Noa Lang
Noa Noëll Lang (born 17 June 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge and the Netherlands national team.
| Lang with Netherlands U18 in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Noa Noëll Lang[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 June 1999[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Capelle aan den IJssel, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Club Brugge | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2005 | HION | ||
| 2005–2013 | Feyenoord | ||
| 2013–2017 | Ajax | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2021 | Jong Ajax | 47 | (12) |
| 2019–2021 | Ajax | 9 | (3) |
| 2019–2020 | → Twente (loan) | 7 | (1) |
| 2020–2021 | → Club Brugge (loan) | 29 | (16) |
| 2021– | Club Brugge | 68 | (15) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014–2015 | Netherlands U16 | 6 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Netherlands U18 | 2 | (3) |
| 2017–2019 | Netherlands U19 | 6 | (3) |
| 2018–2019 | Netherlands U20 | 8 | (2) |
| 2019–2021 | Netherlands U21 | 8 | (1) |
| 2021– | Netherlands | 6 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 May 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 December 2022 | |||
Club career
Ajax
On 1 December 2019, Lang became the first Ajax player to score a hat-trick on his first league start in 60 years as Ajax came from two goals down to beat Twente 5–2.[3] Later that month, Lang scored his first goal in the KNVB Cup for Ajax, netting the opening goal in a 4–3 away win over Telstar in the second round.[4]
In January 2020, following Ajax's signing of Ryan Babel in Lang's position, he was loaned out to fellow Eredivisie side Twente for the remainder of the season.[5]
Club Brugge
2020–21 season: Loan and league title
On 5 October 2020, Ajax and Club Brugge reached a transfer agreement for Lang to move to Brugge on an initial loan with an obligation to make the signing permanent by 1 July 2021.[6] Three weeks later, he scored his first goal for the club from the penalty-spot in a losing effort against OH Leuven.[7] Lang scored in Club Brugge's 3–0 victory over Zenit Saint Petersburg in their penultimate UEFA Champions League group stage match on 2 December to keep alive Club Brugge's hopes of qualifying for the knock-out round.[8] However, Club Brugge could only manage a 2–2 draw in the final match against Italian side Lazio and were parachuted down to the Europa League for the Round of 32.[9]
On 28 January 2021, in his first appearance in a Bruges derby against Cercle, Lang scored the winning goal as Club Brugge came back from 1–0 down to win 1–2.[10]
On 20 May, Lang scored as Brugge drew 3–3 with rivals Anderlecht to win the Belgian First Division A title for the fourth time in six years and 17th time overall.[11] Lang was involved in 28 goal contributions during his first campaign with Club Brugge, scoring 17 goals and adding a further 11 assists.[12]
2021–22 season
On 17 July 2021, Lang scored in Club Brugge's 3–2 win over Genk in the Belgian Super Cup.[13] On 15 September, he earned the player of the match award in a 1–1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League.[14]
International career
Born in the Netherlands, Lang is of Surinamese descent through his biological father. He is a youth international for the Netherlands.[15] Lang considers himself Dutch, Surinamese and Moroccan but can't internationally represent the latter due to not having Moroccan citizenship.[16]
He made his debut for the Netherlands national football team on 8 October 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Latvia.[17]
On 11 November 2022, Lang was selected to represent The Netherlands at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Personal life
Lang was born in the Netherlands. His father is Surinamese, while his mother is Dutch.[18] He was raised by his stepfather, Moroccan international footballer Nourdin Boukhari.[19]
Controversy
In May 2021, a video circulated online showing Lang joining an anti-Semitic chant of the Club Brugge supporters aimed at rival Anderlecht, who is seen as historically linked to the Jewish community.[20] He was investigated by the Royal Belgian Football Association. While ignoring calls to apologize,[21] Noa Lang justified his chantings with supporters as "a nickname" claiming that "racism and prejudice are well known to me [...] I didn’t want to offend anyone with that. I’m done with the subject and won’t be revisiting it." Noa Lang, who played with AFC Ajax, before joining Club Brugge, was defended by the team's organisation claiming that "there was no anti-Semitic undertone".[22] The Club Brugge fans have been noticed by the press for racist chants.[23]
The RBFA condemned his behavior, the Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès declared : "Unacceptable, unbearable and it has no place in our society. We must fight it as vigorously as all other forms of racism", political parties condemned the chant, while he was obliged by the Federal prosecutor's office to visit the Kazern Dossin Centre as a disciplinary measure.[24]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 14 May 2023[2]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Jong Ajax | 2016–17 | Eerste Divisie | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | Eerste Divisie | 14 | 2 | — | — | — | 14 | 2 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Eerste Divisie | 22 | 5 | — | — | — | 22 | 5 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Eerste Divisie | 9 | 5 | — | — | — | 9 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 47 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 12 | ||
