Joël Veltman

AFC Ajax

Veltman began his football career in the youth teams of VV IJmuiden in his home town of Velsen, before moving to AFC Ajax in 2001, where he went through the youth ranks of the club. While playing for the Ajax A1 youth squad in 2011–12, Veltman helped his side to win the Nike Eredivisie league title, as well finishing as runners-up to Inter Milan in the NextGen Series (the Champions League equivalent for under-20 teams) after losing on penalties (5–3) following a 1–1 deadlock after extra time. He made his official debut for the Ajax first team on August 19, 2012, in the away match against N.E.C. in Nijmegen, coming on as a substitute for Mitchell Dijks in the 79th minute. The match ended in a 1–6 win for the Amsterdam side. Following a successful starting season with the first team of Ajax, helping his side to secure their third consecutive national title and his personal first, on 6 June 2013 it was announced that Veltman had extended his contract with Ajax for another four years, binding him to the club until the summer of 2017.

On 5 August 2013 Veltman played in the Dutch Eerste Divisie debut of the newly promoted reserves team Jong Ajax at the start of the season. Substituted off in the 89'-minute of the 2–0 home win, due to a sustained injury, Veltman found himself sidelined for the next two months. He returned from his injury on 30 September 2013 in another match for Jong Ajax, this time against FC Volendam, scoring his first professional goal in the 2–3 loss at the Sportpark De Toekomst scoring the opener in the 7th minute of the game. On 22 October 2013 Veltman made his continental debut for the first team, when he replaced the injured first choice center back Niklas Moisander in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage match against Celtic. The away match at Celtic Park ended in a 2–1 loss for the Amsterdam side.

Youth

Veltman made his debut for the Dutch national team, playing for the under-17 squad, making his debut on 10 February 2009 in the 2009 edition of the La Manga Cup in the 0–4 loss against Czech Republic U17. He also played in the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship group stage match against England U17 which ended in a 1–1 draw, having previously appeared in three of the qualification matches. On 2 September 2010 Veltman made his debut for the Netherlands U19 in a friendly fixture against Germany U19 which ended in a 2–2 draw. On 9 February 2011 Veltman scored his first international goal in another friendly fixture for the under-19 squad against France U19 with the match ending in a 1–1 draw. On 23 May 2012 Veltman made his debut for the Netherlands U21 team at the 2012 Toulon Tournament in France. He appeared in four matches for the Dutch, while making his debut against Egypt U21 in the 0–3 win.

Senior

On 8 November 2013 it was announced that Veltman received his first call-up for the Dutch national first team, by head coach Louis van Gaal, for the friendly matches against Japan and Colombia. Remaining on the bench for the duration of the first match against Japan, Veltman made his debut for the first team on 19 November 2013 in the fixture against Colombia, playing the full 90'-minutes in the 0–0 draw at the Amsterdam Arena. On 31 May 2014, Veltman was named as part of the 23-man squad heading to the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup to represent the Netherlands under manager Louis van Gaal. He was joined by Ajax teammates Daley Blind and Jasper Cillessen.

Club performance

¹ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.

² Includes the Johan Cruijff Shield and Eredivisie playoffs matches.

International performance

Statistics accurate as of matches played on 12 July 2014

Club

International