Daniël de Ridder  Daniël Robin Frederick de Ridder (born 6 March 1984) is a Dutch footballer. He plays as a forward/midfield player who operates either on the right or left side but can also play in a more advanced role, and has represented Ajax, Celta Vigo, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Grasshopper Club Zürich, SC Heerenveen, RKC Waalwijk and SC Cambuur. De Ridder was born in Amsterdam to a Dutch father and a Jewish-Israeli mother. He is Jewish and speaks fluent Hebrew. He worked his way up to first-team selection from Ajax's youth department, making his full debut in an away game against Roda JC on 21 January 2004, and scored his first goal against Willem II on 16 May. De Ridder was a regular throughout the second half of the campaign, starting nine games and appearing a further six times as a substitute. De Ridder made his UEFA Champions League debut in September 2004, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute in a 4–0 defeat at Bayern Munich. In December 2004, he was offered an improved contract until June 2007. Part of the Netherlands side that reached the second qualifying round of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2002–03, De Ridder stepped up to the U21s as the 2006 UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign kicked off. De Ridder was told prior to the 2005–2006 season that there would be no room for him in the squad and he could expect little playing time if he decided to stay. De Ridder joined Celta de Vigo permanently on 31 August 2005. On 25 September 2005, De Ridder made his official debut for Celta when they beat Sevilla, allowing the Galician club to temporarily top La Liga. On 3 April 2006, De Ridder scored his first official goal for Celta against Atlético Madrid. Throughout the second half of the campaign he was a regular for Celta, but they were relegated to Segunda Division at the end of the 2006–07 season. De Ridder signed for Birmingham City on a free transfer on 3 July 2007. He made his Premier League debut on 12 August 2007 as a substitute in the opening match of the season against Chelsea, but injured his ankle within minutes of coming on and was unable to complete the match. Though starting the League Cup defeat at Blackburn Rovers, he was not considered fit enough for League games until after the October international break, when he made a substitute appearance against Manchester City.