Kelvin Leerdam (; born 24 June 1990) is a Surinamese 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, rugb ...

who plays as a

right-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

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began p ...

and the Suriname national team.

Club career

Early career

Leerdam was 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 po ...

, the capital and largest city of

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 nor ...

. Leerdam has a close relationship with his mother and has one younger sister. Leerdam started his career at local

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

club

USV Elinkwijk Utrechtse Sportvereniging Elinkwijk, known as USV Elinkwijk is a Dutch football club, based in Utrecht. It played professional football during the years 1955–1970. Marco van Basten was a player of the club during his youth years. History The ...

. Feyenoord followed the midfielder for many years and eventually joined the Feyenoord youth academy in the season 2005–06. Coming from an amateur side, Leerdam had a difficult start in the Feyenoord youth. The first two seasons he was mainly used as a substitute. Leerdam joined a successful generation in Feyenoord U17, where he had to compete with players like

Leroy Fer Leroy Johan Fer (born 5 January 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Alanyaspor. He also represented the Netherlands, making 11 appearances between 2010 and 2014. Fer has various ...

Georginio Wijnaldum Georginio Gregion Emile Wijnaldum (formerly Boateng; born 11 November 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Roma, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, and the Netherlands national team. A ...

and

Kevin Wattamaleo Kevin Greg Wattamaleo (born 25 January 1989) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Wattamaleo started in the youth of Sparta Rotterdam, before making the move to Feyenoord where he made his professional d ...

for a place on the midfield. After two years, when other players took their chance on a higher level, Leerdam became a regular starter in the U19 team. Thanks to his hard work and dedication, Leerdam eventually made it to Feyenoord's first team squad as well. In January 2007, Leerdam was invited to the first team's training camp in

Belek Belek is a township in the Serik district in Turkey's Antalya Province. The local population in 2022 is 73,260. Belek is one of the centers of Turkey's tourism industry and is home to more than thirty four-star and five-star hotels and many ...

, Turkey, by Feyenoord manager

Erwin Koeman Erwin Koeman (born 20 September 1961) is a Dutch retired professional football player and retired football manager. Personal life He is the son of Dutch international footballer Martin Koeman, and, alongside his younger brother Ronald, has also ...

. On 6 June 2008, Leerdam signed his first professional contract until 2011.

Feyenoord

Leerdam had his breakthrough in the season 2008–09. On 13 November 2008, Leerdam made his official debut in Feyenoord's first team. Leerdam replaced Karim El Ahmadi in the 69th minute 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 ...

5–1 away win against HHC Hardenberg. Leerdam made his

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 ...

debut on 16 November 2008. Leerdam replaced

in the 87th minute in the away match against

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 Enschedes ...

(1–1). On 27 November 2008, Leerdam also made his European debut. In the UEFA Cup away match against

Deportivo la Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is a aerial lift line in Ecatepec de Mo ...

(3–0), Leerdam replaced Karim El Ahmadi in the 56th minute. On 1 February 2009, Leerdam had a place in the starting line-up for the first time. When Giovanni van Bronckhorst got injured during the warm-up before the Eredivisie match against N.E.C., Leerdam replaced him as left-back. On 12 April 2009, Leerdam made his first and only goal for Feyenoord, in the home match against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to ...

. In the season 2009–10, Leerdam was candidate to leave Feyenoord on loan for

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 ...

. Because of the departure of the right-backs Theo Lucius,

Serginho Greene Serginho Greene (; born 24 June 1982) is a Dutch professional footballer who last played for FC Lienden. Besides the Netherlands, he has played in Cyprus, India, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Early life Greene's life was all about football since he wa ...

and

Dwight Tiendalli Dwight Marciano Tiendalli (; born 21 October 1985) is a Surinamese-born Dutch former professional footballer. He generally played as a full-back. Tiendalli is a former Dutch under-21 international, and was part of the FC Twente team that won t ...

, Leerdam remained at Feyenoord and is mainly used as the stand-in for first team right-back Dani Fernández.

Vitesse

On 14 January 2013, he signed a pre-contract deal with Vitesse. On 2 July, it was announced that Leerdam signed a three-year deal with the

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

club. On 1 August 2013, Leerdam made his Vitesse debut in their

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

qualifier tie against Petrolul Ploiești, in which Leerdam featured for the entire 90 minutes during the 1–1 draw. Three days later, Leerdam scored on his league debut for Vitesse in their 3–1 home victory over

, netting the opener in the 27th minute. Leerdam went onto score eight times in total during the 2013–14 campaign and started to attract interest from Vitesse's feeder club, Chelsea during January 2014. During the 2015–16 campaign, Leerdam was dropped by interim-manager Rob Maas for the foreseeable future after the full-back discredited Vitesse in a recent interview. Leerdam therefore, failed to feature again for Vitesse until the following campaign, when Rob Maas was replaced by Henk Fraser. On 31 March 2017, it was announced that Leerdam would leave Vitesse along with

Arshak Koryan Arshak Rafaelyevich Koryan ( hy, Արշակ Կորյան; russian: Аршак Рафаэльевич Корян; born 17 June 1995) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Alania Vladikavkaz on loan from Khimki. ...

, Wouter Dronkers and Ewout Gouw at the end of their current deals in June 2017. He played as Vitesse won the final of the KNVB Beker 2–0 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 ...

on 30 April 2017 to lead the club, three-time runners up, to the title for the first time in its 125-year history.

Seattle Sounders FC

On 1 July 2017, Leerdam joined

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

side

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

preceding his release from Vitesse. On 10 November 2019, Leerdam scored the opening goal for Seattle in a 3–1 home win over

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

in the 2019 MLS Cup Final, after his shot was deflected by Toronto defender

Justin Morrow Justin Morrow (born October 4, 1987) is an American retired professional soccer player. Morrow is the executive director of ''Black Players for Change'', which in 2020 won the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award. College and amateur career M ...

Inter Miami

On 23 March 2021, Leerdam joined fellow

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

club

Inter Miami Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 202 ...

. Following the 2021 season, Leerdam's contract option was declined by Miami.

LA Galaxy

On 6 January 2022, Leerdamn signed with MLS side

on a two-year deal.

International career

Leerdam made his first appearance on international level in the Netherlands U19. The Dutch team missed out on a place at the

2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2009 Final Tournament was held in Ukraine in the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol. Players born after 1 January 1990 were eligible to participate in this competition. Qualification Qualification for the final ...

in Ukraine by the narrowest of margins. The Netherlands U19 finished second in the qualifying elite round behind Slovenia U19, with one goal difference. Leerdam decided to represent Suriname, the country of his birth, at the senior level. He was called up to the Suriname national team for the first time in November 2019. He made his debut on 24 March 2021 in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against the Cayman Islands. On 25 June 2021 Leerdam was called up to the Suriname squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Vitesse *

: 2016–17 Seattle Sounders FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

Voetbal International profile

Official Kelvin Leerdam profile on Feyenoord.nl

Netherlands stats
at OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Leerdam, Kelvin 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Paramaribo Surinamese footballers Suriname international footballers Dutch footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands Association football fullbacks Association football midfielders USV Elinkwijk players Feyenoord players SBV Vitesse players Seattle Sounders FC players Inter Miami CF players LA Galaxy players Eredivisie players Major League Soccer players Surinamese expatriate footballers Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players