Danny Koevermans (born 1 November 1978) is a Dutch former professional

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

, Koevermans began his career with the amateurs of Excelsior'20, then went to Sparta Rotterdam, playing there for five seasons.

AZ

In 2005, Koevermans switched to AZ, where he started as a second-choice centre forward, although he bagged numerous goals. His breakthrough came in the 2006–07 season, being one of

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 ...

's top scorers with 22, and reaching the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Du ...

, aged 28. He rejected a contract offer from AZ to extend his tenure at the club and his manager

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...

informed him that he would not be a first-team regular from then on with this resulting in his pushing for a move to another club.

PSV Eindhoven

Late August 2007 Koevermans joined

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, whi ...

for a fee of €6 million where he received the number 10 jersey, last worn by Ivorian striker

Arouna Koné Arouna Koné (born 11 November 1983) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Belgian club VK Weerde. After making a name for himself in the Eredivisie, with Roda JC and PSV, he signed with Sevilla in 2007, where he r ...

, who was sold to

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

Toronto FC

On 29 June 2011, it was announced the Koevermans had reached an agreement to join

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

(TFC) as a

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. The signing of former German International

Torsten Frings Torsten Klaus Frings (born 22 November 1976) is a German former footballer and manager, who last managed SV Meppen. A former midfielder, throughout his career he played for several German clubs, namely Alemannia Aachen, Werder Bremen, Borussia D ...

was announced at the same press conference. Koevermans made his debut for Toronto in a 1–0 home defeat to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

on 20 July 2011. He scored his first goal for Toronto on a cross from Ryan Johnson three days later against

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

in a 4–2 away loss. He was awarded MLS Player of the week for his two-goal performance against

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

on 17 September, leading Toronto to a 2–1 home victory over the reigning league champions. After failing to score in the first six games of the 2012 season Koevermans scored his first goal against Montreal Impact on 7 April, the game finished in a 2–1 away loss for Toronto. Perhaps Koevermans most memorable act during his time with TFC was after their ninth straight loss at the start of the 2012 season, when he said the club was "setting a record as the worst team in the world," and Koevermans reiterated the sentiment at the next training session when he said "name me one team in the whole world that is 0-9." In mid-2012, Koevermans was in fine scoring form but suffered a season-ending ACL injury in mid-July against

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

. Following his injury Toronto was forced to bring in designated player

Eric Hassli Eric Hassli (born 3 May 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Career Early career Hassli began his career at his hometown club Sarreguemines FC. In 2000 Hassli moved west to play for FC Metz. In 2002, h ...

as a replacement. Koevermans made his return from injury nearly a year later on 1 June 2013 as a second half sub for

Jeremy Brockie Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward. He has represented New Zealand at senior international level, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and at the 2008 Olympic Games, and wa ...

in a 1–1 against

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

FC Utrecht

On 31 January 2014, it was announced that Koevermans had signed a deal until the summer of 2014 with FC Utrecht. On 20 March 2014, Koevermans announced his retirement from football due to a persevering calf injury.

International career

Koevermans made his international 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 Euro 2008 qualifier against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

on 28 March 2007. He scored his first international goal on 17 November 2007 against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Style of play

, Koevermans was a physical player who was apt in the air and a lethal poacher in front of the goal. In addition to goal scoring, he was known for his offensive movement and "runs" off the ball, which "always ttractedthe attention of defenders".

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Koevermans goal.''

Honours

PSV Eindhoven *

: 2007–08 *

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Toronto FC * Canadian Championship:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koevermans, Danny 1978 births Living people Association football forwards Dutch footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Netherlands international footballers Sparta Rotterdam players AZ Alkmaar players PSV Eindhoven players FC Utrecht players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Major League Soccer players Footballers from Schiedam Toronto FC players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Canada Designated Players (MLS)