Junior Hoilett

At 33 years old, Junior Hoilett has this physical status:

David Wayne "Junior" Hoilett (born 5 June 1990) is a Canadian professional association football player who plays as a winger for Cardiff City and the Canadian national team. After impressing in a youth tournament, he signed for Blackburn Rovers in the United Kingdom at the age of 13, and was loaned to SC Paderborn and FC St. Pauli in the German 2.

Due to work permit difficulties, the Bundesliga has been thrown out.

He made his Rovers debut in 2009 and spent three seasons with them before moving to Queens Park Rangers in 2012.

Hoilett spent four years at the Loftus Road club, occasionally in the Premier League and Championship, before moving to Cardiff on the expiration of his deal.

He helped the team win promotion to the Premier League in his second season with Cardiff by finishing as Champions of the second season in 2017. In 2015, Hoilett made his senior international debut for Canada.

In 2017, and 2019, he was a member of the CONCACAF Gold Cup team.

Early life

Hoilett was born in Brampton, Ontario, as one of four children of David and Ingrid Hoilett. Both of his parents are of Jamaican descent, with his father hailing from Ocho Rios. His father used to work as a DJ and music promoter. He has described his upbringing as a "very sporty childhood" who competed against his three siblings in a variety of sports. Hoilett played both baseball and basketball at the youth level before deciding on association football at age 11. Jaineil's younger brother, who played in Germany at amateur level, also became a footballer.

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Club career

Hoilett joined Brampton Youth SC, a local football team in his hometown, starting in 1988. He travelled around the world with his club and drew attention at a tournament in Wales; he turned down a protracted trial with Manchester United to join Blackburn Rovers as he believed he had a great chance of joining the second team. Hoilett left Rovers in 2003 after taking a year to make the decision to move to England. He attended St Bede's Roman Catholic High School in Blackburn, England, after transferring to England. He progressed through the club's youth system before committing to his first job at the age of 16. However, he suffered a setback when he first tried to obtain a work permit to work in the United Kingdom. Blackburn wanted to loan Hoilett to another European country, despite the player's opposition of future moves to Belgium and France.

Hoilett eventually agreed to a loan transfer to Germany, becoming SC Paderborn. In a 3–2 victory over Sven Lintjens on his senior debut for the club against Kickers Offenbach, he was playing as a substitute for Sven Lintjens. On March 9, 2008, Hoilett's first match in the starting eleven was against 1899 Hoffenheim.

In what would be Hoilett's last game for the club, he scored his only goal of his loan season against Borussia Mönchengladbach on May 18, 2008. Paderborn were later relegated, bringing an end to the 2007–082 divide. In the 17th position of Bundesliga, the 17th position has risen.

In the second half, Hoilett was loaned to another German club. Since being born in 2008, the Bundesliga, St. Pauli, has been in charge of the 2008–09 2 seasons. It's the Bundesliga season. On August 22, 2008, he made his Hamburg-based team debut against Greuther Forth. During his loan tenure with braces against Alemannia Rostock and Hansa Rostock, as well as individual goals against 1860 Munich and 1. FC Kaiserslautern is a football team based in the Czech Republic. On May 3, 2009, he will play in the form of a 1–0 loss to Rot Weiss Ahlen. St. Pauli finished in eighth place on the season.

Hoilett's hometown club Blackburn had a petition for him to play football in England in January 2009. Hoilett was given a work permit on appeal in 2009, allowing him to resume his fledgling career with Blackburn in the Premier League. Blackburn chose not to take him to a third loan spell in Germany, rejecting Mainz 05's proposal.

Hoilett made his Blackburn debut during the 2009-10 season as a late replacement in place of El Hadji Diouf after impressing during the club's pre-season schedule, defeating Manchester City 2–0. In a 3–1 League Cup victory over Gillingham on August 25, he was included in the starting lineup for the team's following match and scored his first competitive goal for Rovers. As Hoilett was in the final year of his original contract, he's been playing in the early stages of the campaign, prompting the club to initiate discussions over a contract extension. Hoilett was involved in Blackburn's dramatic League Cup victory over Chelsea over the weekend. Benni McCarthy converted a stoppage time penalty, bringing Rovers 3–2 up, before Paulo Ferreira equalized in the 122nd minute as a second half replacement. However, Hoilett converted the fifth penalty to lift Rovers to a 4–3 victory and a spot in the semi-finals. He then played the complete 90 minutes against Hull City in his first league match on December 12th against Hull City in a 0–0 draw at the KC Stadium. Hoilett put an end to rumors about his future at the club on February 25, 2010, retaining him at the club until the summer of 2012. He made 27 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring once.

Hoilett scored in his first Premier League game of the 2010-11 season on August 21, 2010, losing in the 84th minute against Birmingham City.

In the FA Cup third round, Hoilett scored his first goal of the 2010-11 season.

