Merel van Dongen

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Merel van Dongen
Merel van Dongen on November 6, 2018 (cropped).jpg
Merel van Dongen training with the Netherlands on 6 November 2018.
Personal information
Full name Merel Didi van Dongen[1]
Date of birth (1993-02-11) 11 February 1993 (age 29)
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Defender, fullback
Club information
Current team
Atlético Madrid
Number 5
Youth career
2012–2014 Alabama Crimson Tide
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Ter Leede
2011–2012 ADO 10 (2)
2015–2018 Ajax 71 (9)
2018–2020 Real Betis 46 (5)
2020– Atlético Madrid 44 (5)
National team
2010-2012 Netherlands U19 15 (4)
2015– Netherlands 57 (2)
Honours
Women's football
Representing the  Netherlands
FIFA Women's World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2019 France Team
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 October 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 February 2022

Merel Didi van Dongen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmeːrəl ˈdidi vɑn ˈdɔŋən]; born 11 February 1993) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a defender for Spanish Primera División club Atlético Madrid and the Netherlands women's national team.[2]

Club career[]

She played for Ter Leede and ADO Den Haag before going to the United States where she played for Alabama Crimson Tide. She returned to the Netherlands in 2015 and signed with AFC Ajax.[3]

College career[]

In Van Dongen's two years at Alabama she managed to become the Tide's single season assists leader registering 10 in 2014. She is No. 1 on Alabama's career assists per game list with 0.30 through 44 games, and her 10 assists in 2014 allowed her to take the No. 1 spot on the single season assists per game list with 0.53 through 19 games. Van Dongen converted four penalty kicks during her career with Alabama, which ranks fourth on the career penalty kicks made list.

In her last season with the Crimson Tide, she was selected to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American team and All-District 4 First Team and named a member of the All-SEC Second Team.[4]

International career[]

Merel van Dongen training with the Netherlands on November 6, 2018

As a junior international she played the 2010 and 2011 U-19 European Championships.[5]

Van Dongen made her senior Netherlands women's national football team debut in a 7–0 friendly win over Thailand on 7 February 2015.[3] She was one of the last three players to be cut from national team coach Roger Reijners' final squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden.[6] When Mandy van den Berg subsequently suffered knee ligament damage, Van Dongen was called up as a late replacement.[7] She was also part of the Dutch squad at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[1]

International goals[]

Scores and results list the Netherlands goal tally first.[8]
G Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 20 May 2015 Sparta Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands  Estonia 3–0 7–0 Friendly
2 22 October 2021 AEK Arena, Larnaca, Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus 8–0 8–0 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier

Personal life[]

She is in a relationship with Ana Romero.[9] They are engaged since December 2021.[10]

Honours[]

Club[]

ADO Den Haag[]

Ajax[]

International[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "List of Players - Netherlands" (PDF). FIFA. 30 May 2015. p. 16. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Profile". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Merel van Dongen". VrouwenvoetbalNederland.NL. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Two Former Alabama Soccer Standouts Named to 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Roster". rolltide.com. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. ^ Last-gasp Rudelic grabs victory for Germany. UEFA
  6. ^ "Trio miss cut in Netherlands squad". UEFA.com. UEFA. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  7. ^ Scholten, Berend (1 July 2013). "Van Dongen replaces Van den Berg for Oranje". UEFA.com. UEFA. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Profile". onsoranje.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Merel van Dongen: graag was ik als eerste man uit de kast gekomen". NRC.
  10. ^ "SHE SAID YES! Ajax will forever be part of their love story". YouTube.
  11. ^ "Finale Algarve Cup tussen Oranjevrouwen en Zweden afgelast" (in Dutch). nu.nl. Retrieved 7 March 2018.

External links[]

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