Yuri Cornelisse

Yuri Cornelisse

Cornelisse with Groningen in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Yuri Cornelisse
Date of birth	(1975-05-08) 8 May 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth	Alkmaar, Netherlands
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1983–1992	AFC '34
1992–1994	AZ
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1996	AFC '34
1996–1998	TOP Oss	64	(14)
1998–1999	Anderlecht	0	(0)
1999–2004	RKC Waalwijk	157	(27)
2004–2005	NAC Breda	33	(8)
2005–2007	Groningen	55	(8)
2007–2010	ADO Den Haag	62	(8)
Total		371	(65)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Yuri Cornelisse (born 8 May 1975) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker from 1994 to 2010, notably for RKC Waalwijk. ^[2]

As a footballer he also played for AFC '34, TOP Oss, Anderlecht, NAC Breda, Groningen and ADO Den Haag.

Career

Early career

Cornelisse started playing football in the youth department of AFC '34 at age 8, and later moved to the youth academy of AZ, before returning to AFC '34. He started his professional career with TOP Oss, where he played for two seasons. ^[3]

His performances attracted the attention of Belgian club Anderlecht, who eventually signed him in. In Belgium, Cornelisse soon suffered a fracture in his metatarsal bone in an exhibition game against his former club TOP Oss in pre-season. This prompted him to return to the Netherlands because, on the one hand, his rehabilitation took more time than planned and, on the other hand, because manager Arie Haan had been fired and his successor Jean Dockx brought about nine new players to Anderlecht. This meant that Cornelisse was free to leave the club, after making no official appearances, and he moved to RKC Waalwijk. ^[4]

RKC Waalwijk

In his first season at RKC, 1999–2000, the club finished 10th but qualified for the then UEFA Intertoto Cup. The team was coached by future Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax manager Martin Jol. ^[5] Cornelisse made 33 total appearances that season, in which he scored seven goals. He made his European debut in the Intertoto Cup against English club Bradford City on 16 July 2000. ^[6] His club would be knocked out with the score finishing 0–3 on aggregate. ^[7] In his third season at the club, RKC were represented in the Intertoto Cup once again, but were knocked out by German club 1860 Munich in the third round, 2–5 on aggregate with Cornelisse playing in both games. ^[8]

Cornelisse played five seasons in Waalwijk, and finished eighth on the all-time top goalscorer list at the club with 27 goals to his name. ^[5] On his time with RKC he later stated: "I played at RKC for five years. Of course that wasn't by accident. It's pretty rare these days to play for the same club for so long, but I didn't regret it for a second. I really felt at home there." ^[5]

NAC Breda

On 18 December 2003, he signed with NAC Breda on a four-year contract, which meant that he would come over as a free agent on 30 June 2004. ^[9] He made his debut against Utrecht on 14 August 2004 in a 3–2 home win. In the following match, Cornelisse scored his first goal for the club as NAC lost 6–2 away to Ajax. The game became mostly known for Zlatan Ibrahimović's four goals, of which one was iconic – a slaloming run past five opposition players which the commentator compared with Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane – that was eventually voted the Goal of the Year by Eurosport viewers. ^{[10] [11]} Cornelisse made 33 appearances that season in which he scored 8 goals as NAC finished 15th in the league table, avoiding relegation play-offs by three points. ^[12]

Groningen

A year after joining NAC, Cornelisse moved to Groningen, signing a three-year contract. There, he mainly played as a striker. ^[13] He missed a crucial penalty kick on 28 September 2006 in the second leg of the UEFA Cup first round against Partizan which meant that Groningen were knocked out of the competition. This happened after regular penalty taker Koen van de Laak – who had scored from a penalty earlier in the game – had been subbed off for Cornelisse. ^[14] In the following league match, Cornelisse came on as a substitute in a 4–3 comeback win over Vitesse, contributing with an assist to Luis Suárez. After the game, he was cheered on by Groningen supporters, something he later described as one of the "best memories" from his career. ^[15]

ADO Den Haag

On 9 July 2007 it was announced that Cornelisse has signed a three-year contract with ADO Den Haag. ^[16]

