Romée Elke Henk Leuchter (born 12 January 2001) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Première Ligue club Paris Saint-Germain and the Netherlands national team.[1]
.jpg) Leuchter with Ajax in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Romée Elke Henk Leuchter | ||
| Date of birth | 12 January 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Heerlen, Netherlands | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| CTO Zuid | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2021 | PSV | 16 | (4) |
| 2021–2024 | Ajax | 60 | (62) |
| 2024– | Paris Saint-Germain | 8 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015–2016 | Netherlands U15 | 8 | (3) |
| 2016–2017 | Netherlands U16 | 7 | (2) |
| 2016–2018 | Netherlands U17 | 20 | (19) |
| 2018–2019 | Netherlands U19 | 17 | (9) |
| 2021–2023 | Netherlands U23 | 9 | (6) |
| 2022– | Netherlands | 18 | (5) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 November 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 October 2024 | |||
Club career
editYouth
editLeuchter first played at CTO Zuid, a training center set up by the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport to promote youth sport, including girls' football, in the Netherlands.
PSV
editLeuchter made her debut for PSV on 23 August 2019 as a 61st minute substitute for Naomi Pattiwael in a 4–1 league win against Heerenveen.[2] It was her only league appearance that season. She made 15 league appearances in the following season. Leuchter scored for the first time with a brace in a 2–1 home win over Ajax on 17 March 2021, scoring in the 41st and 49th minute.[3] She won her first trophy of her career, the KNVB Women's Cup, on 5 June 2021 in front of the crowd at the Yanmar Stadion by beating ADO Den Haag in the final with a result of 1–0.
Ajax
editOn 7 June 2021, Ajax announced the signing of Leuchter on a three-year deal.[4] She scored on her league debut against Excelsior Rotterdam on 27 August 2021, scoring in the 27th minute.[5] In September 2022, she scored a double against Arsenal, securing a 2–2 draw for Ajax in the second qualifying round first leg of the Champions League.[6] The following season, at the same stage of the competition, Ajax faced FC Zürich. Leuchter took Ajax to qualification by scoring a hat-trick in the first leg and a brace in the second leg.[7]
Leuchter scored a hat-trick for Ajax on 14 March 2024 in a 5–1 cup win over Jong Ajax, thus taking her total goal tally for the club to 81. This made her the all-time top scorer of the team, surpassing Marjolijn van den Bighelaar who held the record with 79 goals.[8] With 86 goals from 89 matches, she left the club as their all-time top scorer in June 2024 following the expiry of her contract.[9]
Paris Saint-Germain
editOn 9 July 2024, Leuchter joined French club Paris Saint-Germain on a three-year contract until June 2027.[10]
International career
editLeuchter began to be called up by the Dutch Football Federation in 2015, wearing the shirt of the Under-15 team that year, with which she made her debut in a friendly against Belgium on 29 May,[11] and then continued throughout the following years the youth team from Under-16 onwards.
With the Under-17, she initially played in the 2017 European Championship in the Czech Republic, where coach Marleen Wissink used her in all 4 matches played by her national team.[12] Leuchter was fundamental in the passage to the group stage by scoring the second goal in the 2-1 victory over England, who were then eliminated in the semi-final by Spain. She took the field in all three group stage matches and was the best Dutch scorer of the tournament tied with Kirsten van de Westeringh. However with a win, a draw, and a defeat, the Netherlands fail to progress to the next round.
Subsequently, again in 2018, she received her first call-up with the Under-19 team. She played a friendly match against the United States, drawing 1-1. Federal coach Jessica Torny included her in the squad for the 2019 European Championship qualification. She contributed 7 goals to reach the final stage, making a total of 10 appearances in the tournament, scoring a goal in the 5-0 victory over Norway in the group stage. Her team was eliminated in the semi-finals by Germany. She selected for the team of the tournament.[13]
After being called up to the Under-23s in 2021, that same year she joined the senior national team, called up by coach Mark Parsons for the goalless friendly draw with Japan on 29 November. To make her debut she had to wait until the following year, replacing Lineth Beerensteyn in the 84th minute in the first match of the 2022 edition of the Tournoi de France which drew 1-1 with Brazil.[14] After making 2 more appearances in friendlies and qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in May 2022 Parsons confirmed his trust in her by including her in the list of 23 players called up for the Euro 2022, scheduled from 6 to 31 July 2022 in England.
On 17 July 2022, she scored her first two senior team goals in a 4–1 Euro 2022 group stage win against Switzerland.[15]
On 31 May 2023, she was named as part of the Netherlands provisional squad for the 2023 World Cup.[16]
Career statistics
editInternational
edit- As of match played 29 October 2024[1]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2022 | 10 | 2 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 6 | 3 | |
| Total | 18 | 5 | |
- Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Leuchter goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 July 2022 | Bramall Lane, Sheffield, England |  Switzerland |
2–1 | 4–1 | UEFA Women's Euro 2022 |
| 2 | 4–1 | |||||
| 3 | 25 October 2024 | De Vijverberg, Doetinchem, Netherlands |  Indonesia |
1–0 | 15–0 | Friendly |
| 4 | 4–0 | |||||
| 5 | 5–0 |
Honours
editPSV
- KNVB Women's Cup: 2020–21
Ajax
- Eredivisie: 2022–23
- KNVB Women's Cup: 2021–22
References
edit- ^ a b Romée Leuchter at Soccerway
- ^ "Talenten Leuchter en Alkemade naar PSV vrouwen". 26 March 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "PSV vs Ajax - 17 March 2021". int.soccerway.com.
- ^ "Romée Leuchter versterkt Ajax Vrouwen". 7 June 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Excelsior vs Ajax - 27 August 2021". int.soccerway.com.
- ^ "Arsenal 2-2 Ajax: Women's Champions League qualifier – as it happened". TheGuardian.com. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ "Ligue des champions: fin du rêve pour les Zurichoises". RTSSport.ch (in French). 18 October 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "Leuchter kroont zich na goals tegen beloftenploeg tot Ajax-topscorer". 15 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ "Romée Leuchter leaves Ajax". 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Oranjespits Romée Leuchter maakt droomtransfer naar Paris Saint-Germain" (in Dutch). 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "OnsOranje". www.onsoranje.nl. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ UEFA.com (26 May 2023). "Women's U17 facts and figures | Women's Under-17". UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ UEFA.com (30 July 2019). "2019 Women's U19 EURO team of the tournament | Women's Under-19". UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "Romée Leuchter debuteert bij Oranje Vrouwen". 16 February 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Romée Leuchter puts Netherlands in last eight and eliminates Switzerland". TheGuardian.com. 17 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ Mark White (5 June 2023). "Netherlands Women's World Cup 2023 squad: 30-player preliminary team named". fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
External links
edit- Romée Leuchter at WorldFootball.net
- Senior national team profile at Onsoranje.nl (in Dutch)
- Under-23 national team profile at Onsoranje.nl (in Dutch)
- Under-19 national team profile at Onsoranje.nl (in Dutch)
- Under-17 national team profile at Onsoranje.nl (in Dutch)
- Under-16 national team profile at Onsoranje.nl (in Dutch)
- Under-15 national team profile at Onsoranje.nl (in Dutch)