| Ajax | 2018–19 | Eredivisie | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Eredivisie | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | |
| 2020–21 | Eredivisie | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | ||
| Twente (loan) | 2019–20 | Eredivisie | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| Club Brugge (loan) | 2020–21 | Belgian Pro League | 29 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 6[b] | 1 | — | 37 | 17 | |
| Club Brugge | 2021–22 | Belgian Pro League | 37 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 6[b] | 0 | 1[c] | 1 | 48 | 9 |
| 2022–23 | Belgian Pro League | 31 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 4[b] | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 38 | 11 | |
| Total | 97 | 31 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 123 | 37 | ||
| Career total | 160 | 47 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 191 | 54 | ||
- ^ Includes KNVB Cup, Belgian Cup
- ^ a b c d Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ^ a b Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
International
- As of match played 9 December 2022[25]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2021 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 6 | 1 | |
- As of match played 14 June 2022
- Netherlands score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lang goal[25]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 June 2022 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands | 5 | Wales | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A |
Honours
Jong Ajax[2]
Ajax[2]
Club Brugge
Individual
References
- ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Netherlands" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 20. (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "N. Lang: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "FC Twente 2-5 Ajax: Lang hits hat-trick on league debut as leaders fight back". BBC Sport. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Telstar 3–4 Ajax". Soccerway. 18 December 2019.
- ^ "Official: Noa Lang joins FC Twente on loan for the rest of the season". All About Ajax. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Noa Lang goes to Club Brugge, Bandé returns to Ajax". english.ajax.nl. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "OH Leuven 2-1 Club Brugge". Pro League (in Dutch). 24 October 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Club Brugge 3-0 Zenit". UEFA. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Lazio 2-2 Brugge: Aquile squeak through". Football Italia. December 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Cercle Brugge 1-2 Club Brugge". Pro League (in Dutch). 28 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Club Brugge clinch Belgian title". Reuters. 20 May 2021.
- ^ "Club Brugge double down on Noa Lang transfer stance as Leeds United-linked forward pictured". Leeds Live. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ "Lang nets as Club Brugge take Belgian super cup". Football Oranje. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ "Bruges-PSG: passé par Nantes, look à la Neymar… qui est Noa Lang, désigné homme du match" [Bruges-PSG: gone by Nantes, looking like Neymar, who is Noa Lang, designated man of the match]. RMC Sport (in French). 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Zo kan het nationaal elftal van Suriname eruit gaan zien". Elfvoetbal.nl.
- ^ "Noa Lang lacht: 'Op mijn Instagram heb ik daar veel vragen over gehad'". Voetbalzone. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ "Latvia v Netherlands game report". FIFA. 8 October 2021.
- ^ "Arsenal transfer target Noa Lang has been investigated over anti-Semitic chant and refused to apologise". 14 October 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "Noa Lang schiet in verdediging: 'Mensen denken: hij is een lichte jongen'" (in Dutch). voetbalzone.nl. 11 March 2020.
- ^ "Brugge's Lang investigated for joining anti-Semitic chant". Yahoo. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ "Belgian soccer star defends chanting he'd 'rather die than be a Jew'". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com.
- ^ "Club Brugge komt met statement: 'Noa Lang was jarenlang speler bij Ajax". Voetbalzone. 21 May 2021.
- ^ "Racism Amoungst Club Brugge Fans: Supporters from CB and RSC Anderlecht Give Their Opinion on What Happened During Sundays Match – 21bis." 21bis – Mediaplatform Voor Studenten, 21bis.be/2021/12/racism-amoungst-club-brugge-fans-supporters-from-cb-and-rsc-anderlecht-give-their-opinion-on-what-happened-during-sundays-match/.
- ^ "Noa Lang Undergoes Punishment and Visits Former Deportation Camp." LFOTV.NET, 9 Sept. 2021, livefootballontv.net/noa-lang-undergoes-punishment-and-visits-former-deportation-camp
- ^ a b "Noa Lang". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ "Lang nets as Club Brugge seal Belgian title". Football Oranje. 20 May 2021.
- ^ "Club Brugge completes hat trick of Belgian titles". AP News. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- ^ "Club Brugge vs. Gent 3-2". Soccerway. 17 July 2021.
- ^ "Club Brugge vs. Gent 1-0". Soccerway. 17 July 2022.
- ^ "Noa Lang talent van het jaar in België". ESPN. 25 May 2021.
External links
- Profile at the Club Brugge K.V. website
- Profile at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch)
- Noa Lang – UEFA competition record ()