Jeremain Marciano Lens (born 24 November 1987) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for club Versailles. He is a versatile attacking player, known for his pace and stamina, primarily being used as a winger or a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

, but he can successfully play as a second striker. Lens began his career at AZ, and after a loan at NEC, played a part in their

2008–09 Eredivisie The Eredivisie 2008–09 is the 53rd season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. PSV were the reigning champions. The season began on 29 August 2008 with a game between Vitesse Arnhem and FC Groningen and ended on 10 May 2009. A tota ...

triumph. In 2010, he moved to

PSV PSV may refer to: * Partial specific volume * PlayStation Vita, a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment * Petit Saint Vincent, an island south of St. Vincent in the Grenadine islands * Platform supply vessel, a specific typ ...

, where he won the

2011–12 KNVB Cup The 2011–12 KNVB Cup was the 94th season of the Dutch national football knockout tournament. The competition began on 24 August 2011 with the matches of Round 1 and ended with the final on 8 April 2012. FC Twente were the defending champions ha ...

, and in 2013 was signed by Dynamo Kyiv. He won the Ukrainian Cup in his first season, the double in his second, and signed for Sunderland in July 2015. Lens is a full international for the Netherlands, and has earned 34 caps. In August 2010, he received his first international cap against Ukraine and scored a debut goal. He was part of the Dutch squad which came third at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Club career

AZ

Lens made his debut into professional football in the 2005–06 season. He played two matches for AZ that season. Before that, he played in the youth team of AZ, Omniworld, Ajax and his regional team, Spartaan. In June 2007, AZ reached a deal concerning a loan involving Lens; it meant he would play the 2007–08 season for NEC, and that he would return to AZ the season afterwards. Lens agreed with the deal, and the player officially joined NEC on loan in the summer of 2007.

NEC (loan)

After a difficult beginning with his new club NEC before the winter, Lens' as well as his team's situation improved with Lens scoring eight goals in 16 matches. NEC qualified for the UEFA Cup preliminaries. For a long time, it seemed he would join NEC permanently, but he eventually decided to return to AZ.

Return to AZ

In July 2008, Lens had an operation on his left foot, which meant he was out for some time. The 2008–09 season was a personal disappointment for Lens, who did not contribute much to AZ's championship win. When head coach Louis van Gaal left the team for

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, Lens saw a chance for himself to play more matches. He grabbed the chance under the new coach, and he played well and scored important goals for AZ.

PSV

On 21 May 2010,

contracted Lens for four years, swapping Dirk Marcellis as part of the deal. Lens was given the number 9 shirt, and his first year at the club was a successful one for the player. He was moved from a central position to the flanks, being more utilised on both wings or working behind strikers as a second striker. He struggled to score in first few matches, but eventually became used to the new position. He reached the Europa League quarter-finals with the team, scoring 3 goals in 11 appearances, and reached 10 Eredivisie goals in 33 appearances, while the

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,2010–11 season. At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Lens' jersey number was changed to number 11, which was free since the departure of Nordin Amrabat to Kayserispor in January 2011. On 6 November 2011, Lens came in from the bench against Heracles and scored a hat-trick, his first for the club.

Dynamo Kyiv

On 18 June 2013, Lens signed a four-year contract with Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv. On 29 August, he scored his first official goal for Dynamo, opening the score on the ninth minute of a 5–1 victory over Kazakhstani club Aktobe in the UEFA Europa League play-offs second leg, an 8–3 aggregate win. On 6 October, Lens scored his first two goals in the Ukrainian Premier League in a crushing 9–1 victory over

Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Доне́цьк, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football ...

. He helped Dynamo win the Ukrainian Cup in his first season. On 23 April 2015, Lens was sent off for two bookings in the first half, as Dynamo lost 0–2 at Fiorentina and were eliminated from the quarter-finals of the Europa League. His second yellow card was when the referee judged that he had dived in the penalty area. In his second and final season for Dynamo, he managed to help his team win both the Premier League and Ukrainian Cup without suffering a single defeat in both competitions.

