Dirk Marcellis

Dirk Marcellis
	Marcellis in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Dirk Antoon Nico Marcellis
Date of birth	13 April 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Horst, Netherlands
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Centre back
Youth career
	Wittenhorst
	VVV-Venlo
Senior career*
Years	Team
2006–2010	PSV
2010–2015	AZ
2015	NAC Breda
2015–2018	PEC Zwolle
Total
International career
2005	Netherlands U17
2008–2009	Netherlands U21
2008–2010	Netherlands
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Netherlands
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dirk Antoon Nico Marcellis (born 13 April 1988) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a centre back. After a non-playing period at PSV, Marcellis fought back at AZ and became one of its important players. After suffering from injuries, he signed with NAC Breda in January 2015. He signed with PEC Zwolle after NAC was relegated. He retired in 2018 due to a severe knee injury.

Club career

PSV

Born in Horst aan de Maas, Marcellis began his professional career at PSV. Despite being short for a central defender, Marcellis worked his way up the ladder at the club, and eventually played his way in the starting line-up, forming a confident pair with Mexican defender Carlos Salcido. It was then that Marcellis was first really noticed by the bigger audience. He managed himself quite comfortably in the PSV defence, and almost effortlessly replaced the highly rated Brazilian central defender Alex, who went back to Chelsea after being loaned by PSV for several seasons. On 30 July 2009, Marcellis scored a last-minute goal against Bulgarian side PFC Cherno More Varna to help his team to a 1–0 home win in a third qualifying round game of the UEFA Europa League.^[2] He transferred to AZ after they sold their striker Jeremain Lens to PSV.

AZ

On 21 May 2010, he was involved with the deal with Jeremain Lens. Lens went to PSV and AZ contracted Marcellis. After a non-playing period at PSV, Marcellis fought back at AZ and became one of the more reliable defenders in the league. Unfortunately he injured his knee in May 2013 and as a result he missed the whole 2013–14 season. After his contract expired in July 2014, he was released. However, in October 2014, he was given an opportunity to earn a new contract with the Alkmaar side by signing an amateur deal. He returned as a substitute in the match against Feyenoord on 14 December 2014.

NAC Breda

On 31 December 2014, it was announced that Marcellis had signed with Eredivisie side NAC Breda until the end of the season.^[3] Upon arrival he was named captain by trainer Robert Maaskant.

International career

Youth

After impressing with PSV both in the UEFA Cup against Tottenham Hotspur and Fiorentina, where he played solid games against Dimitar Berbatov and Adrian Mutu, Marcellis caught the eye of not only Dutch football fans but also the Netherlands U-21 coach Foppe de Haan.

De Haan almost immediately included Marcellis in the squad and let him make his debut for the Netherlands U-21. Marcellis didn't disappoint by playing very solidly in defence, game after game. Not only on his preferred place in central defence but at times also as a right back.

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics

He was selected for the Netherlands Olympic squad and was absolute first choice central defender during the entire run-up to the Olympics, where he made a confident impression, seldom making a mistake. He played in all the group games, where the Dutch barely qualified for the quarter finals, coming second on points. He also played the quarter-final against Argentina, where they were eliminated. After the full 90 minutes and extra time had resulted in a 1–1 draw, they surprisingly lost 2–1.

Senior

He received his first call-up under national team coach Bert van Marwijk for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Norway & Iceland. He made his debut on 11 October 2008, against Iceland.

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
2006–07	PSV	Eredivisie	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
2007–08			26	0	1	0	10	0	37	0
2008–09			31	0	0	0	6	0	37	0
2009–10			11	0	3	0	3	1	17	1
2010–11	AZ	Eredivisie	32	0	3	0	9	0	44	0
2011–12			24	0	4	0	13	0	41	0
2012–13			31	0	6	1	2	0	39	0
2013–14			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2014–15			1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2014-15	NAC Breda		17	0	4	0	0	0	21	0
Career total			173	0	21	1	44	1	238	2

Honours

PSV

AZ

KNVB Cup: 2012–13

References

^ "Booking List: UEFA Cup 2007/08" (PDF). UEFA. 18 February 2008. p. 10. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ "PSV secures late winner". UEFA com. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
^ Marcellis nieuwe aanwinst NAC Archived 31 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine (Dutch). 31 December 2014.

External links

Dirk Marcellis at WorldFootball.net

[1] "Booking List: UEFA Cup 2007/08" (PDF). UEFA. 18 February 2008. p. 10. Retrieved 18 November 2023.

[2] "PSV secures late winner". UEFA com. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.

[3] Marcellis nieuwe aanwinst NAC Archived 31 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine (Dutch). 31 December 2014.

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