Edson Braafheid

Edson Braafheid (born April 8, 1983 in Paramaribo, Suriname) is a Surinamese-Dutch footballer, currently playing for FC Twente in the Eredivisie. His position is left defender.

In 2006 he was part of the Netherlands squad that won the UEFA U-21 Championship 2006 in Portugal.

On February 10, 2007 he played his first Eredivisie match for Twente against Feyenoord

His current contract at the club lasts until 2010.

Career stats

Season	Club	Competition	Matches	Goals
2003/04	FC Utrecht	Eredivisie	13	0
2004/05	FC Utrecht	Eredivisie	23	0
2005/06	FC Utrecht	Eredivisie	31	2
2006/07	FC Utrecht	Eredivisie	13	0
2006/07	FC Twente	Eredivisie	11	0
2007/08	FC Twente	Eredivisie	3	0
		Total	94	2

Twente and Olympics

Edson Braafheid came to FC Twente for free after his contract with Utrecht expired; he was a talented leftback, but Braafheid impressed friend and foe when playing for Twente as a strong, sturdy central defender instead of his former position. He kept talented central defender Ramon Zomer out of the Twente squad ever since he made the position his own. Former Twente and now Schalke 04 coach Fred Rutten is to thank for that, turning Braafheid from a noticeably talented back to a impressive central defender, despite his mediate height. In early summer of 2008 Braafheid was selected for the Dutch Olympic Squad going to Beijing, along with fellow FC Twente defender Rob Wielaert as one of the three possible dispensation players. But as Twente qualified for Champions League football in play-offs by beating Ajax, Braafheid and Wielaert were no longer allowed to go, as their CL-matches are early in the season.

Oranje

In a column in early 2008, critic Hugo Borst had named Braafheid as a true defender, and stated he should have been in the Dutch squad for the EC 2008, in Austria and Switzerland. But also others have said he should have already made his debut in the Dutch defence under now former coach Marco van Basten. Dutch fans heavily criticised the defence after Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer and other highly rated defenders said goodbye to the Orange shirt. Even despite these defenders had conceded very few goals in the run-up to both the WC 2006 and the EC 2008. The defence was considered by many as the greatest weakness.