 Pienaar warming-up forEverton in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Steven Jerome Pienaar[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1982-03-17)17 March 1982 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Johannesburg, South Africa | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2] | ||
| Position | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sharjah FC (youth) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| West Ham Westbury | |||
| Westbury Arsenal | |||
| School of Excellence | |||
| Ajax Cape Town | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2001 | Ajax Cape Town | 24 | (6) |
| 2001–2006 | Ajax | 94 | (15) |
| 2006–2008 | Borussia Dortmund | 25 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | →Everton (loan) | 28 | (2) |
| 2008–2011 | Everton | 76 | (7) |
| 2011–2012 | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Everton (loan) | 14 | (4) |
| 2012–2016 | Everton | 71 | (7) |
| 2016–2017 | Sunderland | 15 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Bidvest Wits | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 361 | (41) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2000 | South Africa U17[3] | 1 | (0) |
| 2002–2012 | South Africa | 61 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2019–2020 | SV Robinhood (assistant) | ||
| 2020–2024 | Ajax (youth) | ||
| 2024– | Sharjah (youth) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Steven Jerome Pienaar (Afrikaans pronunciation:[ˈstivənˈpinɑːr]; born 17 March 1982) is a South African former professionalfootballer and current coach of the U14 team ofSharjah FC in theUnited Arab Emirates.[4]
He hails fromWestbury, a suburb in Johannesburg's Westrand. He was acaptain of theSouth African national team. He primarily played as awinger, but also played as anattacking midfielder. Pienaar played at club level in South Africa, the Netherlands, Germany, and England forAjax Cape Town,Ajax,Borussia Dortmund,Everton,Tottenham Hotspur,Sunderland andBidvest Wits. Pienaar is currently serving as an international ambassador at former clubEverton.
Pienaar was born inJohannesburg. He started his professional career atAjax Cape Town, some 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) away from his hometown. He was brought to the attention of Ajax CT whilst playing for the School of Excellence and was asked to join their youth academy.
Pienaar said, "I was very fortunate to go to the School of Excellence 2000, to be able to polish the technique and the talent that God gave me and to learn how to use it in the way that God had wanted me to."[5] "I was fortunate to work with the Dutch coachLeo van Veen, who helped me at Ajax Cape Town... He appreciated the way I played but at the same time he changed my mentality. He taught me how to prepare for games, not just playing to please the crowd but also how to play for the team."[5]
At Ajax Cape Town, he won theRothman's Cup after beatingOrlando Pirates 4–1 in the final on 13 December 2000, his final game for the club.[6]
At the age of 18, Pienaar was brought over to the Netherlands in January 2001 but did not make hisEredivisie debut until 24 February 2002, a 1–0 victory overNAC Breda. He became a pivotal member of theAjax team that won the Dutch League in 2002 and 2004, shining as one of Ajax's best players alongsideZlatan Ibrahimović,Maxwell,Cristian Chivu,Mido,Nigel de Jong,Rafael van der Vaart, andWesley Sneijder, as well as futureEverton teammatesJohn Heitinga andAndy van der Meyde.
In January 2006, German clubBorussia Dortmund of theBundesliga signed Pienaar on a three-year contract from Ajax. Seen as a replacement for theArsenal-boundTomáš Rosický, Pienaar's first year with Dortmund saw him receive the number 10 shirt vacated by theCzech playmaker. Pienaar, however, struggled at Dortmund and never felt truly accepted by the other players at the club.[7]
Pienaar joinedEverton on loan for the2007–08 and later signed a three-year contract from Dortmund for a pre-agreed fee of £2 million after payment of an initial loan fee of £350,000 in April 2008.[8] Pienaar made his debut for Everton in a 2–1 home victory overWigan Athletic on 11 August 2007, replacingLeon Osman in the 73rd minute as a substitute.[9] Pienaar scored his first Everton goal in a 2–0 home victory overMiddlesbrough on 30 September.[10] He produced some stand out performances and this led to many clubs showing interest in him.
