Vurnon Anita

Vurnon San Benito Anita (born 4 April 1989) is a Curaçaoan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or full-back for Saudi First Division League club Al-Orobah.

After he and his family moved to the Netherlands in 1997, he started playing for amateur side VV Maarssen.

Later he was scouted by Ajax and he joined their world-famous youth program in 1999.

Ajax managed to qualify for the Group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2005–06.

As of the 2005–06 season he was promoted to the first team of Ajax and on 19 March 2006 he made his Eredivisie debut in a 3–2 away loss against FC Groningen.

That year he also participated in the KNVB Cup semi-final against Roda JC.

Ajax went on to win the KNVB Cup that year.

The following season he added another match to his Eredivisie total, bringing it to two appearances.

He also made his European debut in the 3–0 away loss against Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup.

In the 2007–08 season Anita did not play any matches for the first team, but in the 2008–09 he returned to the first team squad.

He played a total of 16 matches, mainly as a replacement for injured or suspended teammates.

In the 2009–10 season Anita became a first team regular under new head coach Martin Jol.

Because of a suspension of Urby Emanuelson and a long-time injury of Thimothée Atouba, Anita was posted as a left back.

Jol was satisfied with his performance and continued to let him play as a left back for most of the season.

He also played in the KNVB Cup final against Feyenoord and won his second KNVB Cup.

His good performances also led to his debut at the Dutch national team.

Born in Curaçao and raised in the Netherlands, Anita played for the Netherlands national team in 2010 before switching to play for the Curaçao national team in 2021.

Anita releases rap music under the moniker "JR (Vurnon Anita)".

In his youth years on Curaçao, Anita started to play football at local team CVV Willemstad.

However, he was not selected for the squad for 2010 FIFA World Cup by coach Bert van Marwijk.

The 2010–11 season started as the previous season ended with Anita playing most matches as a left back.

Because of the poor team performances during the first half of the season, Martin Jol left Ajax in December 2010 and was replaced by Frank de Boer.

He believed Anita should play as a defensive midfielder rather than left back.

As a consequence, Anita had to compete with other midfielders for his place in the starting line-up.

He successfully did so and managed to play most matches.

The season ended with two finals against FC Twente.

Twente won the KNVB Cup final with 3–2, but Ajax secured the Eredivisie championship at the last matchday by winning 3–1.

It was the first league title of Anita.

In April 2011 it was announced that Anita signed a new contract at Ajax, binding him to the club until 2014.

After Ajax had rejected Newcastle's first bid, the clubs eventually came to an agreement after the second offer from the English club of an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £6.2 million.

He signed a five-year deal and took the number 8 shirt, last worn by Danny Guthrie.

Anita made his debut on 18 August 2012, replacing Yohan Cabaye, as the Magpies defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 on the opening day of the Premier League season.

He made his first start for the club against Atromitos F.C. in the Europa League on 23 August, the game finished 1–1.

He scored his first goal for Newcastle in a Europa League fixture against Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium on 8 November.

Anita scored his first league goal for Newcastle on 1 March 2014 in a comfortable 4–1 win away from home over Hull City, but the match was marred by controversy as manager Alan Pardew headbutted Hull player David Meyler.

After Siem de Jong signed for Newcastle on 1 July 2014, the player revealed that both Anita and Tim Krul were very influential in persuading him to leave Ajax and join Tyneside.

Under new Manager Steve McClaren, Anita became a regular in centre midfield during the 2015–16 season.

In the first half of the season he played eighteen of the first nineteen games before on 28 December 2015 he picked up a hamstring injury against West Bromwich Albion, which would keep him out for a lengthy period, the season saw Newcastle relegated to The Championship with Anita playing 28 games.

He was played mostly at right back during the 2016–17 season, playing 31 games in all competitions, which saw Anita win the EFL Championship 2016–17 season and gain promotion to the Premier League On 9 June 2017, Anita left Newcastle when his contract expired at the end of the 2016–17 season.

On 6 July 2017, Anita signed a three-year contract with Leeds United.