Wilfred Bouma (born June 15, 1978 in Helmond, the Netherlands)
is a Dutch soccer player who currently plays for English club
Aston Villa.
He started his career at amateur club SV Rood-Wit '62 before
joining PSV Eindhoven on a youth contract in 1994. The PSV
headcoach back then, Aad de Mos handed him his professional
debut against Willem II on October 26, 1994 which his team lost
2–1. After not featuring for a long time, he was loaned out to
MVV Maastricht in 1996 and play in the Eerste Divisie where he
scored 7 goals in 18 games. The following season, he scored 6
goals in 33 games after helping his team back into the
Eredivisie. After impressing at Fortuna Sittard in 1998/1999, he
was drafted back into the PSV squad the following season.
At PSV, he played as a left winger and as forward because of his
quick pace and direct passing, teaming up with Arnold Bruggink
and at times, with Ruud van Nistelrooy. When Arhur Numan went
off to Rangers at the end of the 1999-2000 season, Bouma was
moved to left-back where he had to compete with Danish
international Jan Heintze.
With the 2002 World Cup qualifiers entering its crucial stages,
Bouma was chosen to represent the Dutch national team and was
handed his international debut against the Republic of Ireland
on September 2, 2000. In the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal,
he was chosen by Dick Advocaat to play as a central defender and
he has also retained that spot while playing for PSV under Guus
Hiddink in the 2004-2005 season. Just before the closing of the
international transfer window, Bouma signed for Aston Villa on
30 August 2005 for £3.5m. |
