Romeo Erwin Marius Castelen (born 3 May 1983) is a Dutch former

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 played as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

ADO Den Haag

Born in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

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 ...

, Castelen started his professional career with

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

, playing two full seasons in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He made his first-team debut at not yet 18, and contributed with nine goals in 24 games in 2002–03 as the club returned 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 ...

, as champions. Castelen made his top level debut on 16 August 2003, in a 0–1 away loss against

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 ...

. He only missed six matches during the campaign as

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

side narrowly avoided relegation (15th position).

Feyenoord

Castelen moved to

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

for 2004–05, making his official debut for his new team on 15 August and scoring a brace in a 6–1 home win against

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

. He netted 19 goals in his first two years with the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

side combined, as it finished fourth and third respectively. Together with

Salomon Kalou Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou (born 5 August 1985) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward and winger for Djiboutian club Arta/Solar7. He previously played for Feyenoord from 2003 to 2006 and Chelsea from 2006 to 2012. ...

and Dirk Kuyt, Castelen was part of an efficient Feyenoord attack. He only appeared in 23 contests in his second year however, due to injury. Castelen could only amass 12 league matches in 2006–07 due to an

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular join ...

ailment, as Feyenoord finished in seventh position. On 22 April 2007 he scored his only game of the season, in a 1–1 home draw against

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion fr ...

Hamburger SV

Castelen was declared fit prior to the start of the 2007–08 campaign, with his contract expiring at the end of that season. He was offered a new deal, but declined to sign it after deeming his future at the club as not very bright due to its recent results. However, when players like

Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Formerly a midfielder, he moved to left-back later in his career. ...

Kevin Hofland Kevin Hofland (born 7 June 1979) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player, and was last the head coach of Eerste Divisie club Willem II. A centre back during his career, Hofland played 15 active seasons in which he amassed Ere ...

and

Roy Makaay Rudolphus Antonius "Roy" Makaay (born 9 March 1975) is a Dutch former footballer and a coach who is currently first team coach at Rangers. As a striker, he was known for his goal-scoring ability as a result of his "aerial prowess and quick driv ...

were signed, he reconsidered, but eventually agreed on terms with

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in late July 2007, signing a four-year contract; he appeared in 79 official games for Feyenoord, scoring 21 goals. Castelen made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut on 11 August 2007, playing seven minutes in a 1–0 away win against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

. During his spell at the

Volksparkstadion Volksparkstadion () is a football stadium in Hamburg, Germany, and is the home of Hamburger SV. History HSV actually have nothing to do with the origins of the stadium, even though they own the current arena. Before the club moved to the cur ...

, however, he was plagued with constant injury problems, and he was released in June 2012 after his contract was not renewed.

Later years

After nearly one year out of football, Castelen signed with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

team

FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

on 15 February 2013. He was released at the end of the season. On 3 July 2013, Castelen returned to his homeland and its top division, joining RKC. Roughly one year later, he signed a two-year contract with

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premie ...

. He participated with his new team at the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, scoring the opener against

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

in the fifth-place match, which ended in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

loss after a 2–2 draw. In the 2015–16 campaign, Castelen netted seven goals overall. Three of those came in the final series' semi-finals, a 5–4

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

win over

Brisbane Roar FC Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record ...

. However, on 5 May 2016, he was released. On 14 July 2016, Castelen signed with

K-League Classic The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

team

Suwon Samsung Bluewings ''(The Blue, White and Reds)''Tricolor'' , short name = SSB , image = , caption = , founded = , ground = Suwon World Cup Stadium , capacity = 44,031 , owner = Cheil Worldwide(Samsung's subsidiary) , chairma ...

. In the 2018 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, the 34-year old returned to his country and joined

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following ...

, making his debut against former club Den Haag. He retired from professional football later that year. Since then, he has worked as an agent, advising players such as Evert Linthorst and

Simon Janssen Simon Janssen (born 25 September 2000) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a left-back for Eerste Divisie club VVV-Venlo. Career Janssen progressed through the VVV-Venlo youth academy after arriving there from ...

International career

Castelen's solid beginnings with Feyenoord impressed newly appointed Dutch national team manager

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

, and the player made his debut with ''Oranje'' on 18 August 2004, starting in a 2–2 friendly draw in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. His physical condition, however, denied him a spot in the squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. Also in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Castelen helped the under-21 team win the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Personal life

In 1989, both Castelen's mother and sister died in the

Surinam Airways Flight PY764 Surinam Airways Flight 764 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname on a Surinam Airways DC-8-62. On Wednesday 7 June 1989, the fli ...

crash in which 15 Surinamese footballers lost their lives.

Statistics

Club

International goals

International

Honours

Club

Den Haag *

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 ...

: 2002–03

Country

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

References

External links

*
Beijen profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castelen, Romeo 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Paramaribo Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands Association football wingers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players ADO Den Haag players Feyenoord players RKC Waalwijk players VVV-Venlo players Bundesliga players Hamburger SV players Hamburger SV II players Russian Premier League players FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod players A-League Men players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players K League 1 players Suwon Samsung Bluewings players China League One players Zhejiang Yiteng F.C. players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate footballers in South Korea Expatriate footballers in China Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Russia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Australia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Dutch expatriate sportspeople in China AVV De Volewijckers players