Teun de Nooijer

Age: 35
Date of Birth: 22 March 1976
Club: Bloemedaal
Position: Forward

Teun de Nooijer is one of the best hockey players the Netherlands has ever produced. He has played more than 350 official internationals for the Dutch hockey team.

Teun began his hockey career in Alkmaar, making his debut in Alkmaar men’s first team under trainer/coach Cees Koppelaar at the age of 15. Two seasons later he made his first division debut with Bloemendaal men’s first team where he was assigned ‘his’ number 14. Since then he has often been compared with Johan Cruijff, football’s number 14.

His great spatial awareness, quality of passing, velvety technique and hair style are reminiscent in terms of playing style and appearance of star footballer Zinédine Zidane. De Nooijer has already won three Olympic medals. The Dutch men’s hockey team won gold in Atlanta in 1996 and in Sydney in 2000. In Athens in 2004 the team lost the final to Australia and had to make do with silver. The ball virtuoso scored the winning (golden) goal in 1998 in extra time of the final of the world championships in Utrecht, when Spain, having led 2-0 with 12 minutes to go, were finally beaten 3-2.

Having been nominated three times, he was voted World Hockey Player of the Year by the International Hockey Federation FIH in 2003. He received this award again in 2005 and 2006. He is now the only hockey player to be voted best hockey player in the world three times. At his fourth Olympic Games Teun unfortunately finished fourth with the men’s hockey team.