Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink

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Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink

• Jan joined Celtic from PSV Eindhoven in August 2006 and scored an impressive 18 goals in his first season, including one on his debut against Hibernian.
• In total, he has scored 38 goals in 76 appearances for the Hoops, with his 20 goals in the 2007/08 season including the championship clincher in the final game against Dundee United on May 22.
• He made 156 appearances for PSV since joining from FC Twente in 2001, scoring 72 goals.
• Jan has also won 19 caps for Holland, scoring three goals and was in the Dutch squad for the 2008 European Championships.
• His name is an amalgamation of two farming families (the Vennegoors and the Hesselinks) who were involved in a wedding in the 17th century. At that time whichever surname in a wedding had a higher social status would be taken by the married couple. As both surnames were of equal social standing, it was decided that both would be used, the term ‘of’ in Dutch is translated as ‘or’ in English.
• The Dutchman already appears to have returned to Celtic Park in fine form after a brief summer break, scoring a late equaliser against Middlesbrough in the Algarve Challenge Cup and the winner against Porto in the ensuing July 26 friendly.