Milano Koenders (; born 31 July 1986) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or as a right-back for Tweede Klasse club DWS. Koenders also runs his own football school.

Club career

Koenders is a defender who was born in Amsterdam. He began his career at SDZ before joining the Ajax youth department in 1996. He left Ajax after ten years, in 2006. Koenders then joined to RKC Waalwijk and made his debut in the professional football in the 2006–07 season, playing 30 matches. After one year, he left the club in 2007, and moved to AZ Alkmaar. There, he would make his European debut as a starter in a 1–1 away draw in the group stage of the UEFA Cup against Zenit Saint Petersburg. In January 2009, he was loaned out to NEC. AZ went on to win the

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 ...

in his absence. He was once again loaned out in early 2010, this time to

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

. In the summer of 2010, he signed another loan contract, now at

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

. In 2016, he opened his own football school after being inspired by fellow footballer Nordin Wooter. In summer 2016, Koenders joined Romanian club Concordia Chiajna for the 2016–17 season. In May 2019 it was confirmed, that DWS would collaborate with the football school of Koenders. One month later, in June, DWS announced that Koenders also would be playing for the club.

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Koenders is of Surinamese descent. Koenders was member of the Netherlands U21s and played his first game on 14 November 2006 against England U21. Koenders also represented

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 ...

in two unofficial matches against

W Connection W Connection Football Club is a football club from Trinidad and Tobago, which currently plays in the TT Pro League. The club plays its home games at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella. The club's offices are based at the Point Lisas Indust ...

and

Curaçao national football team The Curaçao national football team ( nl, Curaçaos voetbalelftal; Papiamentu: ''Selekshon di Futbòl Kòrsou'') represents Curaçao in International football and is controlled by the Curaçao Football Federation (Federashon Futbòl Kòrsou; ...

, captaining the team on both occasions.

Career statistics

Honours

AZ Alkmaar * Eredivisie: 2008–09

References

External links

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Milano Koenders
at Voetbal International 1986 births Living people Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Amsterdam Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Eredivisie players Liga I players RKC Waalwijk players AZ Alkmaar players NEC Nijmegen players NAC Breda players Heracles Almelo players CS Concordia Chiajna players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Romania {{Netherlands-footy-defender-stub