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Siem de Jong achieved this on Friday night for first time in 30 months

8 years ago
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Siem de Jong was back in action on Friday night.

A week earlier he made his first appearance in PSV colours, scoring a stunning 30 yard free-kick (watch it here) as he helped PSV’s second team to a 1-1 draw at NAC Breda.

Over in Holland, the second tier (equivalent of Championship in England) of Dutch football features the reserve teams of both Ajax and PSV.

So as Siem de Jong continues his progress at PSV, they felt he still wasn’t ready for first team duty this weekend, preferring the midfielder to get more game time on Friday night with the second team.

It ended up being a personal triumph for the Newcastle player as well as a victory for his team.

PSV II beating Dordrecht 3-2 to go three points clear in the Dutch second tier, whilst at the same time Siem de Jong played the full 90 minutes.

This is especially newsworthy, as remarkably it is fully 30 months since Siem de Jong last played a full league match.

Last night Siem de Jong played in front of 700, whereas on 9 March 2014 he played the full 90 minutes in front of 52,354 for Ajax as they drew 1-1 against Cambuur in the Eredivisie – de Jong scoring after only two minutes.

A week after that game he was injured in a Dutch league match against NAC Breda and never managed to finish any league match he has played since then.

This illustrates just what a nightmare it has been for both Newcastle United and their signing, also raising big questions as to why Graham Carr identified Siem de Jong as a sensible signing, considering just how many injuries the Ajax Captain had suffered from in his last season in Holland.

Last night saw Siem de Jong play the full game and see out the win despite the added disadvantage of having to play with 10 men for the last 31 minutes.

Hopefully sometime soon we will see a fully fit Siem de Jong, as last week’s goal perfectly illustrated – he has definitely got the ability but can he ever regain the fitness that helped make him such an outstanding player in Holland and a great competitor in the Champions League.

What a massive bonus it would be if Newcastle United made it back to the Premier League and Rafa Benitez could add a fully fit Siem de Jong to his squad..

First things first though, let’s get him in the PSV first team sometime soon and see if he has still got what it takes.

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