John Goossens

John Goossens is a midfielder of Feyenoord. He was born on 25 July 1988 in Heemstede, Netherlands.

John started to play football in HBC Heemstede, which was located in his native town, before joining the academy of Ajax in 1999. In 2006 the player moved to the reserve team of Ajax and began to perform for the main squad of the club in 2007. Goossens was sent to the training camp in Scotland, where he took part in friendlies with Scottish side Rangers and Falkirk.

Head coach Henk ten Cate trusted John and gave him a place on the substitutes’ bench in the Johan Cruijff Shield match in 2007, but the midfielder did not manage to come on the pitch. The footballer’s début for the youth team of Ajax came on 1 October the same year in the game against Sparta, where he injured his back. It took Goossens two months to fully recuperate and return to his position of a left midfielder (although he started to play as a forward).

On 2 February 2008, John ended his Ajax spell with NEC Nijmegen move on a four-year deal. At first, the player wanted to seal a deal with Twente, but his club failed to agree all terms and the negotiations stopped. The footballer’s professional début for NEC came on 4 February 2009 in the match versus F.C. Groningen.

Goossens made encouraging display and the club offered him an extension, but John decided to reject the offer and pen a four-year contract with Feyenoord.

John took part in various matches at the international level. In 2005 the midfielder was included into the roster of the Netherlands national youth team for the European U-17 Championship, where his squad strolled to the bronze medals. In 2010 the Goossens was capped for the U-21 team, which beat Ukraine on 12 October 2010.