Stefano Wilfred Denswil (born 7 May 1993) is a 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 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 ...

for Turkish club

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Suriname national team.

Club career

Ajax

Denswil began his footballing career with local amateur side Hellas Sport in Zaandam, before being recruited to join the youth ranks of

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 2001. In the 2011–12 season, Denswil helped the Ajax A1 team win the Nike Eredivisie league title as well as reach the finals of the

NextGen Series The NextGen Series was a European football club cup competition for under-19 footballers. It was designed to provide players with the opportunity to match themselves against other elite European footballers of their agegroup in a competitive envi ...

, the Champions League equivalent for under-20 youth squads. Ajax lost the final to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

5–3 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw after extra time. Denswil scored the only goal in regular time from a free kick in the 48th minute, with his team finishing the tournament as runners-up. Denswil was promoted to the first team squad and was given the number 34 shirt by manager

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredi ...

in the 2012–13 season. He made his debut for the first team in the third round of the

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 ...

against ONS Sneek on 31 October 2012. It was an away match the Amsterdam side won 2–0, with Denswil scoring off a free kick in the 88th minute. On 3 November 2012, he made his league debut in the home fixture against

SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally as well Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, football club located in the municipality of Arnhem. Establish ...

, starting as left center back in place of

Niklas Moisander Niklas Moisander (born 29 September 1985) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Swedish club Malmö FF. Moisander was born in Turku, where he played for the local TPS youth team before moving to AFC Ajax. Following ...

, who was side-lined due to a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

from the club's previous fixture against

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 ...

. On 18 September 2013, Denswil made his continental debut for the Ajax during the group stage of the

2013–14 UEFA Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League was the 59th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 22nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was ...

campaign in the 4–0 away loss to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, in which he formed a central defensive partnership with Niklas Moisander. On 2 October 2013 he made his second appearance in the Champions League group stage against

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

. Denswil scored through a header in the 90th minute but his goal would not be decisive as

Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club Sion. Balotelli started his professional football career in 2005 at Lumezzane, before ...

converted a penalty in the 94th minute of a 1–1 draw. Following the match against AC Milan, it was announced on 5 October 2013, that Denswil had been included in the official UEFA Champions League Team of the Week, finding himself mentioned amongst the likes of

Mesut Özil Mesut Özil (, ; born 15 October 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir. Özil is known for his technical skills, creativity, passing skills, and vision. He can ...

Arjen Robben Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (football), winger. He was known for his Dribbling#Association football, dribbling skills, speed, ball control and long ...

as well as former Ajax players

Gregory van der Wiel Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel (born 3 February 1988) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a right-back. Born in Amsterdam, Van der Wiel is a product of the AFC Ajax youth system. In 2010, he was awarded the Johan Cruyff Award for " Young Pl ...

and

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

Club Brugge

On 3 January 2015, it was announced that Stefano Denswil would transfer to

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

side

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

, signing a 3.5-year contract with the Belgian club. He made his league debut on 16 January 2015 in a 1–1 draw against KV Mechelen. On 3 February 2015, Denswil played his first

Bruges derby The Bruges derby is a local football rivalry between two Belgian Pro League clubs Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge, who share the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges, Belgium. The derby was first contested during the 1899–1900 season however the resul ...

against crosstown rivals

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

, playing the full 90-minutes in the 5–1 win at home.

Bologna

On 6 July 2019, Denswill signed for Italian club

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

on a three-year contract with the option of a further year.

Loan return to Club Brugge

On 7 January 2021, Denswil returned to

on loan for the remainder of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

Trabzonspor

On 21 August 2021, Denswil was loaned to

for the duration of the

2021–22 Süper Lig The 2021–22 Süper Lig, officially called the Spor Toto Süper Lig Ahmet Çalık season, is the 64th season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. Teams A total of 20 teams contest the league, including 17 sides from the ...

season. On 16 June 2022, Denswil announced a signing of a three-year contract with Trabzonspor.

International career

Denswil was born in the Netherlands to Surinamese parents. He has represented the Netherlands, his country of birth on various youth levels, making his debut for the Netherlands U-15 team in a friendly match against Slovakia on 27 November 2007. That season, Denswil went on to appear in three more friendly fixtures for the U-15 team, once against Belgium and twice against Switzerland. On 10 February 2009, he made his debut for the Netherlands U-16 team in a friendly match against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, which ended in a 3–1 victory for the Dutch. He made his second appearance two days later in another friendly fixture against Ukraine in a 2–0 victory. Denswil made his debut for the U-17 team in a friendly match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 22 September 2009. He made a total of six appearances in

2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the ninth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship, held in Liechtenstein from 18 to 30 May 2010. The hosts decided not to field a team, fearing it would not be competitive enough ...

campaign and also competed in the

La Manga Cup La Manga Cup is a winter football tournament played in La Manga Club, La Manga del Mar Menor (Murcia, Spain). Usual participants are clubs from countries with a summer football season: Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Ukraine Uk ...

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, Spain. On 17 November 2010, he made his debut for the under-18 team against Romania, in a match that ended in a 3–0 away win for the Netherlands. On 9 February 2011, he debuted for the U-19 team in a friendly match against

. He also played in the

2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the tenth edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship since it was renamed from the original under-18 event, in 2001. The tournament took place in Romania from 20 July to 1 August 2011. France ...

qualification matches against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, making a total of six appearances while also appearing in four friendly matches for the under-19 team that season. Denswil switched sporting nationalities to play for the Suriname national team in May 2023.

Personal life

Kickboxing

Outside of football, Denswil has actively pursued his passion for

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

. The intensity of his practice has slowed down immensely in order to avoid unnecessary injuries as he progressed through the youth ranks of Ajax. However Denswil still practices on a regular basis in order to sharpen his condition and footwork. His shared passion of both football and martial arts were revealed in a

Voetbal International ''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running. History and Profile ''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM but l ...

report where the magazine took a closer look at Denswil.

Instagram incident

On 15 July 2013, a naked photograph of Denswil with a girl appeared on the website

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. The photo had been taken by the girl who, after having slept with Denswil, uploaded the picture to the site with the tagline "''Lekker ploppen met Stefano Denswil''". Although the photograph was removed from the site the same day, the picture appeared on several websites shortly thereafter, eventually making headlines in the Netherlands. Ajax manager

was not amused by the incident but acknowledged that there was little Denswil could have done to prevent it from happening, and asked that he stay focused on his career and not let the incident be a distraction.

Career statistics

Honours

Ajax *

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 ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 *

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 ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Club Brugge *

: 2015–16, 2017–18,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2014–15 Belgian Cup, 2014–15 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Trabzonspor *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2021–22 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known a ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

Voetbal International profile

Netherlands stats
at OnsOranje
Netherlands U21 stats
at OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Denswil, Stefano 1993 births Living people Footballers from Zaanstad Surinamese men's footballers Suriname men's international footballers Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Men's association football defenders Jong Ajax players AFC Ajax players Club Brugge KV players Bologna FC 1909 players Trabzonspor footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players Süper Lig players Surinamese expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey