Merel van Dongen
Dutch footballer (born 1993)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Merel Didi van Dongen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmeːrəl ˈdidi vɑn ˈdɔŋə(n)]; born 11 February 1993) is a former Dutch professional footballer who played as a defender.[2]
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Van Dongen training with Netherlands in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Merel Didi van Dongen[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 11 February 1993 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Positions | |||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Alabama Crimson Tide | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Ter Leede | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | ADO | 10 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | Ajax | 71 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Real Betis | 46 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2023 | Atlético Madrid | 71 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Monterrey | 49 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Netherlands U19 | 15 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2022 | Netherlands | 63 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13 October 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 29 July 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
She played for Ter Leede and ADO Den Haag before going to the United States where she played for Alabama Crimson Tide. She returned to the Netherlands in 2015 and signed with AFC Ajax.[3]
College career
In Van Dongen's two years at Alabama she managed to become the Tide's single season assists leader registering 10 in 2014. She is No. 1 on Alabama's career assists per game list with 0.30 through 44 games, and her 10 assists in 2014 allowed her to take the No. 1 spot on the single season assists per game list with 0.53 through 19 games. Van Dongen converted four penalty kicks during her career with Alabama, which ranks fourth on the career penalty kicks made list.
In her last season with the Crimson Tide, she was selected to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American team and All-District 4 First Team and named a member of the All-SEC Second Team.[4]
International career
As a junior international she played the 2010 and 2011 U-19 European Championships.[5]
Van Dongen made her senior Netherlands women's national football team debut in a 7–0 friendly win over Thailand on 7 February 2015.[3] She was one of the last three players to be cut from national team coach Roger Reijners' final squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden.[6] When Mandy van den Berg subsequently suffered knee ligament damage, Van Dongen was called up as a late replacement.[7] She was also part of the Dutch squad at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[1]
On 31 May 2023, she was named as part of the Netherlands provisional squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[8]
International goals
- Scores and results list the Netherlands goal tally first.[9]
| G | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 May 2015 | Sparta Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands |  Estonia | 3–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 22 October 2021 | AEK Arena, Larnaca, Cyprus |  Cyprus | 8–0 | 8–0 | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier |
Personal life
She is in a relationship with Ana Romero.[10] They are engaged since December 2021.[11] Van Dongen and Romero welcomed their first child together named Ibbie Van Dongen Romero on 28 August 2024.[12]
Honours
ADO Den Haag
- Eredivisie: 2011–12
- KNVB Women's Cup: 2011–12
Ajax
- Eredivisie: 2016–17, 2017–18
- KNVB Women's Cup: 2016–17, 2017–18
Atlético Madrid
Monterrey
Netherlands
- Algarve Cup: 2018[13]
- FIFA Women's World Cup runners-up: 2019
