Daphne Helena Koster (born 13 March 1981) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

football player, who played as a defender for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

in the Vrouwen Eredivisie. She also played in the American

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(WPS) for

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

. A powerful

centre back 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 ...

, she was the captain of both the Netherlands women's national football team and Ajax. Koster made her senior national team debut as a 16-year-old in August 1997 against Switzerland. At the time, she was playing for a boys' amateur club, SVA Assendelft, where she played until under-19 level. In 2009, Koster was a mainstay of the Dutch national team, which reached the semi-finals of

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In June 2013, national team

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Roger Reijners Roger Reijners (born 10 February 1964) is a Dutch football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of MVV Maastricht. Playing career Reijners turned professional with Fortuna Sittard and played in the 1–0 KNVB Cup Final defea ...

selected Koster for the Netherlands' squad for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held in Sweden from 10 to 28 July 2013, became the mos ...

in Sweden. She became manager of women's football for Ajax, and is part of changing the culture in the club after the incident with

Marc Overmars Marc Overmars (; born 29 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer and director of football at Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp FC. He was previously director of football at Ajax. During his football career, he played as a win ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands goal tally first.''

References

External links

*
Profile
at OnsOranje
WPS profile
1981 births Living people Dutch women's footballers Netherlands women's international footballers Women's Professional Soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Sky Blue FC (WPS) players FIFA Century Club Footballers from The Hague Eredivisie (women) players AFC Ajax (women) players Telstar (women's football club) players AZ Alkmaar (women) players Women's association football defenders Dutch expatriate women's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ter Leede players Women's association football managers AFC Ajax (women) managers Dutch football managers 21st-century Dutch women {{Netherlands-women-footy-bio-stub