Erik Pieters
Erik Pieters ( born August 7, 1988 in Enspijk ) is a Dutch football player. Since 2013, the center-back is the English first division club Stoke City under contract.
Career
Association
Pieters began playing football at the club Rhelico near his birthplace. Quick scouts were aware of him and soon the Dutch first division side FC Utrecht secured the his services. In the junior section of the club he grew and came across the 2006/ 07 to the senior squad. After his first season he scored in the following year to the permanent staff of the FCU.
On 9 July 2008 he signed a contract with PSV Eindhoven over four years. There he received the jersey with the number 14, which had previously been worn by Slobodan Rajković. In his first season Pieters came up with 17 appearances in the Eredivisie. On 11.Match it underwent the away match against Ajax Amsterdam an own goal for interim 1:3, PSV lost the game 1:4. He got more appearances in the UEFA Champions League and KNVB Cup. At the beginning of the 2009/10 season Pieters was under new coach Fred Rutten regulars.
For the 2013/14 season leaves PSV Eindhoven and changes to Stoke City on the island. The transfer fee is 3.6 million euros, the left-back from the Netherlands to sign for four years.
National
In summer 2007 he was appointed Foppe de Haan in the squad of the Dutch U- 21 for the U -21 European Championship in 2007 in the Netherlands. After Pieters had not yet been taken into account in the preliminary round match against Israel, he made his debut in the second match against Portugal on as a substitute and secured with the team early qualification for the knockout round. In the semi-final against England, he was in the starting lineup, but was replaced due to injury against Tim Janssen. This Blessur but disabled him not very long before he ran in the final against Serbia back on for the team. The game ended in a 4-1 win for the Dutch.
For the 2008 Summer Olympics Pieters was nominated for the Olympic team of his country and arrived in Beijing two inserts. Among other things, he stood at the quarter-final match against Argentina on the square, the Netherlands lost 1:2 after extra time.
After the 2010 World Cup called Bond coach Bert van Marwijk Pieters for the match in Donetsk on 11 August 2010 against Ukraine for the first time in the squad of the national team. As the game long night took place after the World Cup final, van Marwijk had waived the player used at the World Cup. Pieters made his debut in a 1-1 draw, when he came on after half-time. In the following internationals he stood each in the starting lineup at left-back.
Achievements
- U-21 European Football Championships: 2007
- KNVB Cup: 2012 ( with PSV)