Rens van Eijden

Van Eijden came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute for the Ivorian striker, Arouna Koné.

After the match, van Eijden reflected on his PSV Eindhoven debut, admitting he didn't Expect it.

This turns out to be his only appearance for the side, as he spent his PSV Eindhoven in the reserves.

Rens van Eijden (born 3 March 1988) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a centre back.

Born in Oss, Netherlands, van Eijden began his career at RKSV Margriet, a club based in his hometown.

Then, van Eijden joined PSV Eindhoven youth system in 1999, where he started his career there and after progressing through the ranks, he was promoted to Jong PSV Eindhoven in September 2004.

On 11 April 2007, van Eijden was called up to the senior team for the first time by then Manager Ronald Koeman and he made his debut for PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League-match against Liverpool.

In February 2008, van Eijden was officially promoted to the PSV Eindhoven and began training with the side.

In April 2008, van Eijden signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2011.

In the summer of 2008, he left PSV on loan, to play for Willem II for the rest of the season, which also obtained a transfer right option.

Upon joining Willem II, van Eijden believed the move would benefited him, stating it would be good for developing his career.

Van Eijden made his Willem II debut (as well as making his debut in the Eredivisie), where he started the whole game, in a 3–1 win over NAC Breda on 14 September 2008.

It wasn't until on 13 December 2008 when he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 loss against NEC Nijmegen.

Two weeks later, on 27 December 2008, he scored, in a 3–2 win over Sparta Rotterdam.

Since making his Willem II debut, van Eijden appeared in every match for the side until he sustained knee injury and had to be substituted after playing 70 minutes, in a 2–0 loss against Vitesse on 31 January 2009.

After returning to the first team, van Eijden went on to make 23 appearances for the Tilburgers.

In April 2009, he signed a four-year contract with N.E.C. He joined the side after finishing his loan spell at Willem II which ran until the end of the 2008–09 Eredivisie season and was given number 3 shirt ahead of the new season.

van Eijden made his NEC Nijmegen debut, where he started the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against Feyenoord in the opening game of the season.

It wasn't until on 27 January 2010 when he scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–2 loss against Ajax in the quarter–final of the KNVB Beker.

However, despite suffering from injury during the season and subsequently placed on the substitute bench for the rest of the season, van Eijden finished his first season at NEC Nijmegen, making the total of 27 appearances and scoring once.

Reflecting to his first season, van Eijden cited his poor performance on his personal problems.

In the 2010–11 season, van Eijden started the season well when he set up a goal for Ramon Zomer, who scored the only goal in the game, in a 1–0 win over VVV-Venlo.

However, van Eijden found himself out of the first team, due to sidelined over injuries and being on the substitute bench.

Despite this, he went to make the total of 15 appearances in all competitions.

In his first two seasons at NEC, van Eijden faced criticism from the club's supporters, due to his poor performance.

In the 2011–12 season, van Eijden began to established himself in the starting eleven in the defence (and continued to remain in the starting eleven for the next four seasons until his departure).

and started every match despite his brief injury.

During a 1–0 win over Feyenoord on 5 November 2011, van Eijden was punched by Guyon Fernandez after Fernandez accused van Eijden of racism, serving a six match ban for assault.

As a result, van Eijden was cleared of racism and the Dutch FA did not take action against him.

van Eijden, himself, denied claims that he racially abused Fernandez.

At the end of the 2011–12 season, that saw N.E.C. unsuccessfully won a UEFA Europa League spot, van Eijden was awarded Player of the Season and signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2016.

It wasn't until on 19 February 2012 when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 4–1 loss against Ajax.

After briefly sidelined over suspension and injuries on four occasions, van Eijden made the total of 31 appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

In the 2012–13 season, van Eijden continued to be in the first team and started the season when he played 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet, in a 2–0 win over Heerenveen in the first match of the season.

He then scored his first goal of the season on 27 January 2013, in a 2–1 win over FC Groningen.

Although he was booked three times during the season, van Eijden played every singles matches this season, making the total of 35 appearances.

He was also won Player of the Year Award, voted by the club's supporters.

In the 2013–14 season, van Eijden was captain for the side in absence of Ryan Koolwijk and played his first match as captain in the opening game of the season, which saw N.E.C. lose 4–1 to Groningen.

Following the match, he accepted his responsibilities over the loss.

He continued to remain his first team place in the back four since the start of the season.