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Radja Nainggolan

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Radja Nainggolan

Radja Nainggolan (born 4 May 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Challenger Pro League club Lokeren-Temse.

Nicknamed Il Ninja, he spent almost his entire professional career in Italy, representing Piacenza, Cagliari, Roma and Inter Milan. He made 367 appearances and scored 48 goals in Serie A, being named four consecutive times in its Team of the Year.

A Belgium international for eight years, Nainggolan played 30 times for his country (scoring six goals) and represented it at Euro 2016.

Nainggolan was born in Antwerp, the son of Lizy Bogaerts, a Belgian woman who raised him with his three half brothers and his twin sister, and Marianus Nainggolan, an Indonesian of Toba Batak background and member of the Batak Christian Protestant Church. He was raised in Kiel, a working-class and multicultural neighbourhood of the city. His father abandoned the family when Nainggolan was still a child.

Nainggolan's mother died in 2010, and after her death he tattooed two large wings on his back with her dates of birth and death. He was raised Roman Catholic and speaks Dutch, English, French and Italian fluently.

Nainggolan began playing football with Tubantia Borgerhout at the age of five. Seven years later he moved to the youth team of Germinal Beerschot, where he remained until 2005, when he moved to Italian Serie B club Piacenza. He made his senior debut on 28 May 2006 during a home defeat to Arezzo, being inserted permanently into the first team the following season.

In the 2008–09 campaign, Nainggolan became a starter for the Emilia-Romagna side, playing 38 of 42 games and scoring three goals, which contributed to them avoiding relegation.

On 27 January 2010, Nainggolan was loaned to Cagliari with a buyout clause. He made his Serie A debut on 7 February, playing seven minutes in a 3–0 away loss against Inter Milan. After making seven appearances (including being sent off a few minutes after entering the field on 28 February against Chievo), the club announced it had acquired 50% of his rights in a co-ownership deal.

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