Noa Lang

Noa Noëll Lang (born 17 June 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger for Eredivisie club PSV and the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Ajax

On 1 December 2019, Lang became the first Ajax player to score a hat-trick on his first league start in 60 years as Ajax came from two goals down to beat Twente 5–2. Later that month, Lang scored his first goal in the KNVB Cup for Ajax, netting the opening goal in a 4–3 away win over Telstar in the second round.

In January 2020, following Ajax's signing of Ryan Babel in Lang's position, he was loaned out to fellow Eredivisie side Twente for the remainder of the season.

Club Brugge

2020–21 season: Loan and league title

On 5 October 2020, Ajax and Club Brugge reached a transfer agreement for Lang to move to Brugge on an initial loan with an obligation to make the signing permanent by 1 July 2021. Three weeks later, he scored his first goal for the club from the penalty-spot in a losing effort against OH Leuven. Lang scored in Club Brugge's 3–0 victory over Zenit Saint Petersburg in their penultimate UEFA Champions League group stage match on 2 December to keep alive Club Brugge's hopes of qualifying for the knock-out round. However, Club Brugge could only manage a 2–2 draw in the final match against Italian side Lazio and were parachuted down to the Europa League for the Round of 32.

On 28 January 2021, in his first appearance in a Bruges derby against Cercle, Lang scored the winning goal as Club Brugge came back from 1–0 down to win 1–2.

On 20 May, Lang scored as Brugge drew 3–3 with rivals Anderlecht to win the Belgian First Division A title for the fourth time in six years and 17th time overall. Lang was involved in 28 goal contributions during his first campaign with Club Brugge, scoring 17 goals and adding a further 11 assists.

2021–22 season

On 17 July 2021, Lang scored in Club Brugge's 3–2 win over Genk in the Belgian Super Cup. On 15 September, he earned the player of the match award in a 1–1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the UEFA Champions League.

PSV

On 8 July 2023, Dutch side PSV announced the signing of Lang on a five-year deal for a club record fee of €15 million. In his first training session, he suffered an injury. At first, the injury looked serious, but shortly after, Noa Lang was spotted training alone. His first game for the Dutch side was the 2023 Johan Cruyff Shield, which he decided by scoring the only goal.

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Lang is of Surinamese descent through his biological father. He is a youth international for the Netherlands. Lang considers himself Dutch, Surinamese and Moroccan but can't internationally represent the latter due to not having Moroccan citizenship.

On 8 October 2021, he made his debut for the Netherlands national team in a World Cup qualifier against Latvia. On 11 November 2022, Lang was selected to represent the Netherlands at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

Lang was born in the Netherlands. His father is Surinamese, while his mother is Dutch. He was raised by his stepfather, Moroccan international footballer Nourdin Boukhari.

During the 2009–10 football season, Boukhari and Lang resided in Turkey, playing for Kasımpaşa and Beşiktaş junior team respectively.

Controversy

In May 2021, a video circulated online showing Lang joining an antisemitic chant of the Club Brugge supporters aimed at rival Anderlecht, who is seen as historically linked to the Jewish community. He was investigated by the Royal Belgian Football Association. While ignoring calls to apologize, Lang justified his chantings with supporters as "a nickname" claiming that "racism and prejudice are well known to me [...] I didn’t want to offend anyone with that. I’m done with the subject and won’t be revisiting it." Lang, who played with Ajax, before joining Club Brugge, was defended by the team's organisation claiming that "there was no anti-Semitic undertone". The Club Brugge fans have been noticed by the press for racist chants.

The RBFA condemned his behavior, the Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès declared: "Unacceptable, unbearable and it has no place in our society. We must fight it as vigorously as all other forms of racism", political parties condemned the chant, while he was obliged by the Federal prosecutor's office to visit the Kazern Dossin Centre as a disciplinary measure.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 January 2024

International

As of match played 10 September 2023

As of match played 14 June 2023

Netherlands score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lang goal.

Honours

Jong Ajax

• Eerste Divisie: 2017–18

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 2018–19
• KNVB Cup: 2018–19
• Johan Cruyff Shield: 2019

Club Brugge

• Belgian Pro League: 2020–21, 2021–22
• Belgian Super Cup: 2021, 2022

PSV

• Eredivisie: 2023–24
• Johan Cruyff Shield: 2023

Individual

• Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 2020–21

• Eredivisie Team of the Month: September 2023,

References

External links

• Profile at the PSV Eindhoven website
• Profile at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch)
• Noa Lang – UEFA competition record (archive)