Andy van der Meyde - Biography

Last Editor: onceeven				Andy van der Meyde Biography -   Name : Andy van der Meyde Date of birth : September 30, 1979 Place of birth : Arnhem

Andy van der Meyde Trivia -

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Andy van der Meyde Detailed Biography -

Andy van der Meyde, (born September 30, 1979 in Arnhem), is a Dutch international footballer, he usually plays as a attacking midfielder. He currently plays his club football for Everton of the English Premiership. He is a right-footed winger, and can play on either wing, although for the Netherlands national football team and during his time at Ajax, he usually plays/played on the right wing. He was signed up to the famous Ajax youth academy as a youngster, and impressed so much he made his debut for Ajax aged just 18, helping his side beat FC Twente 1-0 on November 12th 1997. In 1999 he gained first team experience by joining Twente for a season loan. Van der Meyde played 32 out of the 34 league games and scored twice. After this, he became a regular for Ajax, playing 86 league games for them. His form earned him a call up to the Dutch national squad, and he regularly played Champions League football for Ajax. Meanwhile, van der Meyde was handed his debut for the Dutch national squad for a match against USA May 2002 under Dick Advocaat which he marked with a memorable goal in a 2-0 victory. In 2003, after scoring 11 goals from midfield, Inter Milan signed van der Meyde from Ajax for £4m. However a disappointing season saw Van der Meyde managing only 15 league appearances. In the summer of 2004, van der Meyde helped Holland reach the semi finals of Euro 2004. His inclusion into the squad was, however, not endorsed by Johan Cruijff who declared that as long as the winger is in the Dutch national team for Euro 2004, the team would not stand a chance to win the coveted title. In spite of such criticism, van der Meyde managed to feature in 4 matches in the build-up to the semi-finals. van der Meyde was overlooked for the semi-final game against Portugal and after EURO 2004, when Marco van Basten took over as national team coach, he did not receive a call-up to the Dutch team again. After 29 appearances for Inter in the 2004/05 season, van der Meyde was informed that he could find another club. Strong speculation suggested van der Meyde would return to Ajax, but on 31 August 2005 he agreed to join English club Everton F.C for £2m.