Yuri Cornelisse (born 8 May 1975) is a Dutch former 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 played as a striker from 1994 to 2010, notably for

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 ...

. As a footballer he also played for

AFC '34 AFC '34 is a football club from Alkmaar, Netherlands. AFC'34 is competes in the 2017-2018 Sunday Eerste Klasse A League (6th tier). The club won the 1997 KNVB District Cup in the West 1 District. Famous players {, , valign=top , * Mohammed ...

TOP Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbreviati ...

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

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 ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

and

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 ...

Career

Early career

Cornelisse started playing football in the youth department of

at age 8, and later moved to the youth academy of AZ, before returning to AFC '34. He started his professional career with

, where he played for two seasons. His performances attracted the attention of Belgian club

, who eventually signed him in. In Belgium, Cornelisse soon suffered a fracture in his metatarsal bone in an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against his former club TOP Oss in pre-season. This prompted him to return to the Netherlands because, on the one hand, his rehabilitation took more time than planned and, on the other hand, because manager

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national team of the 1970s. At club level, he enjoyed a successful career ...

had been fired and his successor

Jean Dockx Jean Baptiste Dockx (24 May 1941 – 15 January 2002) was a Belgian international footballer. He played for Mechelen, Racing White and Anderlecht, and for the Belgium national team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the 1972 UEFA European Footb ...

brought about nine new players to Anderlecht. This meant that Cornelisse was free to leave the club, after making no official appearances, and he moved to

RKC Waalwijk

In his first season at RKC, 1999–2000, the club finished 10th but qualified for the then

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

. The team was coached by future

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and

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 ...

manager

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany, and England, as well as earning three caps wit ...

. Cornelisse made 33 total appearances that season, in which he scored seven goals. He made his European debut in the Intertoto Cup against English club

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

on 16 July 2000. His club would be knocked out with the score finishing 0–3 on aggregate. In his third season at the club, RKC were represented in the Intertoto Cup once again, but were knocked out by German club

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members of ...

in the third round, 2–5 on aggregate with Cornelisse playing in both games. Cornelisse played five seasons in

Waalwijk Waalwijk () is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. It had a population of in and is located near the motorways A59 and N261. The villages of Capelle, Vrijhoeve-Capelle, Sprang (the former municipality of Sprang-Capelle) and W ...

, and finished eighth on the all-time top goalscorer list at the club with 27 goals to his name. On his time with RKC he later stated: "I played at RKC for five years. Of course that wasn't by accident. It's pretty rare these days to play for the same club for so long, but I didn't regret it for a second. I really felt at home there."

NAC Breda

On 18 December 2003, he signed with

on a four-year contract, which meant that he would come over as a free agent on 30 June 2004. He made his debut against

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

on 14 August 2004 in a 3–2 home win. In the following match, Cornelisse scored his first goal for the club as NAC lost 6–2 away to

. The game became mostly known for

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 ...

's four goals, of which one was iconic – a slaloming run past five opposition players which the commentator compared with

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

and

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

– that was eventually voted the Goal of the Year by

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

viewers. Cornelisse made 33 appearances that season in which he scored 8 goals as NAC finished 15th in the league table, avoiding relegation play-offs by three points.

Groningen

A year after joining NAC, Cornelisse moved to

, signing a three-year contract. There, he mainly played as a striker. He missed a crucial penalty kick on 28 September 2006 in the second leg of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

first round against

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

which meant that Groningen were knocked out of the competition. This happened after regular penalty taker

Koen van de Laak Koen van de Laak (born 3 September 1982) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He played for Den Bosch, Groningen and Ajax Cape Town in South Africa. Career Den Bosch Born in Vught, Koen van de Laak started to play for a local club named ...

– who had scored from a penalty earlier in the game – had been subbed off for Cornelisse. In the following league match, Cornelisse came on as a substitute in a 4–3 comeback win over Vitesse, contributing with an assist to

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

. After the game, he was cheered on by Groningen supporters, something he later described as one of the "best memories" from his career.

ADO Den Haag

On 9 July 2007 it was announced that Cornelisse has signed a three-year contract with

. Cornelisse announced his retirement from football on 21 October 2010. Instead, he would focus on his education to become a police officer.

Personal life

He is the elder brother of

Tim Cornelisse Tim Cornelisse (born 3 April 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right back. He currently works as a youth coach with Vitesse, where he manages the under-21 side together with Nicky Hofs. Club career Cornelisse star ...

, and the uncle of

Enzo Cornelisse Enzo Cornelisse (born 29 June 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Vitesse. Personal life Cornelisse is the son of Tim Cornelisse Tim Cornelisse (born 3 April 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer ...

, both also professional footballers. He retired from football to become a police officer.Agent Yuri Cornelisse zwaait af als international in 'zijn' Waalwijk
- Omroep Brabant

Career statistics

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelisse, Yuri 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Alkmaar Association football forwards Dutch footballers TOP Oss players R.S.C. Anderlecht players RKC Waalwijk players NAC Breda players FC Groningen players ADO Den Haag players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch police officers AFC '34 players Footballers from North Holland