Jürgen Leonardo Locadia (born 7 November 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker who currently plays for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Curaçao national team.
Club career Early career
Locadia, who is of Curaçaoan descent, was born in Emmen, Netherlands, and began playing football with club VV Bargeres, before being discovered by the youth team of FC Emmen. He later said his passion of football began from his uncle, Jerry, who also played football, and took him to street football and FC Emmen matches. Locadia was offered a spot on Willem II, and his whole family resettled in Tilburg.
He was at Willem II for a year when Locadia joined PSV Eindhoven on 11 June 2010, signing a two–year contract. Locadia would that season be assigned to Jong PSV, making an impact when they won Beloften Eredivisie and earned a spot in the first team squad in the 2011–12 season. Locadia continued with the first squad and maintain his goal scoring form. Dutch media Voetbal International reported that he agreed to sign a three–year professional contract with the club. On 27 January 2012, it was confirmed that Locadia signed a contract with PSV Eindhoven.
Locadia started off the Jong PSV 2012–13 season well making 11 goals in the first six matches, including two braces and a hat–trick. With his first team opportunities coming from the substitute bench, Locadia returned to Jong PSV on 26 November 2012 against Feyenoord U21 and scored twice, in a 5–4 win. He later scored five more goals for the Jong side, including a hat–trick against Jong NEC Nijmegen on 19 February 2013.
PSV Eindhoven Following his performance in the 2011 Otten Cup, Manager Fred Rutten praised his performance, saying: "Locadia is a goal-scoring machine. He has surprised us in a positive way. He is very fast." Meanwhile, PSV Eindhoven's technical manager Marcel Brands hinted of calling up Locadia into the first team. On 21 September 2011, he made his first appearance for PSV in a KNVB Cup match against VVSB, coming on as a substitute for Tim Matavž in the 72nd minute, and scored the club's sixth goal in the 80th minute, winning 8–0. After the match, Manager Rutten said he would call up Locadia and teammate Memphis Depay to the first team, as long as, they perform well. Locadia made his first start for PSV in the following round against FC Lisse on 27 October 2011, as the club won 3–0. At the end of the 2011–12 season, he went on to make two appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Locadia was included in the PSV Eindhoven's pre–season tour in Poland after being called up Manager Dick Advocaat and helped the club win the Polish Masters. He was also handed the shirt number 19 for the first team. It was reported in August 2012 that Manager Advocaat was planning to loan out the player to get more playing time, but PSV Eindhoven's technical manager Marcel Brands decided to keep him. Locadia made his first appearance of the season as a starter in a KNVB Cup match against Achilles '29 on 27 September 2012 and he scored the second goal in the 3–0 win over the third-tier team. Three days later on 30 September 2012, Locadia made his Eredivisie debut against VVV-Venlo, entering the pitch in Venlo as a substitute in the 68th minute, and with only 22 minutes left in the game, he managed to score three goals in the 6–0 win over VVV-Venlo. Locadia became the first player to score a hat-trick in his Eredivisie debut since Harald Berg scored three goals in his debut game on 10 August 1969. A week after his debut hat-trick, Locadia was promoted to the first team and signed a new five-year contract with PSV which will keep him at the club until 2017. His performance led Manager Advocaat praising his attitude, saying: "Locadia is very confident. He is not easily fooled." Locadia made his UEFA Europa League debut, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against AIK on 8 November 2012. He then scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 6–1 win against NAC Breda on 22 December 2012. His next goal came on 2 February 2013 against ADO Den Haag when Locadia scored PSV Eindhoven's fifth goal of the game, in a 7–0 win. Three weeks later on 27 February 2013, he scored three goals in a 3–0 win over PEC Zwolle in the KNVB Cup semi-final. However, Locadia suffered a with tonsils problems while on international duty and was sidelined for a month after undergoing a surgery. He didn't make his return to the first team against NEC Nijmegen on 5 May 2013 and scored his fifth goal of the season, in a 4–2 win, helping the club finish second place in the league. Four days later in the final of the KNVB Beker against AZ Alkmaar on 9 May 2013, Locadia scored his sixth goal of the season, in a 2–1 loss. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Locadia went on to make twenty–two appearances and scoring eleven times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Locadia switched number shirt from nineteen to eleven following the departure of Jeremain Lens. He scored his first goal of the season, having come on as a 72nd-minute substitute, in a 2–0 win against Zulte Waregem in the third round qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, in a 2–0 win. In the return leg, PSV Eindhoven progressed to the next round after winning 3–0. Three days later on 10 August 2013, Locadia provided a hat–trick assist, in a 5–0 win against NEC Nijmegen. Since the start of the 2013–14 season, he established himself in the first team as the club's first choice striker, which saw him competing with Tim Matavž. Locadia then scored