Vurnon Anita

Vurnon Anita
Personal information
Full name Vurnon San Benito Anita[1]
Date of birth (1989-04-04) 4 April 1989
Place of birth Willemstad, Curaçao
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[2]
Playing position Right Back, Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Newcastle United
Number 8
Youth career
1996–1997 CVV Willemstad
1997–1999 VV Maarssen
1999–2005 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2012 Ajax 109 (5)
2012– Newcastle United 119 (2)
National team‡
2003–2004 Netherlands U15 4 (3)
2004–2006 Netherlands U17 28 (3)
2006–2008 Netherlands U19 13 (2)
2008–2009 Netherlands U20 2 (0)
2009–2010 Netherlands U21 6 (0)
2010– Netherlands 3 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:34, 20 November 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 July 2016

Vurnon San Benito Anita (born 4 April 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Newcastle United and the Netherlands national team.

Career

Early career

In his youth years on Curaçao, Anita started to play football at local team CVV Willemstad. After he and his family moved to the Netherlands in 1997 he started playing for amateur side VV Maarssen. Later he was scouted by Ajax and he joined their world-famous youth program in 1999.

Ajax

Anita (second from bottom left) with Ajax teammates in 2010.

As of the 2005–06 season he was promoted to the first team of Ajax and on 19 March 2006 he made his Eredivisie debut in a 3–2 away loss against FC Groningen. That year he also participated in the KNVB Cup semi-final against Roda JC. Ajax went on to win the KNVB Cup that year.

The following season he added another match to his Eredivisie total, bringing it to two appearances. He also made his European debut in the 3–0 away loss against Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup. In the 2007–08 season Anita did not play any matches for the first team, but in the 2008–09 he returned to the first team squad. He played a total of 16 matches, mainly as a replacement for injured or suspended team mates.

In the 2009–10 season Anita became a first team regular under new head coach Martin Jol. Because of a suspension of Urby Emanuelson and a long-time injury of Thimothée Atouba, Anita was posted as a left back. Jol was satisfied with his performance and continued to let him play as a left back for most of the season. He also played in the KNVB Cup final against Feyenoord and won his second KNVB Cup. His good performances also led to his debut at the Dutch national team. However, he was not selected for the squad for 2010 FIFA World Cup by coach Bert van Marwijk.

The 2010–11 season started as the previous season ended with Anita playing most matches as a left back. Ajax managed to qualify for the Group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2005–06. Because of the poor team performances during the first half of the season, Martin Jol left Ajax in December 2010 and was replaced by Frank de Boer. He believed Anita should play as a defensive midfielder rather than left back. As a consequence, Anita had to compete with other midfielders for his place in the starting line-up. He successfully did so and managed to play most matches. The season ended with two finals against FC Twente. Twente won the KNVB Cup final with 3–2, but Ajax secured the Eredivisie championship at the last matchday by winning 3–1. It was the first league title of Anita. In April 2011 it was announced that Anita signed a new contract at Ajax, binding him to the club until 2014.[3]

Newcastle United

After Ajax had rejected Newcastle's first bid, the clubs eventually came to an agreement after the second offer from the English club of €8.5 million (£6.7 million).[4][5] He signed a five-year deal and took the number 8 shirt, last worn by Danny Guthrie. Anita made his debut on 18 August 2012, replacing Yohan Cabaye, as the Magpies defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 on the opening day of the Premier League season.[6] He made his first start for the club against Atromitos F.C. in the Europa League on 23 August, the game finished 1–1. He scored his first goal for Newcastle in a Europa League fixture against Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium on 8 November.[7]

Anita scored his first league goal for Newcastle on 1 March 2014 in a comfortable 4–1 win away from home over Hull City, but the match was marred by controversy as manager Alan Pardew headbutted Hull player David Meyler.[8] After Siem de Jong signed for Newcastle on 1 July 2014,[9] the player revealed that both Anita and Tim Krul were very influential in persuading him to leave Ajax and join Tyneside.[10]

International

Anita performed in the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru for the Netherlands U-17, where the Dutch came third.[11] He has also represented the Netherlands U-19 and Netherlands U-21 teams.

On 26 May 2010, Anita made his full international debut for the Netherlands, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 friendly victory over Mexico.[12] He made his first appearance in the starting eleven in a 1–1 friendly draw with Ukraine on 12 August 2010, being substituted at half-time by PSV Eindhoven defender Erik Pieters.[13]

2010 World Cup

Anita was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[14] However, on 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that the player would not be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the competition.[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 November 2016[16][17]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ajax 2005–06 Eredivisie 1010—000020
2006–07 1000—1[lower-alpha 1]00020
2007–08 0000—000000
2008–09 16000—5[lower-alpha 1]000210
2009–10 26051—4[lower-alpha 2]000351
2010–11 31341—10[lower-alpha 3]01[lower-alpha 4]0464
2011–12 28220—8[lower-alpha 5]01[lower-alpha 4]0392
2012–13 1000—001[lower-alpha 4]020
Total 1045122—280301477
Newcastle United 2012–13 Premier League 250100011[lower-alpha 2]100371
2013–14 3411020—00371
2014–15 1901010—00210
2015–16 2810010—00291
2016-17 Championship 1300020—00150
Total 11923050111001393
Career total 2237152503913028610
  1. 1 2 Appearance(s) in the UEFA Cup.
  2. 1 2 Appearances in the UEFA Europa League.
  3. ↑ Seven appearances in the UEFA Champions League, three appearances in the UEFA Europa League.
  4. 1 2 3 Appearance in the Johan Cruijff Schaal.
  5. ↑ Six appearances in the UEFA Champions League, two appearances in the UEFA Europa League.

International

As of 7 July 2016[18]
Netherlands national team
YearAppsGoals
201030
Total30

Honours

Anita (right) with former Ajax teammate Aras Özbiliz.

Club

Ajax

International

Netherlands under-18

References

  1. ↑ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/08/2012 and 31/08/2012" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Newcastle United Vurnon Anita". Newcastle United. 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Anita wants to be a deciding player". Ajax. 28 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "Anita having Newcastle medical". The Mail. 15 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Anita completes £6.7m Newcastle switch as Dutch midfielder passes medical". The Mail. 16 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Losing start for Villas-Boas". Sky Sports. 18 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Club Bruges 2–2 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 8 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Newcastle boss Alan Pardew was sent off for headbutting Hull's David Meyler as United claimed a comfortable victory.". BBC Sport. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Siem de Jong: Newcastle United sign Ajax captain on six-year deal". BBC Sport. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Krul and Anita help land Dutch star.". The Football Network. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Mexico reign supreme". FIFA. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  12. ↑ "Report: Netherlands vs Mexico". ESPN Soccernet. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  13. ↑ "Netherlands end Markevich's perfect record". UEFA. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "Van Marwijk trims Dutch squad to 27". AFP. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  15. ↑ "Holland coach Bert van Marwijk finalises World Cup squad". The Guardian. Press Association. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  16. ↑ "Vurnon Anita statistics". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  17. ↑ "Vurnon Anita statistics". Voetbal International. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  18. ↑ Vurnon Anita at National-Football-Teams.com
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