Gianni Michel Eugene Zuiverloon (; born 30 December 1986) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a right-back or centre-back. He represented the Netherlands at youth level and also played abroad for football clubs in England, Spain and India.
Club career
Early career
Zuiverloon was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He started his football career at the age of six at Feyenoord.
Due to the injury of a teammate (Dustley Mulder) at Feyenoord, coach Ruud Gullit selected Zuiverloon for the first team, where he made his debut in professional football in the season of 2004–05. His first game was against Willem II, on 22 August 2004. He played a total of ten games that season, scoring no goals. In order to get more first-team experience, he was loaned out to RKC Waalwijk in the 2005–06 season, where he played a total of 28 games.
In June 2006, he signed a three-year deal with his new club Heerenveen. The year before, he was loaned to RKC Waalwijk, scoring his only goal that season against Heerenveen.
West Bromwich Albion
On 2 July 2008, it was confirmed by Heerenveen that Zuiverloon had signed a three-year deal, with an extra year in the club's favour, for West Bromwich Albion of the Premier League for £3.2 million. He made his debut for West Brom in a 2–1 loss against Everton. His first Albion goal came in the FA Cup, in the 3–1 defeat to Burnley on 3 February 2009. Following West Brom losing to Liverpool 2–0, Albion were relegated to the Championship after one season in the Premier League.
In his second season, Zuiverloon established himself in the first team under manager Roberto Di Matteo. He scored his first league goal for West Brom in a 5–0 win over Watford on 31 October 2009 and went on to score in both games against Scunthorpe United, and against Cardiff City, as his team secured promotion to the Premier League after finishing second place in the Championship.
In his third season for West Brom, Zuiverloon's first-team opportunities were limited while he made three starts in the League Cup, scoring in a 2–1 win against Manchester City on 22 September 2010. He was loaned out to Championship side Ipswich Town on the last day of the loan window. He later on returned to his parent club, after four appearances for Ipswich, in December 2010 as Di Matteo faced a defensive crisis. Zuiverloon made his return against Manchester United on 1 January 2011. Three days later, he made his last Premier League match for West Brom Albion against Fulham in a 3–0 loss. Following the match, he criticised Fulham defender John Pantsil for the tackle that forced Marek Cech out of the game.
Zuiverloon announced he would leave the club in the summer and join a new club where he could play regularly. Eventually, he was released by the club on 25 May 2011 along with his teammates Abdoulaye Meite and Giles Barnes.
Later career On 10 July 2011, Zuiverloon signed a three-year deal for Spanish side Mallorca on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club as they beat Espanyol 1–0 on 29 August 2011. On 15 July 2012, Zuiverloon returned to Heerenveen on loan."SC Heerenveen haalt Zuiverloon terug van Real Mallorca" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
After his contract with Mallorca had been dissolved, Zuiverloon signed a three-year deal with Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag as a free agent in August 2013."Zuiverloon verlaat Real Mallorca en tekent bij ADO" (in Dutch). Voetbalprimeur. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013. Three years later, he returned to Spain with Segunda División B club Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa.La Cultural Leonesa cierra su plantilla con Gianni Zuiverloon (Cultural Leonesa complete their squad with Gianni Zuiverloon); Diario AS, 19 August 2016
On 31 August 2018, Zuiverloon switched to Indian Super League club Delhi Dynamos FC. The following 26 June, he switched to Kerala Blasters FC in the same league.
International career Born in the Netherlands, Zuiverloon is of Surinamese descent. Zuiverloon was a Netherlands Under 21 regular.
In 2007, Zuiverloon was called up by Jong Oranje coach Foppe de Haan to be part of his squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship held in the Netherlands. Zuiverloon participated in both of their first round group matches against Israel (1–0 win) and Portugal (2–1 win) to secure a semi-final spot and to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the semi-finals against England Zuiverloon had a great effort, playing a quality match which ended in 1–1 after extra time. In the following penalty shoot-out, with 32 kicks taken, Zuiverloon forced the decision with his strike past Scott Carson and brought the Dutch into their second straight final. The Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating Serbia 4–1 in the final. After the tournament, he was named in the 'UEFA Team of the tournament'. At the 2008 Olympics, he helped the Netherlands to reach the quarter-finals, where they were defeated 2–1 by Argentina.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsFeyenoord2004–05Eredivisie10000–30–130RKC Waalwijk2005–06Eredivisie28120––21322Heerenveen2006–07Eredivisie30110–60203912007–0830220–2040382Total60330008061773West Bromwich Albion2008–09Premier League3302100––3512009–10Championship3043020––3542010–11Premier League201031––61Total65461510000766Ipswich Town (loan)2010–11Championship400000––40Mallorca2011–12La Liga9030–––120Heerenveen (loan)2012–13Eredivisie10000–4000140ADO Den Haag2013–14Eredivisie26010–––2702014–1532110–––3312015–1622210–––232Total80330000000833Cultural Leonesa2016–17Segunda División B24240––203022017–18Segunda División26000–––260Total50240000020562Delhi Dynamos2018–19Indian Super League17210–––182Kerala Blasters2019–20Indian Super League8000–––80ADO Den Haag2020–21Eredivisie8000–––80Career total349152215115010140118
Honours Cultural Leonesa Segunda División B: 2016–17
Netherlands U21 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship: 2007
References
External links