Jeremain Lens

Jeremain Lens

Lens with FC Dynamo Kyiv in 2013
Personal information
Full name Jeremain Marciano Lens[1]
Date of birth (1987-11-24) 24 November 1987[2]
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 Sunderland
Number 17
Youth career
Spartaan
Ajax
Omniworld
AZ Alkmaar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2006–2010 AZ Alkmaar 55 (13)
2007–2008 → NEC (loan) 31 (9)
2010–2013 PSV 96 (34)
2013–2015 Dynamo Kyiv 49 (10)
2015– Sunderland 19 (2)
National team‡
2006 Netherlands U19 2 (1)
2006–2007 Netherlands U20 4 (0)
2007–2008 Netherlands U21 5 (0)
2010– Netherlands 30 (8)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:27, 10 April 2016 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 June 2015

Jeremain Marciano Lens (born 24 November 1987) is a Dutch footballer who plays for English club Sunderland and the Netherlands national football team. He is a versatile attacking player, known for his pace and stamina, primarily being used as a winger or a striker, but he can successfully play as a second striker.

He began his career at AZ, and after a loan at NEC played a part in their 2008–09 Eredivisie triumph. In 2010 he moved to PSV, where he won the 2011–12 KNVB Cup, and in 2013 was signed by Dynamo Kyiv. He won the Ukrainian Cup in his first season, the double in his second, and signed for Sunderland in July 2015.

Lens is a full international for the Netherlands, earning over 25 caps. In August 2010, he received his first international cap against Ukraine and scored a debut goal. He was part of the Dutch squad which came third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

AZ

Lens made his debut into professional football in the 2005–06 season. He played two matches for AZ that season. Before that he played in the youth team of AZ, FC Omniworld, Ajax Amsterdam and his regional team, Spartaan.

In June 2007, AZ reached a deal concerning a loan involving Lens. It meant that he would play the 2007–08 season for N.E.C., and that he would return to AZ the season afterwards. Lens agreed with the deal, and the player officially joined N.E.C. on loan in the summer of 2007.

Loan to N.E.C.

After a difficult beginning with his new club N.E.C. before the winter, Lens' as well as his team's situation improved with Lens scoring eight goals in 16 matches. N.E.C. qualified for the UEFA Cup preliminaries. A long time it seemed he would relocate permanently to N.E.C., but he eventually decided to return to AZ.

Return to AZ

In July 2008, Lens had an operation on his left foot, which meant he was out for some time. The 2008–09 season was a personal disappointment for Lens, who did not contribute much to AZ's championship win. When coach Louis van Gaal left the team for Bayern Munich, Lens saw a chance for himself to play more matches. He grabbed the chance under the new coach, and he played well and scored important goals for AZ.[3]

PSV Eindhoven

Lens at PSV Eindhoven in 2010

On 21 May 2010, PSV contracted Lens for 4 years, swapping Dirk Marcellis as part of the deal. Lens was given the no. 9 shirt, and his first year at the club was a successful one for the player. He was moved from a central position to the flanks, being more utilised on both wings or working behind strikers as a second striker. He struggled to score in first few games, but eventually got used to the new position. He reached the Europa League quarter-finals with the team, scoring three goals in 11 matches, and reached ten Eredivisie goals in 33 games, while the Eindhoven-based team only got to third place, despite being the table leaders for the most of the 2010–11 season. At the beginning of the 2011–12 season his jersey number was changed to no. 11, which was free since the departure of Nordin Amrabat to Kayserispor in January 2011. On 6 November 2011, he came in from the bench against Heracles and scored a hat-trick, his first for the club.

FC Dynamo Kyiv

Lens playing for Dynamo Kyiv in 2014

On 18 June 2013, Lens signed a four-year contract with the Ukrainian club FC Dynamo Kyiv.[4] On 29 August, Lens scored his first official goal for Dynamo, opening the score on the 9th minute of a 5–1 victory over Kazakhstani club FC Aktobe in the UEFA Europa League Play-offs second leg, an 8–3 aggregate win. On 6 October, Lens scored his first two goals in the Ukrainian Premier League in a crushing 9–1 victory over FC Metalurh Donetsk. He helped Dynamo win the Ukrainian Cup in his first season.

On 23 April 2015, Lens was sent off for two bookings in the first half, as Dyanmo lost 0–2 at Fiorentina and were eliminated from the quarter-finals of the Europa League. His second yellow card was when the referee judged that he had dived in the penalty area.[5] In his second and final season for Dynamo he managed to help his team win both the Ukrainian Premier League and Ukrainian Cup without suffering a single defeat in both competitions.

Sunderland

On 15 July 2015 after completing a medical, Sunderland signed Lens for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract. This move reunited him with head coach Dick Advocaat after previously working under him at PSV and AZ.[6]

Lens scored his first Premier League goal on 29 August 2015, securing a 2–2 draw at Aston Villa.[7] Lens scored his second Sunderland goal against West Ham United on 3 October 2015, lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Adrián to put the Black Cats 2–0 up. However, Lens was then sent off after receiving two yellow cards for rash tackles, and West Ham went on to get a 2–2 draw.[8] The match turned out to be Advocaat's final one in charge of Sunderland, as he left the club the next day.