Cornelisse announced his retirement from football on 21 October 2010. Instead, he would focus on his education to become a police officer. ^{[17] [18]}

Personal life

He is the elder brother of Tim Cornelisse, and the uncle of Enzo Cornelisse, both also professional footballers. ^[19] He retired from football to become a police officer. ^{[20] [21]}

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			KNVB Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
TOP Oss	1996–97	Eerste Divisie	31	8	—		—		—		31	8
	1997–98		33	6	—		—		—		33	6
	Total		64	14	—		—		—		64	14
Anderlecht	1998–99	Belgian First Division	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
RKC Waalwijk	1999–2000	Eredivisie	32	6	1	0	—		—		33	7
	2000–01		32	2	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		34	2
	2001–02		30	7	1	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		33	7
	2002–03		31	9	0	0	—		—		31	9
	2003–04		32	3	0	0	—		—		32	3
	Total		157	27	2	0	4	0	—		163	27
NAC Breda	2004–05	Eredivisie	33	8	0	0	—		—		33	8
Groningen	2005–06	Eredivisie	33	8	1	0	—		4 [lower-alpha 2]	1	38	9
	2006–07		22	0	2	0	2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	28	0
	Total		55	8	3	0	2	0	6	1	66	9
ADO Den Haag	2007–08	Eerste Divisie	32	6	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 4]	1	34	7
	2008–09	Eredivisie	23	2	2	0	—		—		25	2
	2009–10		7	0	1	0	—		—		8	0
	Total		62	8	3	0	—		2	1	67	9
Career total			371	65	8	0	6	0	8	2	393	67

Notes

1. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
2. Appearance in Eredivisie European play-offs
3. Both appearances in UEFA Cup.
4. Appearances in Eerste Divisie promotion play-offs

References

1. Yuri Cornelisse at WorldFootball.net
2. Yuri Cornelisse deed een beroepskeuzetest en werkt nu bij de zedenpolitie vice.com
3. "Yuri Cornelisse". Nederlandse Politie Voetbal Sport (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
4. "VOETBALSEIZOEN 1999-2000". Trouw (in Dutch). 9 August 1999. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
5. van den Berghe, Roy (29 May 2020). "Yuri Cornelisse, nog altijd topfit en in balans: 'Daar geloof ik heel erg in'". Brabants Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
6. "RKC tegen Bradford City". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 9 July 2000. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
7. Harling, Nicholas (24 July 2000). "Fatigue fear for happy City travellers". The Guardian (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
8. "RKC komt tekort tegen 1860 München". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 21 July 2001. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
9. "Yuri Cornelisse verruilt RKC voor NAC Breda". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 18 December 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
10. "Goal • Zlatan Ibrahimović • Ajax – NAC Breda (22-08-2004)". Ajax • Eredivisie Archief. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018– via YouTube.
11. "Zlatans Career". ZlatanIbrahimovic.net. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
12. "Historie eredivisie competitie 2004-2005" (in Dutch). Eredivisie. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
13. "Yuri Cornelisse drie jaar naar Groningen". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 22 May 2005. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
14. "Misser Yuri Cornelisse nekt FC Groningen". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 28 September 2006. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
15. Bleeker, Stefan (13 April 2020). "Yuri Cornelisse blikt terug op tranen na doelpuntenfestijn tegen Vitesse". RTV Noord (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
16. "Yuri Cornelisse van Groningen naar ADO Den Haag". Trouw (in Dutch). 9 July 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
17. Kruyt, Bart (21 October 2010). "Yuri Cornelisse gaat bij de politie en stopt met betaald voetbal". voetbalzone.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
18. "Yuri Cornelisse ruilt voetballoopbaan in voor politie". Het Parool (in Dutch). 21 October 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
19. "Het Dagblad van het Noorden maakt gebruik van cookies".
20. Yuri Cornelisse ruilt voetballoopbaan in voor politie - Parool (in Dutch)
21. Agent Yuri Cornelisse zwaait af als international in 'zijn' Waalwijk - Omroep Brabant (in Dutch)