Etienne Vaessen Burnet (born 26 July 1995) is a 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 le ...

who plays 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 ...

for club

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Suriname national team.

Club career

RKC Waalwijk

Etienne Vaessen was born on 26 July 1995 in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

. Initially playing at amateur level, he joined professional club

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

in 2015 at age 20. He made his professional debut in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

for RKC on 12 August 2016 in a game against

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2021–22 Eerste Divisie title. Founded in 1925, the club entered the professional Eerste Divisie in 1985. I ...

. There, he came on as a substitute in the 22nd minute for the injured Tamati Williams. On 28 May 2019, Vaessen won promotion 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 ...

with RKC after a season finale showdown against

Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...

, which ended in a 5–4 win.

Groningen

On 26 June 2024, Vaessen signed a three-year contract with an option for an additional year with newly promoted

club

International career

Vaessen was born and raised in the Netherlands, but has Surinamese roots via his grandfather. On 4 April 2024 Vaessen announced in an interview with

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

that talks were ongoing with the Surinamese Football Association to play for

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

on international level, following an interview with Suriname national team manager Stanley Menzo on 1 April. Vaessen made his debut on 5 June 2024 in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

at the

Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadion Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadion, formerly known as the Flora Stadion and commonly called the Frank Essed Stadion, is a multi-purpose stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname. It is home to Leo Victor Cosmos, Royal '95, and Super Red Eagles. It is also th ...

, as Suriname won 4–1.

Personal life

While working as a guard for

MediaMarkt Media Markt is a German multinational chain of stores selling consumer electronics with over 1000 stores in Europe. With chain of stores Saturn it constitutes Media-Saturn Holding, owned by the retail company Ceconomy, which was demerged from M ...

and playing amateur football in 2014, Vaessen was stabbed while chasing a shoplifter, leaving him hospitalised for days.

Career statistics

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaessen, Etienne 1995 births Footballers from Breda Living people Surinamese men's footballers Suriname men's international footballers Dutch men's footballers Surinamese people of Dutch descent Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Men's association football goalkeepers RKC Waalwijk players FC Groningen players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players