Hatem Ben Arfa
New member
First name Josmer Volmy 'Jozy'
Last name Altidore
Nationality United States
Date of birth 6 November 1989
Age 22
Country of birth United States
Place of birth Livingston, New Jersey
Position Attacker
Height 182 cm
Weight 72 kg
Foot Right
Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore (born November 6, 1989) is an American football player currently playing for Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar, and for the United States national team.
Altidore made his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 16 with the New York Red Bulls. In the middle of his third season with New York, in 2008, he made a transfer to Villarreal. During his time with Villarreal, he left on three loan stints – with Spanish Segunda División club Xerez in February–May 2009, English Premier League club Hull City for the entire 2009–10 season, and Turkish club Bursaspor where he went on a six month loan. In the summer of 2011, he made the switch to AZ Alkmaar.
Altidore has represented the United States on various levels of international competition, featuring for the United States U-17 team at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, U-20 team at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the U-23 team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the senior national team at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup.
New York Red Bulls
Altidore was taken seventeenth overall in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, with the MetroStars (now the New York Red Bulls) trading up to receive the selection. Altidore spent the majority of the 2006 season away from the team while working towards his high school diploma in Florida.
Altidore made his professional debut on August 23, 2006, as a substitute in a 3–1 U.S. Open Cup loss to D.C. United. He scored his first professional goal at the age of sixteen with an 83rd minute, 28-yard shot to beat the Columbus Crew 1–0 on September 16, 2006. Exactly one week later, on September 23, 2006, in a 4–3 loss to D.C. United, Altidore scored again. Scoring three times in seven appearances, including a crucial goal against Chicago Fire on September 30, 2006, Altidore became a fan favorite. He scored the Red Bulls' only goal of their 2–1 aggregate loss to D.C. United in the Eastern Conference Semifinals Series when he headed in a cross in the second leg. With that goal, he became the youngest player to score in the Major League Soccer playoffs at 16 years, 337 days (breaking DaMarcus Beasley's record by almost three years). Altidore was also youngest to start in a Major League Soccer playoff match on October 21 against D.C. United (16 years, 349 days). He also scored two goals in a 5–4 win over Los Angeles Galaxy on August 18, 2007.
Villarreal
On June 4, 2008, Villarreal of La Liga agreed in principle with Major League Soccer and the New York Red Bulls to sign Altidore for roughly $10 million or €7.4 million. This transfer fee surpasses Fulham's fee for Clint Dempsey, which was $4 million or roughly £2 million, and is now the largest fee paid for any MLS player. Altidore finalized his personal contract and was unveiled by the club on June 11, 2008. On September 14, 2008, Jozy made his La Liga debut, coming on as a second half substitute against Deportivo La Coruña. On November 1, 2008, Jozy became the first American international to score in La Liga when he came on in the 90th minute and scored against Athletic Bilbao. On November 30, 2008, Jozy started his first game in La Liga against Recreativo Huelva. After spending a year and a half on loan, Altidore returned to Villarreal. He favored staying with Villarreal instead of another loan to try to prove to the club he is worth the investment they made two years ago.
Xerez
On January 30, 2009, Villarreal agreed to loan Altidore to Xerez, leader of the Segunda División at the time of the transfer, until the end of the 2008–09 season. It was expected that the move would allow Altidore to get more playing time, and also allow him to continue the process of assimilating into the Spanish culture.[12]
On April 16, 2009, Altidore underwent minor surgery on an injured toenail that required more than a month of recovery, resulting in him never making an appearance for Xerez.
Hull City
On August 5, 2009, Altidore announced on his Twitter page that he would be loaned to English Premier League club Hull City. He joined Hull City the next day on a season-long loan with the option for Hull City to purchase his rights at the end of the 2009–10 season for a fee believed to be £6.5 million ($11 million).
On August 10, 2009, Hull City announced that they were successful in obtaining a work permit for Altidore. Altidore made his debut for Hull on August 22, 2009, coming on as a second-half substitute against Bolton. He provided the assist for Kamel Ghilas to score the only goal in a 1–0 home victory at the KC Stadium. On August 25, 2009, Altidore scored his first goal for Hull in a 3–1 win over Southend United in the second round of the League Cup. Altidore was popular with supporters but struggled to make a lasting impact with the Tigers as his finishing was often found wanting, however he did manage to score his first and only Premier League goal in the 2–1 home win over Manchester City on the 6th February. On 24 April, in an important game for Hull City's Premier League survival, he was dismissed for violent conduct after a spat with Sunderland's Alan Hutton who was also sent off. Hull City lost 1–0 and were all but relegated from the top flight.
Return to Villarreal
On August 19, 2010, Altidore returned to competitive action for Villarreal, coming on in the 74th minute of their third qualifying round match of the Europa League.
Bursaspor
On January 31, 2011, Altidore was loaned out to Turkish champions Bursaspor on a six-month loan. On Friday April 8, Altidore scored his first goal for his new club in a 3-2 home loss to Antalyaspor.