In a 2–0 home win over West Bromwich Albion at Ewood Park on Sunday, Hoilett scored his first league goal on January 23, 2011, converting in the 47th minute from a Nikola Kalini assist. He made his fortieth Premier League appearance for Blackburn on February 12, 2011 against Newcastle United in a goalless draw, and was forced to leave at halftime due to a slight hamstring strain by Morten Gamst Pedersen. In a 3–2 win over Fulham in the 65th minute away from Craven Cottage on March 5, he scored his third goal of the season. After 82 minutes, Rubén Rochina, a debutant, was brought to him. In the following game, Hoilett's next goal came as a last gasp equalizer from a header against Blackpool in a 2–2 home draw. Hoilett scored in the 1–1 draw against Birmingham City before halftime on September 9, 2011, but he was forced to miss in the 68th minute by Australian Brett Emerton.

Hoilett won by 3–2 over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the last day of the season on his fifth league goal of the season with an individual effort. In a match between Blackburn and Fulham on September 11, 2011, he was involved in a head injury for Hoilett. Schwarzer was eventually stretchered away and given a yellow card. After teammate Morten Gamst Pedersen continued to dribble the ball straight from a corner before firing in a low cross for Hoilett from two yards, Hoilett scored his second goal in their 3–3 draw with Wigan Athletic.

Hoilett was named one of the 13 players to watch in 2012 by the world football governing body FIFA in January 2012.

Hoilett had the most dribbles per game in the 2011–12 season among all Premier League players.

Hoilett joined Queens Park Rangers on July 27, 2012 for a fee determined by tribunal after denying a contract renewal with Blackburn Rovers. He has been on a four-year deal. In a 2–3 League Cup loss to Reading on September 26, 2012, he scored his first goal for QPR. Hoilett's teammate Loc Rémy was the point of a 2–1 victory over Southampton on March 2nd, 2013. Hoilett's first season at QPR, which culminated in relegation to the Championship, due to a combination of injuries and poor form.

In a 1–1 draw with Huddersfield Town, Hoilett scored his first goal of the 2013-14 Championship season. In a 3–0 win over AFC Bournemouth at Loftus Road, four months later, he scored his second goal of the season. As QPR gained promotion back to the Premier League after a season absence, in QPR's 1–0 victory over Derby County at Wembley Stadium in the Championship play-off final. Hoilett grabbed an assist for the only goal of the game as he crossed for Bobby Zamora to score in the 89th minute. Hoilett left the club following the expiration of his current deal after struggling to reach an agreement with QPR at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Hoilett was signed as manager by Neil Warnock on October 6, 2016, marking Warnock's first signing at the club. His debut took place on October 14th against Bristol City, the severnside rivals. During a 3–2 victory over Huddersfield Town on November 19, Hoilett scored his first goal for Cardiff. He went on to score one more goal before signing a one-year contract extension in May 2017.

Hoilett's most successful season in the FA Cup came as Cardiff finished second, earning promotion to the Premier League for the first time. Following the club's promotion, Hoilett was offered a new deal.

Hoilett took up three-years in the Welsh capital on June 26, 2018. In a 2–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on November 30, he scored his first Premier League goal since 2012, which BBC Sport characterized as a "fabulous first-time effort from 25 yards."

Hoilett resigned from Cardiff City at the end of his deal on Instagram on May 9, 2021. He had been with the club for five years, totaling 184 appearances in all competitions. His last game for the club came against Barnsley on January 27, but he didn't appear in any of the rest of the season, as the season's first game was not scheduled.

Hoilett joined Reading on a one-year deal in 19 August 2021. On October 2nd, the club's first goal came at the Cardiff City Stadium, marking the club's first victory over his former club.

International career

Hoilett captained Canada's team at the 2001 Danone Nations Cup in Paris as an adolescent.

At international level, Hoilett was eligible to play for either Canada or Jamaica. He turned down a call-up from the Canada national team in February 2011, saying he needed more time to develop his club career before committing to international football. Horace Burrell, the Jamaican president, confirmed in January 2012 that he had approached the player's father about Hoilett, Jamaica's representative, with his father anxious for him to represent the Caribbean nation. Hoilett told various media outlets that if interested, he'd consider playing for England.

In September 2015, Hoilett officially declared for Canada in September 2015, ahead of the fourth round of CONCACAF 2018 World Cup Qualifying. In a 1-1 draw against Ghana on October 13, D.C., he earned his first international cap in a 1–1 draw. After kicking for the country in a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Honduras, he officially cap-tied to Canada. Hoilett was named in Canada's squad for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup on June 27th, 2017, and scored his first international goal in the quarter-finals, a 1–2 loss to eventual finalists Jamaica.

On the 20th of May 2019, Hoilett was selected to the final 23-man squad for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. As the Canadians advanced to the quarter-finals, he scored in victories over Martinique and Cuba, breaking the record for the country's biggest victory in the tournament. On September 7, 2019, Hoilett scored three goals in a CONCACAF Nations League match against Cuba for the first time; he was the Canada captain for the first time. Following Jonathan David and Lucas Cavallini's success, Hoilett became the third Canadian player to score a hat-trick against Cuba in 2019.

On July 1st, Hoilett was called up to Canada's squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The team advanced to the semi-finals for the first time since 2007. He scored in a 4–1 group victory over Haiti and a 2–0 quarter-final victory over Costa Rica.

For the first time since 1986, Hoilett scored his third goal in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying, beating Jamaica 4–0 in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying, thus winning the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

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