Despite missing 11 games through injury, Pienaar was named Everton's Player of the Season for2009–10.[2]
In January 2011, bothChelsea andTottenham Hotspur had bids accepted to buy Pienaar from Everton before the South African joined Spurs for a fee of £3 million on a four-year contract.[11] He made his Tottenham debut in a 1–1 draw away toNewcastle United.[12] In August 2011, Pienaar suffered a groin injury, which ruled him out for six weeks.[13] Pienaar scored his first goal for Spurs in a 4–0 victory over Irish sideShamrock Rovers in theEuropa League on 15 December.[14]
Pienaar's spell at Tottenham was characterised by persistent injuries and not much impact in games, which resulted him rarely featuring in the team.[15]
Late on transfer deadline day in January 2012, Pienaar completed a return to Everton on a six-month loan deal.[16] He made his second debut for the club in a 1–1 draw away toWigan Athletic,[17] and scored his first goal of his loan spell with opener in a 2–0 win overChelsea a week later.[18] Pienaar finished the season by scoring againstNewcastle United, stating in a post-match interview his wish to rejoin Everton. Despite only playing in 14 games, and beingcup-tied from theFA Cup, Pienaar finished his spell with six assists, the most of anyone at Everton for theseason.[19] He also scored four goals, which was at the time his joint-best tally in the league for Everton.[20]
A permanent transfer was agreed in July 2012, with Everton paying Tottenham a fee of £4.5 million.[21] On 25 August 2012, he scored his first goal since signing permanently, opening the scoring in a 1–3 away win againstAston Villa.[22] On 9 December, Pienaar scored a powerful header against former club Tottenham, Everton's 1,000th goal in the Premier League, as they came from a goal down to win 2–1 at Goodison.[23] Pienaar was sent off for two bookable offences twice during the season, againstQueens Park Rangers andManchester City. Everton drew 1–1 against QPR and beat City 2–0.[24][25] Pienaar finished the season with seven goals, the joint-most he has ever scored in a season with Everton. In October 2013, Pienaar returned from a hamstring injury suffered two months earlier as he came on as a substitute againstHull City and scored the winning goal just ten seconds later.[26][27] Despite Everton finishing the2013–14 season fifth with a club record of 72 Premier League points, Pienaar struggled with injuries for large parts of it and only scored one goal and made two assists in the matches he did feature in.[28]
Pienaar made relatively few appearances over the next two seasons and, at the end of 2015–16, he was released by Everton when his contract expired.[29]
On 19 August 2016, Pienaar signed a one-year contract withSunderland, reuniting with former managerDavid Moyes.[30] He made 17 appearances and his contract was not renewed at the end of the season. He returned to South Africa, signing a one-year deal withBidvest Wits in July 2017,[31] but was released six months later.[32] He retired from professional football in March 2018.[33]
A former under-17 international,[3] Pienaar made his international debut forSouth Africa in a 2–0 win againstTurkey in 2002. He earned 61 caps and scored three goals over the course of his international career. Pienaar participated at the2002 and2010 World Cups, the latter on home soil.[34]
On 2 October 2012, Pienaar announced his retirement from international duties.[35][36]
After retiring, Pienaar began coaching at Dutch amateur clubSV Robinhood under head coach Nana Tutu, who formerly worked forAFC Ajax to help African players in the club.[37] In September 2019, he completed hisUEFA A Licence[38] and in December 2019, Pienaar returned toAFC Ajax as a Trainee Coach.[39]
Pienaar is from the mixed-race South African community known asColoureds.[40] He is commonly referred to by his nickname "Schillo"[41] in South Africa, a childhood nickname given to him by friends after the exploits ofTotò Schillaci during the1990 World Cup.[42]
Pienaar's ex-girlfriend Danielle Steeneveld attempted to sue Pienaar for ZAR10.8million in August 2009 for not marrying her.[43][44] Pienaar was charged with drunk-driving and failure to comply with a traffic sign in centralLiverpool in February 2010.[45] He was subsequently found guilty of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol and was banned from driving for 12 months.[46]
In April 2012, a warrant was issued for Pienaar's arrest after he failed to appear before Chelmsford Magistrate's court on two counts of speeding.[47]
In the run up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Pienaar was involved in a high-profileAdidas sportswear advertising campaign.[48]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ajax Cape Town | 1999–2000 | Premier Soccer League | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 5 | ||
| 2000–01 | Premier Soccer League | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 1 | |||
| Total | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 6 | ||||
| Ajax | 2001–02 | Eredivisie | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2002–03 | Eredivisie | 31 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 7 | ||
| 2003–04 | Eredivisie | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 | ||
| 2004–05 | Eredivisie | 24 | 4 | 2 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 5 | ||
| 2005–06 | Eredivisie | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 2 | ||
| Total | 94 | 15 | 4 | 0 | – | 30 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 131 | 18 | |||
| Borussia Dortmund | 2006–07 | Bundesliga | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 27 | 0 | |||
| Everton (loan) | 2007–08 | Premier League | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | 40 | 2 | |
| Everton | 2008–09 | Premier League | 28 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 35 | 2 | |
| 2009–10 | Premier League | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | – | 38 | 7 | ||
| 2010–11 | Premier League | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 20 | 1 | ||
| Total | 104 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 3 | – | 133 | 12 | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2010–11 | Premier League | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | ||
| Total | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | 18 | 1 | |||
| Everton (loan) | 2011–12 | Premier League | 14 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 14 | 4 | ||||
| Everton | 2012–13 | Premier League | 35 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 40 | 7 | |
| 2013–14 | Premier League | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 25 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 85 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 96 | 12 | |||
| Sunderland | 2016–17 | Premier League | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 357 | 41 | 26 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 52 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 447 | 49 | ||
Ajax[51]
Everton
Individual
Steven Pienaar, South Africa's leading midfielder, is from a "Coloured" township nearer Pretoria.
South Africa squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