AZ
On July 15, 2011, Altidore agreed to terms with Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. On 7 August, Altidore made his debut for the club as a second half substitute against PSV Eindhoven. Altidore scored in the 80th minute, helping his new side to a 3-1 opening day win. Altidore was again used as a sub in the club's next Eredivisie game as AZ fell 2-0 to FC Twente. Altidore made his first start in the league for AZ on 21 August, when they played host to NEC Nijmegen at the AFAS Stadion. After a goalless first-half, Altidore opened the scoring in the 54th minute, pouncing on the rebound after NEC goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen saved his header. Altidore scored again nineteen minutes later after some nice passing with Adam Maher and AZ ran out 4-0 winners.
On August 25, Altidore started in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League final qualifying match against Aalesunds FK from Norway. Before being substituted in the 63rd minute by Charlison Benschop, Altidore scored twice. His first goal in the 23nd minute gave AZ Alkmaar a 2-0 lead and his second goal in the 59th minute brought the score to 4-0 in a game AZ eventually won by 6-0. Altidore added to his Europa League account when he opened the scoring in the 21st minute of his side's first group match against Malmo FF on 15 September. After a long wait Altidore returned to the score sheet for AZ, netting in the 83rd minute of a 3-0 victory over ADO Den Haag on 6 November that also secured his side's 10th victory of the Eredivisie campaign. On December 4, Altidore scored his side's only goal in a 5-1 loss to Heerenveen. Altidore had to wait until 8 February 2012 to score his next league goal, grabbing a brace in a 6-0 win over ADO Den Haag.[31] The result put AZ level on points with PSV at the top of the table.
Altidore headed in the winning goal against VVV Venlo on Sunday 22 April to keep AZ second in the table and their title hopes still alive.
Altidore led the team in scoring in his first campaign with 22 goals across all competitions. He finishing tied for seventh in the Eredivisie in goals scored. Altidore credits his successful campaign to his new coach, manager Gertjan Verbeek.
Altidore on manager Verbeek, ""He’s a teacher," Altidore said of Verbeek. "He may appear like he’s a bad guy, or this or that, but he means well. He wants to teach his players and he really wants to see what he sees on the training pitch on the playing field."
International Career
Altidore has played for the United States national team at almost every level. Altidore attended the Bradenton Academy as a member of the United States U-17 national team, and was part of the squad at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, appearing as a substitute in the United States' 3–1 win over Italy and 2–0 loss to the Netherlands. He also played for the United States U-20 national team in its successful qualification to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. During the group stage of the U-20 World Cup, Altidore tallied three goals, including two in the 2–1 win over Brazil, helping the Americans to advance at the top of group D. In the quarterfinals, Altidore scored a goal in the first half against Austria. Altidore led the U.S. with 4 goals in the tournament.
On November 17, 2007, Altidore received his first call-up to the full United States national team for a friendly against South Africa just eleven days after his eighteenth birthday. He came in as a sub in the 65th minute. In his second match, against Sweden, Altidore was again a second-half substitute, winning a penalty that Landon Donovan converted to break Eric Wynalda's record of 34 national team goals. On February 6, 2008, in a friendly versus Mexico, Altidore made his first start for the national team where he also scored his first goal.
In July 2008, Altidore was named to Piotr Nowak's United States U-23 national team roster that qualified for and competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On August 10, 2008, he scored against the Netherlands to put the U.S. in front after coming on as a substitute.
Altidore scored his second senior international and first World Cup Qualifying goal on October 11, 2008, in a 6–1 victory over Cuba. He started in his first World Cup Qualifier on October 15, 2008 against Trinidad and Tobago, and set up Charlie Davies's second half goal, but later fouled a player in the penalty area leading to Dwight Yorke's game winner. He made amends in the next game by assisting Kenny Cooper's goal and drawing the foul that led to Freddy Adu's first international goal.
On March 28, 2009, Altidore scored his first away goal in World Cup Qualifying in the 2–2 draw with El Salvador. On April 1, 2009, Altidore scored three goals in a 3–0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago, making Altidore the youngest American to score a hat-trick in an international game.
On June 24, 2009, Altidore scored in the semi-final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup against Spain, turning club teammate Joan Capdevilla to get a clear shot on Iker Casillas' goal. The U.S. went on to defeat the Spanish team, 2–0. The following summer he appeared in every match the team played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. No American forwards managed to score in the tournament, but Altidore played a major part, getting an assist on Michael Bradley's game-tying goal against Slovenia and putting a pass into the 6 yard box against Algeria that ultimately resulted in the game-winning goal by Landon Donovan.
Altidore played a key role in the group stage of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, scoring the first U.S. goal of the tournament against Canada and later scoring the only goal that saw the defeat of Guadeloupe. In the early minutes of the quarterfinal match against Jamaica, Altidore had to be removed from the game with a pulled hamstring. He missed the remainder of the Gold Cup.
