Steven Pienaar

Steven Jerome Pienaar is a midfielder of London side Tottenham and the SAR national team. He was born in Johannesburg, one of the biggest cities of the SAR. Steven began his career in Ajax Cape Town youth team. In January 2001 Pienaar joined moved to the Netherlands to become a player of Ajax Amsterdam.

On 24 February 2002, the midfielder made his debut for ‘the sons of the Gods’ in a 1-0 victory over Dutch side NAC Breda. Later Pienarr became the Eredivisie Champion (2002), but he made only eight appearances during that season.

In 2002/2003 Steven became one of Ajax pivots. That time he was playing with such famous footballers as Rafael van der Vaart, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wesley Sneijder, Maxwell, Andy van der Meyde and Cristian Chivu. The following season Chivu and van der Meyde left the team, but Pienarr and his teammates became the Dutch League Winners twice in three seasons.

In 2004/2005 the South African footballer played in 30 matches for Ajax (including 24 league matches) and netted four goals, but his team took second place in the main Dutch League. In the second half of 2005/2006, Steven took part in 26 matches for the club (including 15 league matches) and left the Netherlands in the winter of 2006, following Ibrahimovic, van der Vaart and de Jong, who had gone to conquer Europe earlier. The South African footballer made total 131 appearances and amassed 24 goals playing for Ajax.

In January 2006 Steven signed a three-year contract with Borussia Dortmund. He was bought as a replacement for Tomáš Rosický who had moved to London side Arsenal. Pienaar received the number 10 shirt, previously vacated by Rosický, but the South African player was destined to spend only one season in Germany, where he took part in 27 matches.

In July 2007, the midfielder was sent on loan to English side Everton. On 11 August the same year, the South African footballer made his debut for ‘The Toffees’, playing in the Premier League 2007/2008 feature on the first match day. Everton secured a 2-1 victory over Wigan. Pienaar came on as a substitute for Leon Osman after 73 minutes of the game and several minutes later Liverpool side team kicked their second goal. On 30 September 2007, Steven got on the scoresheet, slotting the ball past Middlesbrough’s goalkeeper and propelling the club towards a 2-0 win. That season the footballer played 28 league matches and fired two goals. After the loan spell ended, the English side club decided to keep the player and bought him from Borussia for £2 million and £350,000 for the loan. Pienaar signed for Everton till 2011.

Steven soon became one of Everton’s leaders and won the hearts of the fans from Goodison Park. In 2008/2009 he made 28 appearances and got on the scoresheet thrice. The following season that was 30 matches and four goals.

In January 2011 the player unexpectedly transferred to Tottenham. Everton was paid £3 million and Steven signed a contract with Spurs till the summer 2015. However, his London career didn’t get going, because in the second half of 2011/2012 he played only eight matches and took part only in two games in the first half of the following season. In January 2012 Pienaar returned to Goodison Park, but this time on a six-month loan. During all that time he managed to show his skill again, making four goals in 14 matches. ‘The Toffees’ wanted to buy the South African player back, but faced the lack of finance for signing him. Thereby, Steven went back to White Hart Lane in the summer of 2012.

The footballer started to take part in the matches of the national team in 2002. The same year he was invited to the main national squad for the 2002 World Cup. The following serious tournament was in eight years, when South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup. Steven played in all three group stage games, but his national team took third place in the group and failed to make their way to the playoff, though the squad was favoured with good reviews after the tournament. All in all, from 2002 till 2012 the midfielder took part in 57 matches and banged in two goals for ‘Bafana Bafana’.