Stefanus Johannes "Stijn" Schaars (born on the 11th of January 1984 in Gendt, Gelderland) is a Dutch footballer who currently plays in the Portuguese Liga for Sporting Clube de Portugal and the Netherlands national team as a midfielder.
Vitesse
He was first discovered by Dutch coach Theo Bos, who went on to manage Schaars' U13 Vitesse youth team. Following successful development in Vitesse's youth team, he was promoted to the main squad for the final few games of the 2002–03 Eredivisie. He made his debut for the club on the 9 March 2003 in a 4–1 away defeat to FC Utrecht. In his first full season he played twenty one league games.
AZ Alkmaar
In the summer of 2005, he was signed by AZ Alkmaar. In his first full season at AZ, he suffered a serious hip injury at the beginning of the 2005–06 Eredivisie season which kept him out for several months. He returned in February 2006 against FC Utrecht in a 2–3 defeat. In the next season he missed most of it due to sustaining a number of serious injuries which also kept him out for the 2007–08 Eredivisie season. His return came in the 2008–09 Eredivisie season. In the 2009–10 season he was named team captain of the side in which he held that position until the end of 2010–11 Eredivisie where he left the club in the summer after six seasons to join Sporting Lisbon of Portugal. During his time with AZ Alkmaar, the Dutch media frequently compared him to English midfielder Steven Gerrard due to his strong presence in midfield, his vision and his technical ability.
Sporting
Schaars signed for the Portuguese side Sporting Clube de Portugal on the 16 June 2011 on a transfer worth 850,000 euros. Under the management of Domingos Paciência and later on in the season Ricardo Sá Pinto he was a regular in Sporting's season. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 away win against Rio Ave. He helped Sporting reach the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League semi final stage where they lost to Athletic Bilbao, 4–3 on aggregate. Schaars was also part of the side that reached the 2012 Taça de Portugal Final where they lost to Académica de Coimbra, 1–0. Following the 2011–12 season, he was linked with a move to Premier League side Fulham.
Following the start of the 2012–13 Primeira Liga, he suffered an injury, for which he received surgery, which led him to miss several league, cup and European games. Schaars returned in Sporting's European away game to Videoton FC on the 4 October 2012. |
