Dirk Kuyt, officially spelled Dirk Kuijt (born 22 July 1980, in Katwijk aan Zee) is a Dutch professional football player, who currently plays for English club Liverpool FC. He is renowned for his work-rate in his primary position as a forward, but now he is more often deployed as a winger for both Liverpool and the Dutch national team.
Kuyt missed only five games over seven seasons from 1999 until 2006, making 233 appearances. Between March 2001 (playing with FC Utrecht) and April 2006 (Feyenoord) Kuyt played 179 consecutive matches.
He has represented the Netherlands at two major international tournaments, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008.
His football career began when he joined the local amateur team Quick Boys at age 5. He broke into the first team in March 1998, playing the last six games of the season, and catching the eye of Eredivisie team FC Utrecht.
Kuyt signed professionally for Utrecht that summer, aged 18, and immediately established himself in the first team. However he was more often than not played as a winger, as Utrecht preferred to play Serbian Igor Glušcevic up front.At the end of the season Kuyt completed a €1 million move to Feyenoord Rotterdam, where he replaced the out-going Pierre Van Hooijdonk.
At Feyenoord, Kuyt immediately became a fan's favourite with his continued goal scoring success.Over the summer of 2006 Kuyt was again linked with moves to many top English clubs, most notably Liverpool and Newcastle. Rumours started in May with Dirk Kuyt stating "I am happy at Feyenoord but I would like to play in the Premier League." Kuyt completed a move to Liverpool on 18 August for an undisclosed fee.
Upon joining Liverpool, Kuyt stated "I only wanted to leave Feyenoord for a really big club, and that is what Liverpool are. They are a fantastic, big club and it will be a real pleasure to play here."
Dirk Kuyt scored a late extra time goal against Standard Liège in the 2008-09 Champions League Q3 return match to put Liverpool through to the group stages of the competition. In his next game, a 2-1 win in the Premier League against Manchester United, he got the assist in countryman Ryan Babel's winning goal.
Kuyt has gained a reputation at Liverpool for being a "Big Game Player". By this, they refer to Kuyt's tendency to score goals at vital moments in important games, such as the last minute strike against Standard Liege and an injury time winner against Manchester City on 5 October 2008. He further cemented that reputation by scoring twice in Liverpool's 3-2 comeback win over Wigan Athletic on 18 October 2008, when playing in his natural position of striker rather than right winger, due to the absence of Liverpool's first choice striker Fernando Torres.