Jeroen Zoet (; born 6 January 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar.
Having started his career at PSV Eindhoven, Zoet previously played two seasons on loan for RKC Waalwijk before returning to PSV Eindhoven to establish himself as the first choice goalkeeper. He has been highly regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the Eredivisie. In November 2012, he was called up for the first time for the Netherlands national squad, but he did not make his first appearance until October 2015, when he was subbed on for an injured Tim Krul.
Club career PSV Eindhoven Zoet played for his home town club BV Veendam's youth academy until 2006. He started his career at PSV at the age of 15, slowly making his way through up the ranks and into the senior squad. On 5 December 2008, he signed his first professional contract with the club, keeping him until 2012. He earned his first call up to the senior side during the 2008–09 season, making the substitutes bench in the game against AZ.
Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Zoet was given a number 41 shirt for the first team. He has been involved and travelled to the first team squad unused throughout the season before sidelined with a knee injury. However, in the 2010–11 season, Zoet, again, suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the first team for a long time. Although he returned from injury in January, he remained out of the first team for the side. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Zoet signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2014.
RKC Waalwijk (loan)
Ahead of the 2011–12 season, the club's Director of Football Marcel Brands announced that Zoet was to be loaned out to get first team football. It was announced on 27 June 2011 that Zoet joined RKC Waalwijk on loan for the rest of the 2011–12 season, beating out several teams, who were interested in signing him.
Zoet made his league debut, as well as, his debut at RKC Waalwijk, against Heracles Almelo in an eventual 2–2 draw on 6 August 2011. In a follow–up match, he played against his parent club, PSV Eindhoven, for the whole game and conceded the only goal in the game, in a 1–0 loss. Since joining the club, he established himself in the starting eleven, as a first choice goalkeeper. His performance at RKC Waalwijk attracted interests from other clubs around Europe. Then, on 20 December 2011 in the KNVB Beker Round of 16 against Go Ahead Eagles, Zoet set up the club's first goal of the game and helped the club win 3–2 to progress to the next round. However, he was soon at fault when he conceded five goals in a 5–0 loss against FC Twente on 21 January 2012. He was able to make amends when he kept the next two matches with clean sheets. Zoet then played against his parent club, PSV Eindhoven, for the second time this season on 12 April 2012 and helped them beat them 2–1, in hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Europa League next season. In the league's play-offs for a spot in the UEFA Europa League, he started all four matches, as RKC Waalwijk lost 5–2 to Vitesse on aggregate. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Zoet went on to make forty–two appearances in all competitions, including starting all the matches in the league.
Despite being keen on returning to his parent club next season, Zoet, again, was loaned out to RKC Waalwijk for the 2012–13 season. In the opening game of the season, Zoet started the match against his parent club, PSV Eindhoven, and helped the side beat them 3–2. Following a 1–0 win over Roda JC, Manager Erwin Koeman praised his performances over his saves. Between 10 November 2012 and 17 November 2012, Zoet kept two clean sheets in two matches, both of them were wins against Heerenveen and FC Utrecht. Zoet started in every match since the start of the 2012–13 season until he was sent–off in the 83rd minute for a professional foul, in a 1–0 loss against SC Heerenveen on 1 February 2013. For his sending off, he served a one match ban. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Zoet went on to make thirty–five appearances in all competitions, having played thirty–three times in the league by being a first choice goalkeeper for RKC Waalwijk once again.
Return to PSV Eindhoven
Zoet returned to his parent club PSV at the start of the 2013–14 season following his successful loan spells at RKC Waalwijk. Ahead of the 2013–14 season, he was expected to compete with Przemysław Tytoń over the first choice goalkeeper by Manager Phillip Cocu. It was announced by Cocu that Zoet was named as the club's first choice goalkeeper this season. Prior to this, he attracted the interest of Premier League clubs such as Arsenal and Newcastle, even having the transfer move almost completed, which was never materialised.
