not known as a goal scorer, Opdam scored an essential one in the second leg of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup round-of-32 clash against Fenerbahçe SK. After a 3–3 draw in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, the Turkish led 2–0 at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

, and the defender headed home from a

Julian Jenner Julian Christopher Jenner (born 28 February 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. Known for his fast step over move, Jenner began his professional career with NAC Breda, and grew into one of the most promisin ...

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

with seven minutes to go, making it 2–2 and sending his team to the next round on away goals rule (eventually reaching the last-eight stage); in the 2004–05 edition AZ reached the semifinals of the competition, the second time in 24 years. In 2008, one year after finishing second in the Dutch Cup, 32-year-old Opdam had his first abroad experience, signing for

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n club FC Red Bull Salzburg. After two seasons, being an important defensive unit in the conquest of back-to-back national championships, he returned to his country, joining FC Volendam in the second level.

International career

On 4 June 2005, Opdam made his debut for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in a 2–0 win against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

qualifiers. On 8 October, in the same competition, he scored his first and only international goal, in a 2–0 win against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Opdam would be, however, overlooked by national team coach Marco van Basten for the final stages in Germany, gaining a total of eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

Club statistics

Honours

;AZ *

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

: 1997–98 * Dutch Cup: Runner-up 2006–07 ;Red Bull * Austrian League: 2008–09, 2009–10

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Opdam, Barry 1976 births Living people Footballers from Leiden Dutch men's footballers Men's association football defenders Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players FC Lisse players AZ Alkmaar players FC Volendam players Austrian Football Bundesliga players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Netherlands men's international footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Austria