Kevin Hofland

Kevin Hofland (born 7 June 1979) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a central defender.

Over the course of ten seasons (in a career which lasted 15) he amassed Eredivisie totals of 182 games and eight goals, namely for PSV and Feyenoord. He also represented one team each in Germany and Cyprus.

A Dutch international in the 2000s, Hofland earned 7 caps.

Club career

Fortuna

Hofland was born in Heerlen, but grew up in Brunssum, Limburg. He joined local SV Limburgia at the age of just four, moving to the professionals with Fortuna Sittard six years later.

Hofland played in various positions during his youth career, mainly as a left midfielder or left back. In 1995 he was reconverted by manager Henk Duut into a central defender, where he remained for the rest of his career.

On 10 September 1997, Hofland made his Eredivisie debut with Fortuna, against Sparta Rotterdam (1–1 away draw). He finished his first season with only six league appearances, but subsequently became a starter, helping the side to the 12th-place in the 1999–00 campaign.

PSV

In summer 2000, Hofland signed with national giants PSV Eindhoven. Despite his young age and the heavy competition within the team, he quickly became an important player in the team's defence but, after a serious ankle injury in a 2002–03 UEFA Champions League group stage match against Arsenal, he lost his starting position to Wilfred Bouma.

Hofland played 20 matches in 2003–04 to help the Philips outfit finished second in the domestic championship, to AFC Ajax. After the arrival of Alex on loan from Chelsea he decided to leave the club, having won a total of four major titles.

Wolfsburg

Former PSV manager Eric Gerets was one of the main reasons for Hofland to join VfL Wolfsburg in Germany. He went on to play three seasons in the Bundesliga, making his debut in the competition on 7 August 2004 in a 2–1 win at Borussia Dortmund (90 minutes played).

In his last two years with the Wölfen, Hofland played in 49 games combined scoring twice, but the team ranked 15th on both occasions, being the first side above the relegation zone.

Feyenoord / AEK

On 28 June 2007, Hofland signed with Feyenoord, for four years. He only managed to appear in eight league games in the 2009–10 season, winning the first and only Dutch Cup of his career in 2008.

In the 2010 offseason Hofland was loaned to Cypriot First Division club AEK Larnaca FC, helping the team to the fourth position in both the regular season and the second stage, whilst scoring a career-best five goals and being team captain.

Hofland signed a permanent deal with AEK in July 2011.^[1] On 17 March of the following year, however, he officially retired from professional football after another injury to his ankle.^[2]

International career

On 15 November 2000, Hofland played his first international match with Netherlands, starting in an away friendly with Spain in Sevilla (2–1 win).

Four of his seven caps for the Oranje came during the ill-fated 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.

Statistics

Club

International

National team Club Season Apps Goals Netherlands PSV 2000–01 2 0 2001–02 4 0 2002–03 0 0 2003–04 0 0 Wolfsburg 2004–05 1 0 Total 7 0

International appearances and goals # Date Venue Opponent Result Goals Competition 2000–01 1. 15 November 2000 Estadio Olímpico, Sevilla, Spain  Spain 1–2 0 Friendly 2. 25 April 2001 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands  Cyprus 4–0 0 2002 World Cup qualification 2001–02 3. 15 August 2001 White Hart Lane, London, England  England 0–2 0 Friendly 4. 1 September 2001 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Republic of Ireland 1–0 0 2002 World Cup qualification 5. 5 September 2001 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands  Estonia 5–0 0 2002 World Cup qualification 6. 6 October 2001 Gelredome, Arnhem, Netherlands  Andorra 4–0 0 2002 World Cup qualification 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 7. 18 August 2004 Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden  Sweden 0–0 0 Friendly

Honours

Fortuna

• KNVB Cup: Runner-up 1998–99

PSV

• Eredivisie: 2000–01, 2002–03
• Johan Cruijff Shield: 2000, 2001
• KNVB Cup: Runner-up 2000–01

Feyenoord

• KNVB Cup: 2007–08; Runner-up 2009–10

Personal life

Hofland is married. He and his wife have three sons.^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kevin Hofland.

• Stats at Voetbal International (Dutch)
• Kevin Hofland profile at Fussballdaten
• Kevin Hofland profile and stats at Wereld van Oranje (Dutch)
• Kevin Hofland at National-Football-Teams.com
• Kevin Hofland – FIFA competition record
• Feyenoord official profile (Dutch)