2008–09 AZ Alkmaar season

AZ Alkmaar

2008–09 season
Manager	Louis van Gaal
Stadium	AFAS Stadion
Eredivisie	1st
KNVB Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Mounir El Hamdaoui (23) All: Mounir El Hamdaoui (24)

During the 2008–09 Dutch football season, AZ Alkmaar competed in the Eredivisie, playing their 42nd season of competitive football (Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek had merged to form AZ in May 1967).

Season summary

The club won its first Eredivisie title since 1981 and remains the second top flight title in its history to this day. The club secured 80 points in the 34 games under Louis van Gaal and finished 11 points ahead of second placed FC Twente. AZ were knocked out of the KNVB Cup in the quarterfinals suffering a 2-1 home loss to NAC Breda, although they did secure a notable 1-0 (aet) win over PSV Eindhoven in the third round.

van Gaal left the club at the end of the season to join FC Bayern Munich and was succeeded by Ronald Koeman.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CRO Joey Didulica[notes 1] 2 DF  NED Kew Jaliens 3 DF  NED Gijs Luirink 4 DF  MEX Héctor Moreno 5 DF  BEL Sébastien Pocognoli 6 MF  NED David Mendes da Silva 7 MF  NED Jeremain Lens 8 MF  NED Stijn Schaars 9 FW  BRA Ari 10 FW  MAR Mounir El Hamdaoui[notes 2] 11 MF  BEL Maarten Martens 14 DF  EST Ragnar Klavan 15 DF  DEN Simon Poulsen 16 MF  FIN Toni Kolehmainen

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  BEL Mousa Dembélé 19 DF  NED Kees Luijckx 20 MF  NED Demy de Zeeuw 22 GK  ARG Sergio Romero 23 MF  NED Nick van der Velden 24 MF  AUS James Holland 25 DF  FIN Niklas Moisander 26 MF  NED Marko Vejinović 27 MF  AUS Brett Holman 28 DF  BEL Gill Swerts 29 FW  ITA Graziano Pellè — MF  NED Kevin Brands — MF  ISL Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 10 MF  GER Simon Cziommer (on loan to FC Utrecht) 12 DF  NED Milano Koenders (on loan to NEC Nijmegen) 14 MF  NED Ryan Donk (on loan to West Bromwich Albion)

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 GK  NED Boy Waterman (on loan to ADO Den Haag) 33 MF  NED Gregory Nelson (on loan to RBC Roosendaal)

References

1. "FootballSquads - AZ Alkmaar - 2008/09".

Notes

1. Didulica was born in Geelong, Australia, and represented them at U-23 level, but also qualified to represent Croatia internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Croatia in April 2004.
2. El Hamdaoui was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Morocco internationally and made his international debut for Morocco in February 2009.