Dennis Gentenaar () (born 30 September 1975) is a Dutch former

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Besides the Netherlands, he has played in Germany.

Career

Gentenaar was born in Nijmegen. Coming from the amateur side ZOW, he made his professional debut for

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

on 26 November 1995 aged 20, at home against

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

which NEC lost 5–0. Gentenaar made another appearance later that season, but had to wait until 1998 to make his second appearance in professional football. During that season he played seven matches, still as the second goalkeeper for NEC. From the 2000–01 season, things changed for Gentenaar and he became NEC's first goalkeeper. Since then he only missed nine appearances in five seasons; during the last three seasons he did not miss a single match. He developed into a trustworthy goalkeeper and his performance earned him a transfer to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

. A year later he returned to the

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 ...

, to become second goalkeeper behind

Maarten Stekelenburg Maarten Stekelenburg (; born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Ajax. Stekelenburg began his career at Ajax, playing 282 matches over nine seasons in his first spell there and win ...

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 ...

, at which time he won the 2007 KNVB Cup, his first career trophy. On 8 June 2009, he left Ajax and signed a two-year contract with

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, followin ...

. In 2012, he signed with

Almere City FC Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, and hosts home matches at the Yanmar Stadion. The club builds on former c ...

for a two-year period. After a year in the First Division he returned to his former club NEC and signed a contract for one year. He ended his professional career in May 2014. After retiring, he played another season with amateur club SV Ouderkerk.

Personal life

Gentenaar was born in the Netherlands, and is of Indonesian descent through his father. Gentenaar has a son named Dayen, who also plays as a goalkeeper.

Career statistics

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
Living people 1975 births Footballers from Nijmegen Association football goalkeepers Dutch footballers Dutch people of Indonesian descent Dutch expatriate footballers NEC Nijmegen players Borussia Dortmund players AFC Ajax players VVV-Venlo players Almere City FC players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Bundesliga players Expatriate footballers in Germany {{Netherlands-footy-goalkeeper-stub