his second hat–trick of his professional career when he helped PSV Eindhoven beat SC Telstar in the second round of the KNVB Beker on 25 September 2013. A week later on 6 October 2013 against RKC Waalwijk, Locadia scored the winning goal, just four minutes after coming on as a substitute, in a 2–1 win. He then provided a role against Vitesse on 6 December 2013 by setting up the club's two goals, in a 6–2 loss. This was followed up by scoring against FC Utrecht and ADO Den Haag (twice). Locadia then scored two goals in two matches between 5 February 2014 and 8 February 2014 against SC Cambuur and FC Twente. His goal scoring form continued when he scored five times in five consecutive matches throughout March. Locadia then scored his seventeenth goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against PEC Zwolle and helped PSV Eindhoven finish fourth place in the league. Despite sustaining injuries during the 2013–14 season, it didn't affect his playing time, as he went on to make forty–one appearances and scored seventeen times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2014–15 season, Locadia switched number shirt from eleven to seventeen after switching numbers with teammate Luciano Narsingh. He played in both legs of the UEFA Europa League third round against St. Pölten and scored and assisted in the second leg, as PSV Eindhoven won 4–2 on aggregate to advance to the next round. Two days later on 9 August 2014, Locadia signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2019. He then scored two goals in the first two matches of the season against Willem II and NAC Breda. Following a new signing of Luuk de Jong, Locadia began playing in the winger positions, which he was willing to play in the position. However, Locadia have to compete in the winger position, due to Depay being preferred in the same position he's playing in, resulting in him being placed on the substitute bench. At times, Locadia started in the forward position in the absence of De Jong or Manager Cocu's rotation change in a number of matches. However, he struggled to play in the position as a result, scoring four times including a brace against Almere City in the third round of the KNVB Beker. Locadia scored twice for the club, playing in the left–wing and right–wing positions against Go Ahead Eagles and Excelsior respectively. As a result, this led to speculation over his future at PSV Eindhoven, but he wanted to stay at the club. Despite this, Locadia later helped PSV Eindhoven win the league title for the first time since 2008 after beating SC Heerenveen 4–1 on 22 April 2015; it was the first major trophy of his professional career. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he went on to make thirty–six appearances and scoring six times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Locadia was considering his future at PSV Eindhoven, due to his reduced playing time, and made it clear that he wanted to leave the club, having said that on two separate statements. However, both manager Cocu and technical manager Marcel Brands refused to let him go and wanted the player to stay at PSV Eindhoven on two separate statements. By mid–July, Locadia made a hint that he could stay at the club, as long as, getting more playing time, especially after the departure of Depay. Amid to his future at PSV Eindhoven, Locadia switched number shirt from seventeen to nineteen. He started in the Johan Cruijff Schaal against FC Groningen and played 74 minutes before being substituted, as the club won 3–0 to win the trophy. However, Locadia was dropped from the starting line–up for the next three matches until he apologised for his actions over his future at PSV Eindhoven and was fined by the club. He returned to the first team against Feyenoord on 30 August 2015, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute and scored his first goal of the season four minutes later, in a 3–1 win. This was followed up by scoring twice for PSV Eindhoven, in a 6–0 win against SC Cambuur. Locadia then scored two goals in two matches between 22 September 2015 and 26 September 2015 against SC Cambuur and NEC Nijmegen. Following this, he set up six goals in the next five league matches, including scoring against FC Twente. Locadia then scored his first UEFA Champions League goal, in a 2–0 win against VfL Wolfsburg on 3 November 2015. Following his return from suspension, he regained his first team place, playing in the winger positions. At times, Locadia also rotated in playing in the striker position as well. He then scored twice for PSV Eindhoven, in a 3–2 win against Heracles Almelo in the Round of 16 of the KNVB Beker on 16 December 2015. Locadia then set up two goals for the club, as PSV Eindhoven beat De Graafschap on 30 January 2016. Two weeks later on 14 February 2016, he scored and set up one of the club's goals, in a 3–0 win against NEC Nijmegen. Three weeks later on 5 March 2016, Locadia, once again, scored and set up one of PSV Eindhoven's goals, in a 3–0 win against FC Groningen. After suffering ankle injury while on international duty, he didn't make his return to the first team until on 16 April 2016 against Roda JC, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute, 3–0 win. In the last game of the season against PEC Zwolle, Locadia scored and set up a goal for De Jong, who scored twice, in a 3–1 win; a victory that saw the club win the league title for the second time in a row. Despite suffering injuries during the 2015–16 season, he went on to make forty–two appearances and scoring twelve times in all competitions.