Joëlle Smits

Joëlle Smits (born 7 February 2000) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for German Frauen-Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg and the Netherlands national team.[1]

Joëlle Smits
Smits (right) celebrating Twente's league title win with Myrthe Moorrees and Lynn Wilms in 2019
Personal information
Full name Joëlle Smits
Date of birth (2000-02-07) 7 February 2000
Place of birth 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 VfL Wolfsburg
Number 18
Youth career
2006–2014 OJC Rosmalen
2014–2015 Brabant United
2015–2017 CTO Eindhoven
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Twente 29 (28)
2019–2021 PSV 24 (30)
2021 VfL Wolfsburg II 1 (0)
2021– VfL Wolfsburg 13 (1)
National team‡
2014–2015 Netherlands U15 8 (6)
2015–2016 Netherlands U16 16 (15)
2016 Netherlands U17 7 (15)
2017–2019 Netherlands U19 38 (33)
2018 Netherlands U20 6 (2)
2019– Netherlands U23 4 (3)
2020– Netherlands 8 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 March 2022
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 April 2022

Club career

Smits started her youth career with OJC Rosmalen at the age of six.[2] She spent eight years there playing alongside boys before moving to Brabant United. In 2015, she moved to CTO Eindhoven, a training centre of KNVB.[3]

In May 2017, Eredivisie Vrouwen club Twente announced the signing of Smits.[4] She made her debut on 1 September in a 3–0 league win against Zwolle. She scored in 58th minute of the game before being replaced by Bente Jansen.[5] She scored 25 goals from 21 league matches during 2018–19 season to help her club win the Eredivisie title.[6]

In February 2019, it was confirmed that Smits would join PSV prior to 2019–20 season.[7] She was the league top scorer when all football leagues were suspended in March 2020 by Dutch government due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.[8]

On 15 September 2020, German Frauen-Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg announced that Smits has signed a three-year contract with the club which would be valid from 1 July 2021.[9] On 5 June 2021, she played her last match for PSV in the cup final against Den Haag. She scored the only goal in the match to win PSV's first trophy in their history. With 52 goals from 45 matches, Smits left the club as PSV's all-time top scorer.[10]

International career

Smits is a former Dutch youth international and has represented her nation with different age level teams. On 21 October 2016, she scored seven goals in her team's 11–0 win against Bulgaria during 2017 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualifiers.[11] She was also part of Netherlands under-19 team which reached semi-finals of UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in 2017 and 2019.[12][13] With 33 goals from 38 matches, she is all-time leading appearance maker and all-time top scorer of under-19 team.[14]

Smits made her senior team debut on 4 March 2020 in a friendly against Brazil. She came on as a 84th minute substitute for Vivianne Miedema as the match ended in a goalless draw.[15] On 16 June 2021, Smits was named as a stand-by player for 2020 Olympics.[16] On 20 July, she was added to the final squad as a replacement for injured Sherida Spitse.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of 2 March 2022[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Twente2017–18Eredivisie161110——8[lower-alpha 1]92520
2018–19131735——8[lower-alpha 1]82430
Total292845000016174950
PSV2019–20Eredivisie12161165——1922
2020–2112143332226[lower-alpha 1]92630
Total2430449722694552
VfL Wolfsburg II2021–222. Frauen-Bundesliga10————10
VfL Wolfsburg2021–22Frauen-Bundesliga9122—21—134
Career total6359101197432226108106
  1. Appearances in championship play-offs.

International
As of 30 November 2021[1]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Netherlands
202030
202151
Total81
Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Smits goal.
List of international goals scored by Joëlle Smits
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
122 October 2021AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, Larnaca, Cyprus Cyprus7–08–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Twente

PSV

Individual

References
  1. Joëlle Smits at Soccerway
  2. "Voor Joëlle Smits is voetbal haar lust en leven". 7 August 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  3. "PSV-aanvaller Joëlle Smits: 'Als meisje van zes zag ik de jongens voetballen. Toen wist ik: dit wil ik ook'". 29 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  4. "Groot talent Joëlle Smits gaat bij FC Twente voetballen". 8 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  5. "PEC Zwolle vs. Twente - 1 September 2017 - Soccerway". Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  6. "Smits: I'm proud to play for this Netherlands team". 25 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  7. "Topscorer Joëlle Smits voor 3 seizoenen naar PSV". 20 February 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  8. "TOT EN MET 31 MAART GEEN VOETBAL IN NEDERLAND". 12 March 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  9. "Verstärkung für die kommende Saison". Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  10. "Met doelpunt 52 bezorgt Joëlle Smits PSV de beker". 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  11. "Bulgaria-Netherlands 0-11". Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  12. "DEFINITIEVE EK-SELECTIE VROUWEN ONDER 19 BEKEND". 30 July 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  13. "DEFINITIEVE EK-SELECTIE VROUWEN ONDER 19". 5 July 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  14. "JOËLLE SMITS BREEKT ALLE RECORDS MET VROUWEN ONDER 19". 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  15. "Netherlands vs. Brazil - 4 March 2020 - Soccerway". Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  16. "Joëlle Smits uit Den Bosch niet in Olympische voetbalselectie". 16 June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  17. "Voetbalster Spitse mist Olympische Spelen door knieblessure, Smits bij selectie". 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.

Further reading
  • Grainey, Timothy (2012), Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 9780803240360
  • Postma, Annemarie (2017), De Oranje leeuwinnen: het Nederlands vrouweneftal, Ambo/Anthos B.V., ISBN 9789026337727
  • Vissers, Willem (2019), Meisjesdromen: van EK-debuut tot WK-finale in tien jaar, Overamstel Uitgevers, ISBN 9789048853489
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