Gino Ronald van Kessel (born 9 March 1993) is a

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

an 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 for the Curaçao national team 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

Youth career

Van Kessel joined the youth ranks of

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 ho ...

in 2008. In 2012, he finished as top scorer of the 2012

Copa Amsterdam The Copa Amsterdam (''known for sponsorship reasons as the'' Aegon Copa Amsterdam), formerly known as the ''Gestion Copa Amsterdam'', is an annual youth football tournament, organized and hosted by AFC Ajax for under-19 youth teams which takes pl ...

with 5 goals. In the same year, Van Kessel joined

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 Greek ...

. In 2013, he again became top scorer of the Copa Amsterdam, netting three goals for the Amsterdam side.

Ajax

Initially, Van Kessel was part of Ajax's reserve squad. For the 2013–14 season he returned to Ajax. Following his second appearance in the Copa Amsterdam in which he again finished as top scorer of the tournament, Van Kessel was given the number 34 shirt and participated in the Ajax pre-season training camp. He also appeared in a friendly fixture against

SDC Putten Sterk Door Combinatie Putten (SDC Putten) is an association football club from Putten, Netherlands. It was founded in 1952. History In 1966 SDC Putten promoted from the Tweede Klasse to the Hoofdklasse. Since, it plays predominantly in the Hoof ...

, coming on in the second half for Tobias Sana in the 1–4 away victory.

Almere City (loan)

In December 2012, Van Kessel was loaned to neighboring

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 ...

, where he played in the Dutch Jupiler League for the remainder of the 2012–2013 season. In

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

he was rejoined with his fellow Ajax teammates Sven Nieuwpoort and

Henri Toivomaki Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mon ...

, all playing for Almere City on loan from Ajax. During his loan period, he appeared in ten league matches, scoring once.

AS Trenčín (loan)

On 14 July 2013, it was announced that Van Kessel would serve a six-month loan spell in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, playing for

FK AS Trenčín FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place ...

in the

Slovak Super Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, he ...

until the winter transfer window in January. At Trenčín, a club owned by former Ajax player

Tschen La Ling Tscheu La Ling ( Chinese: 林球立; pinyin: ''Lín Qiú Lì''; born 6 January 1956) is a Dutch former professional footballer of mixed Dutch and Chinese descent, who played for clubs in the Netherlands, Greece and France. His name has been spell ...

, he was given the number 9 shirt. He was on the bench in Sweden for his new club's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

qualifying match against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

on 18 July 2013 but did not make an appearance in the 0–0 draw. Instead he made his debut for Trenčín in a regular season 2–1 away loss against

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup on four occasions, and ...

. Van Kessel started in the striker position, and was substituted off in the 61st minute, after having been cautioned in the 56th minute. He made his continental debut on 8 August 2013, in a

qualifying match against

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent th ...

, having been brought in for Karol Mondek in the 61st minute, and scoring in the 88th minute. The match ended in a 2–2 resulting in a 3–5 aggregate loss for AS Trenčín, and elimination in the third qualifying round. A few days later, on 11 August 2013, Van Kessel scored his first league goal in an encounter with DAC which ended in a 6–0 victory for Trenčín. On 1 December 2013, Van Kessel returned to Amsterdam with AS Trenčín sitting in second place in their league table at the time of his return, making a total of 16 league appearances, scoring 8 goals, and six assists during league play, having also scored once in the Europa League while playing for the Slovakian side. On 18 January 2014, his loan was extended until 1 July 2014 for an additional six months completing the season with the Slovakian side.

Arles-Avignon

On 25 August 2014, it was announced that Van Kessel had joined the French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

side from Avignon, signing a two-year contract with the club. He made his debut for Arles-Avignon in an away match against

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Until November 2022, t ...

on 29 August 2014 which ended in a 2–2 draw. On 12 September 2014, he scored his first goal for Arles-Avignon in a 1–0 victory at home against

Tours FC Tours Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tours (), is a French association football club based in Tours, the capital city of the Indre-et-Loire department. The club was formed in 1919 and currently play at the fifth level of French ...

