Eljero Elia is a 24-year-old Dutch-born footballer (born 13 February 1987) who plays football for the German football club Hamburger SV. He was also part of The Netherland’s squad that finished runner-ups in the FIFA WORLD CUP in 2010 in South Africa.
Elia primarily plays his football in the forward position either as a striker or as a winger he stands in at 1.77 meters (5 feet 9 and a half inches) and wears the number 11 shirt for his club.
Elia first broke into the ADO Den Haag team through their youth set up in 2004 after playing for their youth team for two years. After breaking into the senior team Eljero Elia played 59 games on the wing for them and scored 6 goals catching the eye of Dutch Club FC Twente and Ajax.
He chose FC Twente over Ajax football club and signed for them in 2007. He quickly became one of the best players in The Dutch league due to which he was named as Dutch Football Talent of The Year in 2008/2009 season.
After the conclusion of the 2009 season, he signed for German Club Hamburger FC for about 9 million Euros. Elia is known for his pace and dribbling skills and is one of the fast players in The German league.
His ability to get past defenders using his pace is considered a lethal weapon by managers and he contributes regularly with both assists and goals. His inconsistency has often been a major problem in his growth but he is slowly improving on it.
Appearances:
■ 59 matches for ADO Den Haag and 6 goals
■ 64 matches for FC Twente and 11 goals
■ 48 matches for Hamburger SV and 7 goals
■ 22 matches for the Netherlands and 2 goals
