Romeo Castelen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Romeo Castelen

Full name	Romeo Castelen
Date of birth	May 3, 1983 (1983-05-03) (age 25)
Place of birth	Paramaribo, Suriname
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Hamburger SV
Number	18
Youth clubs
1993-1997 1997-1998 1998-2000	De Volewijckers Sparta ADO Den Haag
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–2004 2004–2007 2007-present	ADO Den Haag Feyenoord Hamburger SV	083 (20) 065 (20) 013 0(0)
National team²
2004– present	Netherlands	010 0(1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 1, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of July 1, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Romeo Castelen (born 3 May 1983 in Paramaribo, Suriname) is a professional Dutch football player who currently plays for Hamburger SV, as a quick winger with great technique and scoring ability. In 1989 both his mother and sister died in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crash in which 15 Surinamese footballers lost their lives.

1 Biography
2 Statistics
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] ADO Den Haag

Castelen started his career at ADO Den Haag, playing in the second division; he made his debut in the 2000-01 season in which he had three appearances. In the following season he became a first team regular and also became a fan's favourite. In the 2002-03 season he was one of the key players that made Den Haag clinch the league title and win promotion to the Eredivisie. Once there he played another season as a first team regular at the club and impressed scouts from several clubs with his skills.

[edit] Feyenoord and breakthrough

In the 2004-05 season, he was signed by Feyenoord and secured his spot in the first team in the pre-season friendlies already. In his first season at his new club he would play 30 matches in which he scored 10 times. Together with Dirk Kuyt and Salomon Kalou he was part of the deadly and feared Feyenoord attack.^[1] His stormy breakthrough at Feyenoord impressed recently appointed Dutch national team manager Marco van Basten. Castelen was called up for the team and made his debut in the first ever match with Van Basten as a manager against Sweden on August 18, 2004.

His second season at Feyenoord was statistically even better than his first. That season he would score 9 goals in 23 appearances. The low number of appearances were caused by an injury that kept him aside for several months at the end of the season. This eventually denied him a spot in Van Basten's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was however recovering from his injury and missing out on the World Cup made it possible to be called up by manager Foppe de Haan for the Dutch U-21 side that lifted the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Portugal.

After two successful seasons at Feyenoord his third was disappointing. The club ended the competition in seventh position and eventually missed out on European football through the additional play-offs when they lost to FC Groningen in a two-legged clash. Castelen only appeared in 12 matches during that season as an ankle injury sidelined him for the entire first half of the season as well as a part of the second half.

[edit] Foreign adventure

Castelen was declared fit prior to the 2007-08 preparations with Feyenoord, but only had a contract until the end of that season. He was offered a new contract, but denied to sign this as the future at Feyenoord wasn't bright due to the recent results. However, when players like Roy Makaay, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Kevin Hofland were signed to bring Feyenoord back to life he considered signing a new contract. Several clubs, including Middlesbrough FC, Paris Saint-Germain FC, AS Monaco and Olympique Marseille showed interest. Castelen however didn't sign a contract with any of these clubs and was considering to stay at the club until Hamburger SV showed up. Within a few days both the clubs and the player finalised the negotiations and a four-year contract was signed. In total Castelen played 79 official matches for Feyenoord (including cups, European matches and play-offs) in which he scored 21 times.^[1]

[edit] Statistics

Season	Club	Country	Competition	Apps	Goals
2000/01	ADO Den Haag	Netherlands	Eerste Divisie	3	0
2001/02	ADO Den Haag	Netherlands	Eerste Divisie	28	7
2002/03	ADO Den Haag	Netherlands	Eerste Divisie	24	9
2003/04	ADO Den Haag	Netherlands	Eredivisie	28	4
2004/05	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	30	10
2005/06	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	23	9
2006/07	Feyenoord	Netherlands	Eredivisie	12	1
2007/08	Hamburger SV	Germany	Bundesliga	13	0
			Total	161	40