Zoet made his PSV Eindhoven debut, starting as the club's first choice goalkeeper, against Zulte Waregem in the third round qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, in a 2–0 win. He then made his league debut for PSV Eindhoven in the opening game of the season against ADO Den Haag, where they won 3–2. Zoet then kept three more clean sheets in the next three matches, including helping the side beat Zulte Waregem 3–0 in the return leg to progress to the play–off round. For his performance, he signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2017. However, PSV Eindhoven were eliminated in the play–offs round after losing 4–1 on aggregate to A.C. Milan. He started in every match for the side until he suffered a groin injury during a 2–1 loss against AZ Alkmaar. After the match, it was announced that he would be out for almost two months. It wasn't until on 23 November 2013 when Zoet returned to the starting lineup, in a 1–1 draw against SC Heerenveen. In the next two matches against Vitesse and Chornomorets Odesa, Zoet suffered a bad luck, conceding the total of seven goals, that saw the club lost two times, and were eliminated in the UEFA Europa League Group Stage. But he was able to redeem himself when he helped the club win two matches by the end of the year, including saving a penalty. He continued to regain his form as a first choice goalkeeper in a number of matches, which saw his performance earned praises from Manager Cocu and the media. He then helped the club go on to eight match victories between 5 February 2014 and 22 March 2014. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Zoet helped the club finish fourth place, as he went on to make thirty–seven appearances (29 times in the league) in all competitions. He finished fifth place in the Algemeen Dagblad's Most Valuable Player of the Eredivisie, as well as, finishing fifth place for the club's Player of the Season.
In the 2014–15 season, Zoet continued to remain as the club's first choice goalkeeper and was given a number one shirt following the departure of Tytoń, as well as, fought off competition from new signing Remko Pasveer. Zoet was linked with a move to Benfica but the move never happened, as he preferred to stay at PSV Eindhoven to develop further as a player. Zoet started the season well when he was involved in the club's winning start, including beating rivals, Ajax. Zoet then kept two clean sheets between 5 October 2014 and 18 October 2014 against Excelsior and AZ Alkmaar, in which he was the captain for the match. Although he conceded in a number of matches, the side went on a winning streak in the league for several months that saw PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table. At one point during a 2–1 win over Heracles Almelo on 9 November, Zoet acknowledged his mistakes in the match after he slipped of saved free kick from Oussama Tannane out of his hands, allowing Bryan Linssen to tap inside. At the beginning of January, he suffered his thumb injury during training, which he quickly recovered. Afterwards, he returned to training and the starting line-up, where the club continued on their winning streak in the league. This ended when they lost 3–1 to AFC Ajax on 4 March 2015. Despite this, the club went on to win the league title for the first time since 2008 after beating SC Heerenveen 4–1 on 22 April 2015; it was the first major trophy of his career. After being dropped for two matches in favour of Pasveer, Zoet returned to the starting lineup, in a 3–2 win over ADO Den Haag in the last game of the season. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Zoet went on to make forty–one appearances in akk competitions.
Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Zoet found himself being linked a move away from the club following the departure of Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum. But he ended up staying at PSV Eindhoven throughout the summer. He started the 2015–16 season well when he kept a clean sheet throughout the match, in a 3–0 win over FC Groningen to win the Johan Cruijff Schaal. Zoet then helped the side well when he was involved in the club's winning start that saw the club at the top of the table. Zoet made his UEFA Champions League debut on 12 September 2015, where he helped the side beat Manchester United. He captained the side for the first time this season, playing the whole game, in a 2–1 loss against CSKA Moscow on 30 September 2015. This was followed by captaining the next two matches against rivals, Ajax, and Excelsior. During a 6–3 win over De Graafschap on 24 October 2015, Zoet was subjected of being hit from an unknown object thrown by De Graafschap supporter; leading the club to apologise to him. Zoet impressed throughout the UEFA Champions League Group Stage campaign, keeping two clean sheets and ultimately saw the side go through to the knockout stage after beating CSKA Moscow 2–1. In November 2015, Zoet extended his contract with the club until 2019. He kept two clean sheets between 29 November 2015 and 5 December 2015 against AZ Alkmaar and Vitesse. Zoet then kept five clean sheets in a row between 7 February 2016 and 5 March 2016. They reached the last-16 of the tournament, where they faced Spanish side Atlético Madrid, resulting a 0–0 draw in the first leg. Zoet put in strong performances throughout the tie and was twice named to the team of the week. Following a draw on aggregate over both legs, PSV lost out to Atlético Madrid on penalties. As the 2015–16 season progressed, as the club was in a title race, Zoet continued to help the side by keeping three clean sheets in a row between 9 April 2016 and 19 April 2016. In the last game of the season against PEC Zwolle, Zoet won his third major prize at the end of the season after clinching another title for PSV Eindhoven by beating them 3–1. At the end of the 2015–16 season, he went on to make forty–four appearances in all competitions (having played all the league matches this season).