Jonathan de Guzmán

Jonathan Alexander de Guzmán (born 13 September 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Sparta Rotterdam.

De Guzmán is Canadian-born, but made himself available for the Netherlands after he gained Dutch citizenship in 2008, having lived in the country since the age of 12. He progressed through the Feyenoord Academy, making his first team debut in 2005 and went on to play over 100 matches for the club from Rotterdam. In the summer of 2010 de Guzmán signed a three-year contract with RCD Mallorca following a free transfer. The following summer he was purchased by Villarreal.

Internationally, he was capped four times for the Netherlands U21 team, scoring three goals and playing in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Later, he went on to become a full international, making 14 appearances for the senior Netherlands side between 2013 and 2015.

In 2014, De Guzmán was described as a player with good technique, vision, and shooting ability from distance; he is also known as a free-kick specialist.

Early life

De Guzmán was born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario and is of Jamaican and Filipino descent. His father Bobby, from the Philippines, and mother Pauline, from Jamaica, came to Canada when they were ten years old and have three children: a daughter Jenelle and the two sons Jonathan and Julian. De Guzmán's older brother, Julian de Guzman, is also a former professional football player who retired as the most capped player for the Canada men's national soccer team and was the general manager at Ottawa Fury from 2017 until 2019. Julian was the first Canadian to play in La Liga.