Ryan Babel Biography

Ryan Guno Babel has been making a name for himself in the Dutch football circle since 1998. Born on December 19, 1986 in Amsterdam, Netherland, Babel has more than 9 years of football experience to date, including 19 goals, and at just 18-years-old he became Netherland's youngest scorer in 68 years. Just recently Babel was named "man of the match" after scoring a goal in the 4-1 under-21 EURO cup final victory over Serbia.

AFC Ajax youth academy signed him to play the 1998 - 1999 season for their D1 team when he was 11. He then passed through the A1, B1, and C1 teams quickly, and, in January 2004, he signed his first pro contract.

Babel is an accomplished right footed striker and a left winger. He has been likened to a young Kevin Campbell in strength and build. With awareness of the field, great vision, good first touch, and strength on the ball, he handles stressful situations well. It has also been said that Babel has a nice balance in knowing when to run at people, as well as when to release a teammate.

His skill has helped him to receive an international cap against Romania in which he produced two goals, as well as to win the 2007 European Under-21 Championships. His achievements include taking part in the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and the June 2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship.

Ryan Babel then went on to play for Liverpool wearing the number 19 jersey. He was transferred to the Reds after they paid a transfer fee in the area of £11.5 million, which resulted in a 5 year contract being signed on July 13, 2007. On August 11, 2007 he had his debut with the Reds when he appeared as a substitute against Aston Villa in the second-half. Just a month after his debut, Babel felt that he was already a better player than when he was in back in the Eredivisie, due mostly to the help of Reds' football coach, Rafa Benitez.

During his time in Liverpool, Babel went on to score 12 goals in 92 appearances during a 3.5 years stint with the Reds.

While displaying his talents on the field, Ryan Babel also started gathering attention outside the field. In January 2011, Babel posted a picture on Twitter of EPL referee Howard Webb wearing a Manchester United jersey, not long after Liverpool had suffered a 1-0 loss in the FA cup. He was fined £10,000 for the offence

Not long after, it was reported that Liverpool agreed to sell Babel to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for a rumored fee of about £7,000,000. It was revealed that the transfer was finalized on January 26, 2011, for a reported fee of £6,000,000.

Since January 2011, Ryan Babel plays for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - the club is in the city of Hoffenheim, and was founded in 1945 by merging to clubs, the oldest of which was originally founded in 1899. Babel scored his first goal in the Bundesliga on April 9, 2011, against SC Freiburg. Since joining TSG, Babel has scored 2 goals in 18 appearances.

On the International level, Babel has been representing his country, the Netherlands since 2005. In 40 first team appearances, Babel has scored 5 goals for the Dutch squad. During the 2006 World Cup, he was chosen for the team, but a knee injury mostly kept him on the bench. He appeared once, against Argentina, as a substitute. During the 2010 World Cup, although he made the team, he did not appear in any match.

Ryan Babel Pictures