Yuri Cornelisse

Cornelisse started playing football in the youth department of AFC '34 at age 8, and later moved to the youth academy of AZ, before returning to AFC '34. He started his professional career with TOP Oss, where he played for two seasons.[3]

His performances attracted the attention of Belgian club Anderlecht, who eventually signed him in. In Belgium, Cornelisse soon suffered a fracture in his metatarsal bone in an exhibition game against his former club TOP Oss in pre-season. This prompted him to return to the Netherlands because, on the one hand, his rehabilitation took more time than planned and, on the other hand, because manager Arie Haan had been fired and his successor Jean Dockx brought about nine new players to Anderlecht. This meant that Cornelisse was free to leave the club, after making no official appearances, and he moved to RKC Waalwijk.[4]

In his first season at RKC, 1999–2000, the club finished 10th but qualified for the then UEFA Intertoto Cup. The team was coached by future Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax manager Martin Jol.[5] Cornelisse made 33 total appearances that season, in which he scored seven goals. He made his European debut in the Intertoto Cup against English club Bradford City on 16 July 2000.[6] His club would be knocked out with the score finishing 0–3 on aggregate.[7] In his third season at the club, RKC were represented in the Intertoto Cup once again, but were knocked out by German club 1860 Munich in the third round, 2–5 on aggregate with Cornelisse playing in both games.[8]

Cornelisse played five seasons in Waalwijk, and finished eighth on the all-time top goalscorer list at the club with 27 goals to his name.[5] On his time with RKC he later stated: "I played at RKC for five years. Of course that wasn't by accident. It's pretty rare these days to play for the same club for so long, but I didn't regret it for a second. I really felt at home there."[5]

On 18 December 2003, he signed with NAC Breda on a four-year contract, which meant that he would come over as a free agent on 30 June 2004.[9] He made his debut against Utrecht on 14 August 2004 in a 3–2 home win. In the following match, Cornelisse scored his first goal for the club as NAC lost 6–2 away to Ajax. The game became mostly known for Zlatan Ibrahimović's four goals, of which one was iconic – a slaloming run past five opposition players which the commentator compared with Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane – that was eventually voted the Goal of the Year by Eurosport viewers.[10][11] Cornelisse made 33 appearances that season in which he scored 8 goals as NAC finished 15th in the league table, avoiding relegation play-offs by three points.[12]

A year after joining NAC, Cornelisse moved to Groningen, signing a three-year contract. There, he mainly played as a striker.[13] He missed a crucial penalty kick on 28 September 2006 in the second leg of the UEFA Cup first round against Partizan which meant that Groningen were knocked out of the competition. This happened after regular penalty taker Koen van de Laak – who had scored from a penalty earlier in the game – had been subbed off for Cornelisse.[14] In the following league match, Cornelisse came on as a substitute in a 4–3 comeback win over Vitesse, contributing with an assist to Luis Suárez. After the game, he was cheered on by Groningen supporters, something he later described as one of the "best memories" from his career.[15]

On 9 July 2007 it was announced that Cornelisse has signed a three-year contract with ADO Den Haag.[16]

Cornelisse announced his retirement from football on 21 October 2010. Instead, he would focus on his education to become a police officer.[17][18]