It doesn’t happen so often in professional sports that siblings play for the same team. But the Dutch PSV was lucky - they just had two people with the name De Jong. The Netherlands national football team may well be proud of this fact - the brothers Sim and Luc De Jong earned their place in the national team with their hard work and defend the country's honor in international tournaments.
Dutch wonder
It would be strange if children without a predisposition to this type of activity were born in the family of professional athletes. Parents of future football players once played for the Netherlands national volleyball team, and my mother was a particularly successful athlete. She has 90 games at the national team level, her father’s achievements are a little more modest - 35 matches.
Sim De Jong was born in the small town of Aigle, which is located in the south-west of Switzerland. It happened in a local hospital in 1989. The boy’s parents moved from the Netherlands in 1982 and lived in the city of Leysan, where the eldest of the De Jong brothers spent their childhood.
Homecoming
In 1995, the family returned to their homeland, to the Netherlands, where he lives in Dutinham. Despite the popularity of volleyball in this family, Sim De Jong makes his choice in favor of football, there was no question of not playing sports at all. For a family, this is a kind of lifestyle.
It was in the local Doutingham team that Sim took his first steps in football. Until the age of twelve, he played for the DZK'68 club until he was noticed by the scouts from Grafshap. In 2001, he became a player in the youth of this club. There was a school at the club, in which a talented young football player was engaged until 2005.
School "Rietveld Lykem" was famous for its eminent graduates. At one time, stars like Guus Hiddink and Klass-Jan Hüntelar came out of its walls.
Academy of Ajax
Having received an invitation from the Ajax Amsterdam Football Academy, Sim De Jong did not hesitate for a long time and immediately agreed to move. True, at first he wanted to combine the career of a football player with his studies at the University of Amsterdam at the Department of Economics, but he had to make a choice. Training took too much time. To fully focus on gaming practice, Sim De Jong is postponing his studies indefinitely.
Only one season for the youth composition of “Ajax” was required for a talented young man to reach his potential and convince the coaching staff to transfer him to the base of the club. The debut match for De Jong was the game against the “Cossack Boys”, which the Amsterdam club won. In 2007, Sim De Jong scored his first goal in a match against Sparta Rotterdam.
In 2012, the football player deservedly becomes the captain of the Ajax Amsterdam. 244 matches and 78 goals - this is De Jong's contribution to the club’s overall success.
English holidays
Sim De Jong is a football player who they want to see with pleasure not only in domestic clubs, but also abroad. In 2014, he signed a 6-year contract with the English club Newcastle United, there was no information on the amount of transfer.
But a career in this new club at Sim did not work out. In total, the player spent only 2 matches in the English Premier League in the first season. The blame for the injuries that from time to time pursue the athlete. The coach of the English “forty” Alan Pardew was very sorry that a hip injury would not allow De Jong to fully participate in the current championship. But, as stated by the mentor of “Newcastle”, the health of the athlete is most important. Before starting full training, Sim De Jong will have to undergo rehabilitation.
In total, the football player spent about six months in a hospital bed. He called this season the most unfortunate in his football career and regrets that it was not possible to declare himself in the new club.
Netherlands national team - career in the national team
De Jong holds his first match for the Netherlands national football team for the youth squad in 2004 and since then has regularly received an invitation to defend the country's honor in international tournaments. In 2010, Sim De Jong goes for the main team of the Netherlands. 6 matches and 2 goals in the piggy bank of the Dutch midfielder.
At the qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup, he was also called up by the coaching staff of the national team, it’s a shame that he won’t have to play on the same team with his brother. Luke De Jong suffered a serious concussion and will not be able to help his national team in the coming matches.
Venue
Sim De Jong and Luke De Jong dreamed of playing for the same club. More recently, it became known that they will be able to realize their dream with PSV from Eidhoven. The Dutch club on loan receives De Jong Sr., and the younger brother has been playing in the club since 2014. It should be noted that Luke began his football career in the same club as Sim - “De Grafshap”.
When the brothers manage to get together in their home, the last thing they discuss is football. Their relationship is no different from the relationship of ordinary people, despite the fact that they had to go on the football field more than once against each other.