Return to Trenčín

On 1 January 2015, Van Kessel returned to Trenčín, the club where he had previously won both "MVP" and "Fans Favorite" club awards during his loan spell from Ajax. He made his first appearance of the season on 28 February 2015 in a 2–0 home win against Dukla Banská Bystrica.

Slavia Prague

In July 2016, Van Kessel joined the Czech side

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in th ...

becoming one of the most expensive players ever bought by a Czech team with a transfer fee equivalent to €1.2 million. On 21 July 2016, he played his first game with Slavia, scoring a goal and an assist against

Levadia Tallinn Football Club Infonet Levadia Tallinn, commonly known as FCI Levadia, or simply as Levadia, is a professional football club based in Tallinn, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home grou ...

in a second qualifying round match of the

Lechia Gdańsk (loan)

On the final day of the 2016–17 winter transfer window, it was announced that Van Kessel would serve out the remainder of the season on a six-month loan spell with

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

club

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

competing in the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

, the top flight of football in Poland. During his half-season in Poland, he only appeared in three league matches, playing for a combined total of 166 minutes.

Oxford United (loan)

In August 2017, Van Kessel joined English side

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

on loan from

. He scored a fantastic individual goal just 3 minutes after replacing Marvin Johnson to mark a fairytale debut appearance for the Yellows in a 3–0 home victory over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Roeselare

On 9 August 2018, van Kessel signed for Belgian second division side

K.S.V. Roeselare Koninklijke Sport Vereniging Roeselare, abbreviated to KSV Roeselare (),''V.'' in isolation: ., also known in French as KSV Roulers, was a Belgian football club from the city of Roeselare in West Flanders. Its matricule was 134. It last played ...

on a one-year contract.

Spartak Trnava

On 19 July 2019 he returned to Slovakia signing with first-tier side

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional Association football, football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup ...

. He made one appearance in a friendly match against Bulgarian side

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

on 25 July 2019.

AS Trenčín (loan)

He was subsequently loaned out on a 6-month loan spell to his former club AS Trenčín.

Third spell at Trenčín

On the final transfer day of the winter transfer window for the 2019–20 Slovak First Football League, Van Kessel was transferred to his former club following a successful six-month loan spell. He played a total of 26 matches for Trenčín that season, scoring six goals.

Olympiakos Nicosia

In July 2020, Van Kessel left for two seasons to

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia ( el, Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus and competes in the Cypriot First Division. The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cy ...

. In March 2021, his contract was terminated in connection with the

COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Cyprus on 9 March 2020. Data released by the Cypriot government includes cases in the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, but does not include cases in Northern Cyprus due t ...

, returning to the Netherlands in search of a new club.

Dalkurd FF

On 16 August 2021 it was announced that Van Kessel had signed with Swedish club

Dalkurd FF Dalkurd Fotbollsförening, commonly known as Dalkurd FF or simply Dalkurd () is a Swedish football club based in Uppsala. The club plays in the Ettan Norra, which is the third tier of football in the country. On 26 September 2004, the club was ...

, competing in the Ettan Fotboll Division 1, the third tier of professional football in Sweden.

Gyirmót

On 20 January 2022, after having made zero appearances for Dalkurd, Van Kessel moved to Hungarian

NB I NB, Nb, or nb may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''N.B.'' (album), an album by Natasha Bedingfield * ''NB'' (TV programme), a Scottish arts television programme that aired 1989–1997 Businesses * NB Global, a British investment company ...

side

Gyirmót FC Győr Gyirmót FC Győr is a Hungary, Hungarian football club based in Gyirmót , a suburb of Győr. The team currently plays in the first division (Nemzeti Bajnokság I) of the Hungarian championship. History The club was founded in 1993 and its col ...

on a free transfer.