Sunderland

On 15 July 2015, after completing a medical,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

signed Lens for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract. This move reunited him with head coach Dick Advocaat after previously working under him at PSV and AZ. Lens scored his first English Premier League goal on 29 August 2015, securing a 2–2 draw at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He scored his second Sunderland goal against West Ham United on 3 October 2015, lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Adrián to put Sunderland 2–0 ahead. However, Lens was then sent off after receiving two yellow cards for rash tackles, and West Ham went on to earn a 2–2 draw. The match turned out to be Advocaat's final one in charge of Sunderland, as he left the club the next day. Lens stated he was unhappy at Sunderland, suggesting he could leave the club in the January transfer window as he "did not come to the Premier League to sit on the bench". Lens started in Sunderland's FA Cup third round tie against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and scored the opening goal in the match, after which Arsenal came back to win 3–1.

Fenerbahçe (loan)

On 30 August 2016, Lens was loaned to Fenerbahçe on a season-long deal.

Beşiktaş

On 6 August 2017,

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

signed Lens on loan, with the option of a permanent transfer afterwards. He scored his debut goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against Trabzonspor. Playing as a replacement for Ricardo Quaresma, he managed to find the net in the 58th minute of the match. On 7 June 2018, it was confirmed that Lens had signed four years contract for

Versailles

After not playing for any club in the 2021–22 season despite remaining under contract with Beşiktaş, on 28 July 2022 Lens signed with French third-tier Championnat National club Versailles. He made his debut for the club on 26 August 2022, replacing Jordan Leborgne in the 69th minute of a 2–0 home win over Bourg-en-Bresse Péronnas. Lens scored his first goal for Versailles on 25 November, coming off the bench for

Mondy Prunier Mondy Prunier (born 22 December 1999) is a Haitian professional footballer who plays as a forward for French club Versailles and the Haiti national team. Early life Born in Bergamote, a district of Carrefour in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement ...

and scoring in injury time to secure a 2–0 victory against Villefranche Beaujolais.

International career

Suriname

Although Lens previously played for the Netherlands under-21 team, he chose to play for the Suriname national team, since his roots (parents) are Surinamese. In 2009, Lens was called up for Suriname's squad by national team coach

Wensley Bundel Wensley Rinaldo Bundel is a former Surinamese football manager and player who last managed S.V. Transvaal in the Surinamese Hoofdklasse. As a player, he played in the Hoofdklasse for S.V. Transvaal, and for the Suriname national team, helping Tr ...

, for the Parbo Bier Cup. He scored two goals in three matches and helped Suriname finish second in the tournament. Since the tournament was not under the auspices of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, Lens was still eligible for a call-up for the Netherlands.

Netherlands

On 3 May 2010, Lens was called up for the

Dutch national team Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, as a part of the preparations for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. However, on 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that the player would not be part of the final 23-man squad participating in the competition. On 11 August 2010, Lens made his debut in a 1–1

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

draw with Ukraine, scoring the only goal for the ''Oranje''. Lens became a regular member of the Dutch team under the management of his former AZ coach Louis van Gaal. He scored five goals and made a further five assists during the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign. Lens was named in the Netherlands squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

in Brazil. He appeared as a substitute in the Netherlands' first two Group B games (a 1–5 win over Spain and a 2–3 victory against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) before starting in a 2–0 victory over Chile. Lens played the full 120 minutes of the semi-final against Argentina, which Argentina ultimately won on penalties.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

AZ * Eredivisie: 2008–09 *

Johan Cruyff 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 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

PSV *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2011–12 * Johan Cruyff Shield:

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 ...

Dynamo Kyiv * Ukrainian Premier League: 2014–15 * Ukrainian Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15 Netherlands * FIFA World Cup Third place:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

Holland U19 stats
at OnsOranje
Holland U20 stats
at OnsOranje
Holland U21 stats
at OnsOranje * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lens, Jeremain 1987 births Living people Dutch footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent AZ Alkmaar players NEC Nijmegen players PSV Eindhoven players Sunderland A.F.C. players FC Dynamo Kyiv players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Fatih Karagümrük S.K. footballers FC Versailles 78 players Footballers from Amsterdam Association football wingers Association football forwards Premier League players Eredivisie players Ukrainian Premier League players Süper Lig players Championnat National players Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Netherlands international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France