Jens Toornstra (born 4 April 1989) is a Dutch 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 ...

who plays for

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 ...

side FC Utrecht. He usually plays as an

attacking midfielder 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

Early career

Toornstra was born in

Ter Aar Ter Aar () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is located about 6 km northeast of Alphen aan den Rijn. The town had a population of 9,007 on 1 July 2006. The area of Ter Aar is ...

. In his youth, he played eight years for amateur football club Alphense Boys in the Tweede Klasse C. In his last year he scored 20 goals for the team. He impressed so much Kees Jansma recommended Toornstra to ADO Den Haag. Initially, the scouts of ADO Den Haag did not believe Toornstra would be as good but ADO Den Haag bought Toornstra for the reserve squad.

ADO Den Haag

In the summer of 2009 Toornstra came to ADO Den Haag with a contract until July 2012. He made his debut in the 3–0 victory against Willem II. Soon, he became first team player for ADO and quickly gained interests from AZ,

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese ...

and

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

. Toornstra signed a new improved contract on 4 July that same year until the summer of 2013. In the

2010–11 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. ...

season Toornstra received the jersey number 7, last worn by

Karim Soltani Karim Soltani ( ar, كريم سلطاني ; born 29 August 1984) is an Algerian footballer. He primarily plays as a winger, but can also play as a striker. Career Born in Brest, France, Soltani began his career at age 11 in a small club in th ...

who moved to Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. He scored his first goal for ADO Den Haag in January against

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

after missing not a single game. On 26 May 2011, He scored a hat-trick against Groningen in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final. His goals helped Den Haag to a 5–1 lead on aggregate.

Utrecht

At the end of the winter transfer window, Toornstra signed with FC Utrecht. He grew out to be one of the important players.

Feyenoord

On 25 August 2014, Toornstra made a transfer to

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), 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 bef ...

for a fee of €3.5 million. He signed a four-year deal. On 22 April 2018, he scored as Feyenoord won the 2017–18 KNVB Cup final 3–0 against

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

International

On 13 May 2010, Toornstra got his first election for the Netherlands under-21 national team for the games against

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 ...

on 18 and 21 May. He instantly played his first match on 18 May. He scored his first goal for the U-21 team on 11 August 2010 against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

. In May 2013 Toornstra was part of the Netherlands national team's tour of Asia, with friendly matches against China and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. He made his debut against Indonesia.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Feyenoord *

: 2016–17 * KNVB Cup: 2015–16, 2017–18 * Johan Cruyff Shield:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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 Unit ...

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

runner-up: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Voetbal International profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toornstra, Jens 1989 births Living people People from Leiderdorp Dutch footballers Footballers from South Holland Association football midfielders Netherlands international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Eredivisie players Alphense Boys players ADO Den Haag players FC Utrecht players Feyenoord players