International career

Curaçao national team

On 24 May 2015, it was announced that Van Kessel had received his first International call-up by head coach

Patrick Kluivert Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch former football player, coach and sporting director. He played as a striker, most notably for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. He was part of Ajax's Golden Gene ...

to represent

in the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

qualifying match against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

on 7 June 2015. He made his first appearance in a 0–0 draw at home on 10 June 2015, coming on as a 69-minute substitute. He made his debut on 10 June 2015 in the home leg against Cuba which ended in a 0–0 draw, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute for Quenten Martinus. Curaçao were able to defeat Cuba based on the away goal rule following a 1–1 draw in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, thus qualifying for the

Third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

of CONCACAF qualification. Curaçao were eliminated from qualifications in the third round by

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, losing both matches 1–0 with Van Kessel playing the full 90 minutes in both matches, failing to qualify for the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. On 26 March 2016, Van Kessel scored his first goal for the national team in his sixth match for Curaçao in a

2017 Caribbean Cup qualification The 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification began in March 2016. The qualification competition determined which Caribbean national teams would play in the 2017 Caribbean Cup and the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Participants 25 teams from the 31 CFU members ...

match against the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. Curaçao advanced to the second round, with a 2–1 win. In the following round, the team defeated

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

(5–2) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (7–0) advancing to the third round. Van Kessel scored twice against Guyana, while scoring a hattrick against the U.S. Virgin Islands. On 11 October 2016, Curaçao finished the third qualifying round ahead of the

2017 Caribbean Cup The 2017 Caribbean Cup was the 19th and final edition of the Caribbean Cup, the biennial international men's association football, football championship of the Caribbean region organized by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). The top four teams ...

atop of their group, finishing ahead of

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, thus qualifying for the final tournament, as well as the

2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF, and 24th CONCACAF regional championship ove ...

. It was the country's first berth to the finals of the Continental tournament since the dissolution of the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

, and their first time to the tournament since

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. Having appeared in all qualifying matches, Van Kessel finished as joint top scorer of the qualification rounds of the tournament, together with his teammate Felitciano Zschusschen, with 7 goals each. As a result, he was subsequently nominated for the 2016 CONCACAF Best XI selection, losing to contenders

André-Pierre Gignac André-Pierre Christian Gignac (born 5 December 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga MX club Tigres UANL. Gignac is described as a "powerful and dangerous" striker who is known for his "aerial presence". He ...

and

Bryan Ruiz Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (; born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former footballer. A left-footed attacking midfielder, he also played as a second striker. Ruiz is the only Central American footballer to have played in the UEFA Champions L ...

in the process.

Career statistics

Club

¹ Includes

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and

matches. ² Includes

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 ...

Slovak Super Cup The Slovak Super Cup (''Slovenský Superpohár'' in Slovak), in the past named as ''Matičný pohár'' or ''Pribinov pohár'', was a football match between the champion of the Corgoň Liga and winner of the Slovak Cup. The cup was played annually ...

and

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

matches.

International

International goals

Curaçao score listed first, score column indicates score after each van Kessel goal.''

Honours

AS Trenčín *

Fortuna Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, ...

: 2014–15, 2015-16 *

Slovak Cup The Slovak Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Slovak football. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League. History The competition was first contested in 1969. Until 1993, the winner of the Slovak Cup would face the w ...

: 2014–15, 2015-16 Slavia Prague * First League: 2016–17 Curaçao *

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual *

Top Scorer: 2012, 2013 *

Most Valuable Player: 2013–14 *

Fans Favorite Player of the Year: 2013–14 *

Slovak First Football League The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, ...

Top Scorer 2015-16 * Nominated for

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

Male Best XI 2016 Selection * EFL League One Goal of the Month: August 2017 *

Top Scorer (shared with Felitciano Zschusschen) *

Golden Boot winner.Interview with 2017 Caribbean Cup winner Gino van Kessel
/ref>

References

External links