Lens fell out of favour under new manager Sam Allardyce, and was dropped from the squad and fined two weeks wages after refusing to participate in a post-match warm-down following a defeat to Watford on 12 December 2015.[9] Lens later stated he was unhappy at Sunderland, suggesting he could leave the club in the January transfer window as he "did not come to the Premier League to sit on the bench".[10] Lens started in Sunderland's FA Cup 3rd round tie against Arsenal, and scored the opening goal in the match, after which Arsenal came back to win 3-1.[11]

International career

Suriname

Although Lens previously played for the Dutch under-21 team, he chose to play for the Suriname national team, since he said he felt like he is Surinamese. In 2009, Lens was called up for Suriname's squad by national team coach Wensley Bundel, for the Parbo Bier Cup. He scored two goals in three matches and helped Suriname finish second in the tournament.[12]

Since the tournament was not under the auspices of FIFA, Lens was still eligible for a call up for the Netherlands.

Netherlands

On 3 May 2010, Lens was called up for the Dutch national team, as a part of the preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[13] 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.[14] On 11 August 2010, Lens made his debut in a 1–1 friendly draw with Ukraine, scoring the only goal for the Oranje.[15]

Lens became a regular member of the Dutch team under the management of his former AZ coach Louis van Gaal. He scored five goals and made a further five assists during the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign.[16]

Lens was named in the Netherlands squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[17] He appeared as a substitute in the Netherlands' first two Group B games (a 1–5 win over Spain and a 2–3 victory against Australia) before starting in a 2–0 victory over Chile.[18] Lens played the full 120 minutes of the semi final against Argentina, which Argentina ultimately won on penalties.[19]

International goals

Career statistics

As of match played 10 April 2016[21][22]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AZ Alkmaar 2005–06 Eredivisie 2000—0020
2006–07 Eredivisie 14100—00141
2007–08 Eredivisie 0000—0000
2008–09 Eredivisie 8100—0081
2009–10 Eredivisie 321220—123514
Total 561420—125916
NEC (loan) 2007–08 Eredivisie 311300—003113
PSV 2010–11 Eredivisie 331020—1334813
2011–12 Eredivisie 33951—1215011
2012–13 Eredivisie 301530—744019
Total 9634101—32813843
Dynamo Kyiv 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League 28540—92417
2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League 21561—103379
Total 4910101—1957816
Sunderland 2015–16 Premier League 1921110—223
Career total 2206023310521529678

Honours

Club

[23]

AZ Alkmaar
PSV
Dynamo Kyiv

International

Netherlands

References

  1. ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 25. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Premier League Player Profile Jeremain Lens". Barclays Premier League. 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Archived 1 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20131029185310/http://www.interfax.co.uk/ukraine-news/dynamo-kyiv-signs-dutch-striker/. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ Hay, Anthony (23 April 2015). "Fiorentina 2–0 Dynamo Kiev (agg 3–1): Mario Gomez and Juan Vargas send Viola through to Europa League semi-finals after Jeremain Lens receives harsh second yellow for dive". Daily Mail. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Sunderland capture Lens". SAFC.com. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Jurejko, Jonathan (29 August 2015). "Aston Villa 2–2 Sunderland". Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Hope, Craig. "Sunderland 2-2 West Ham United: Jeremain Lens goes from hero to villain as he sees red after incredible first-half lob gave Dick Advocaat's Black Cats a two-goal lead which was then squandered". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  9. ↑ Hope, Craig. "Jeremain Lens dropped by furious Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce and set to be fined two weeks' wages after refusing to take part in post-match workout". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  10. ↑ Johns, Craig (2015-12-22). "Jeremain Lens unhappy at Sunderland: 'I did not come to the Premier League to sit on the bench'". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  11. ↑ "Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland: FA Cup third round – as it happened | Football". The Guardian. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  12. ↑ "Parbo Bier Cup 2009 (Surinam)". Rsssf.com. 2014-06-12. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  13. ↑ Archived 5 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ "Holland coach Bert van Marwijk finalises World Cup squad". The Guardian. Press Association. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  15. ↑ "Ukraine vs Netherlands Report". Goal com. website. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  16. ↑ "Jermain Lens". UEFA. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "BBC Sport - World Cup 2014: Netherlands announce final World Cup squad". BBC. 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  18. ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup™ - Matches". FIFA.com. 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  19. ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup™ - Matches". FIFA.com. 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  20. ↑ "Jeremain Lens - national football team player". Eu-football.info. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  21. ↑ "J. LENS". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "Jeremain Lens". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  23. ↑ "J. Lens". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  24. ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: Brazil-Netherlands". FIFA. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.

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