ROYSTON DRENTHE

'Royston Ricky Drenthe' (born April 8, 1987) is a Dutch footballer who currently plays for Real Madrid. Drenthe started his professional career mainly playing as a left back, but is suitable for the whole left side of the pitch. Currently he is playing mostly as a winger or left forward.

Contents

Feyenoord youth career

Feyenoord first team

Netherlands under-21

Real Madrid

Statistics

External Links

References

Feyenoord youth career

At Feyenoord he came into the D2 team, which Tim Vincken and Gianni Zuiverloon were part of as well. Drenthe played mainly as a left winger during his junior years. As a C player he was invited to join the B squad on a trip to Switzerland. Drenthe misbehaved during the trip and the trainer, Marcel Bout, wanted him to leave the club as a result. Thanks to technical director Rob Baan Drenthe was able to stay and he was only temporarily suspended by the club. After his suspension he continued to play in the C-team before moving to the B-team, where he again had Bout as his coach.
Bout hardly used Drenthe in his line-up. Later, at the end of the season he was named as one of eleven players whose future at the club was questionable. Drenthe then decided to switch teams and moved to Feyenoord's feeder club Excelsior Rotterdam.
Drenthe improved during the two years he played at Excelsior. Coach Marco van Lochem wanted to try him as a left back, which turned out to be a success. Drenthe seemed to be a talent at this position and became a team regular. He impressed the Feyenoord coaches and was asked to join them again.

Feyenoord first team

In the 2005/06 season he reached the A1 team of Feyenoord, managed by his former C-youth coach Henk Fräser. Fräser told him he had to fight for his position with his team mate Mohammed Hammouti. Since the Otten Cup, a youth tournament at PSV Eindhoven where he scored three goals against Ajax Amsterdam as a left winger, he became a first-team player and even became captain of the team. In the meantime he also became a team regular in Feyenoord's second team.
Drenthe was offered a professional contract soon after. That same week he won an away match versus Ajax' second team 1-5 and was asked to train with Feyenoord's first team for the first time in his life. He continued to play for Feyenoord's youth and second team before manager Erwin Koeman brought him in his regular squad. He made his debut in the match against Vitesse in the Gelredome and finished the season with a total of three professional matches played.
In the 2006-07 season Feyenoord signed Belgian international player Philippe Léonard at Drenthe's position, the left back spot, while Pascal Bosschaart was also still part of the squad. Due to the injury of Léonard and the switch of Bosschaart to play for ADO Den Haag Drenthe was awarded a chance, which he grabbed immediately. In a short time Drenthe became a fans' favourite player, being one of the few positive highlights in again a disappointing season for the club.

Netherlands under-21

After the 2006-07 season, Drenthe was called up by Netherlands national under-21 football team coach, Foppe de Haan, to be part of his squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, which was held in the Netherlands. Drenthe was one of the most important players in the second consecutive title of the competition for the Jong Oranje, being chosen by UEFA as player of the tournament and picking up attention from a number of clubs, including Chelsea and FC Barcelona. Feyenoord didn't want to sell as Drenthe extended his running contract until 2011 in April 2007, but they eventually agreed to a €14 million bid by Real Madrid, after Drenthe decided to take his club to court if they did not want to let him go.^[1][2][3]

Real Madrid

Drenthe was presented as a Real Madrid player on August 13, 2007 along with fellow Dutchman Wesley Sneijder in a double player presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu. Drenthe made his official Real Madrid debut starting as a central midfielder in the second leg of the Supercopa de España against Sevilla FC. Drenthe scored the equalizer in spectacular style and similar to a Seedorf long rage strike he took a venomous shot from 30-40 yards out and hit the crossbar and the ball crossed the line, but Real Madrid eventually lost the match 5-3 as Sevilla clinched the cup.

Statistics

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Goals
2005/06	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	3	0
2006/07	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	26	0
2007/08	Real Madrid	La Liga	2	1
Total			32	1

External Links

★ Bio and news of Royston Drenthé

★ Royston Drenthe videos, stats and timeline in footballdatabase.com

References

1. El Madrid fichó ayer a Drenthe por 13 millones (in Spanish), as.com
2. Real Madrid signs Royston Drenthe from Feyenoord
3. Real Madrid y Feyenoord llegan a un acuerdo para el traspaso de Royston Drenthe (in Spanish)