Gleofilo Sabrino Rudewald Hasselbaink Vlijter (born 17 September 1999) is a Surinamese

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 plays for

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

side Doxa Katokopias and the Suriname national team.

Club career

Youth career

Vlijter started his career with

S.V. Robinhood Sport Vereniging Robinhood is a Surinamese football club based in Paramaribo that competes in the SVB Eerste Divisie, the highest level of football in Suriname. Founded on 6 February 1945, Robinhood is the most successful club in Surinamese foo ...

of the SVB Hoofdklasse, the highest level of football in Suriname. He was with the club since at least December 2013. In May 2014, he was invited to a football clinic in Suriname sponsored by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. In January 2015, while a member of the Phoenix All Stars Football Academy in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, Vlijter traveled to Europe for the first time as he was invited to a trial with Belgian top-division club

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

. At that time, he received a letter of recommendation from the club to apply for a visa. However, a deal with that club and another with

KV Oostende Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, is a Belgian football club from the city of Ostend, West Flanders in Belgium. The team was founded in 1904 as ''VG Oostende'' and has the matricule No. 31. History In 1911, a ...

fell through and the player returned to Suriname. In October 2016 it was announced that Vlijter and fellow Surinamese youth international Ayad Godlieb were on trial with Feyenoord Rotterdam of the Dutch

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 ...

. It was expected that they would be signed to a contract with the club's

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

in January 2017 if they could acquire work visas. The pair of players first trialed with the club in September 2016 while still playing for

in Suriname. On 9 January 2018 he signed for the youth team of Ironi Kiryat Shmona for the remainder of the season with a club option for further three years.

Senior career

After one season with the Israeli club in which he was primarily a member of the reserve team he signed for

FC Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. 'Torpedo Kutaisi' was founded in 1946 and in just three years the club became the winner of the Football Championship of that time. Torpe ...

of the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Erovnuli Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა - lit. National League) is the top division of professional football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football F ...

. He joined as the team was preparing to enter the preliminary round of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. In August 2019 it was announced that Vlijter had signed a two-year contract with

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the Tsirion Stadiu ...

of the

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Β΄ Κατηγορίας) is the second highest football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administrated by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with th ...

. In his first unofficial match with Aris Limassol, he scored a hat-trick against AEZ. He made his league debut for Aris in a 0–1 loss to

Alki Oroklini Alki Oroklini is a Cypriot football club based in Oroklini. The team was founded as ''Omonia Oroklinis'' in 1979. Omonia had one participation in the Fourth Division. In 2014 the team changed their name to Alki Oroklini, when business man Andy ...

. On 4 August 2020, Vlijter signed a three-year deal with

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

club

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

Personal life

Gleofilo is the cousin of Surinamese internationals

Nigel Hasselbaink Nigel Hasselbaink (born 21 November 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Suriname national team. Personal life Hasselbaink was born and raised in the Netherlands. He is the neph ...

and

Roscello Vlijter Roscello Rudelizio Vlijter (born 1 January 2000) is a Surinamese international footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga Leumit club Hapoel Kfar Saba. Club career Telstar A product of the Feyenoord youth academy, Vlijter signed his first pr ...

.His dad also played in the SVB Hoofdklasse

International career

Vlijter represented Suriname at the U15 and U16 levels. During a U15 tournament held in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

in late 2013, he was identified by the coaching staff as one of four players who impressed the most. He made his senior international debut at age 15 on 30 April 2015 in a friendly against Guyana. Vlijter won the Golden Boot Award for the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League after scoring ten goals in six matches in

League B League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

. In June 2021 Vlijter was named to Suriname's 23-man squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

. On 16 July 2021 he scored Suriname's first-ever

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

goal in a 1–2 defeat to Costa Rica.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Suriname's goal tally first.''

Honours

Individual *

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

Top Scorer: 2019–20

References

External links

*
Caribbean Football Database profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vlijter, Gleofilo 1999 births Living people Surinamese men's footballers Suriname men's international footballers Surinamese expatriate men's footballers SVB Eerste Divisie players Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players FC Torpedo Kutaisi players Aris Limassol FC players Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. players Doxa Katokopias FC players Erovnuli Liga players Cypriot First Division players Israeli Premier League players Liga Leumit players Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Israel Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country) Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players People from Sipaliwini District Men's association football forwards