Tonny Vilhena

Tonny Emílio Trindade de Vilhena (Dutch: [ˈtɔni viˈleːnaː], Portuguese: [viˈʎẽnɐ]; born 3 January 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Super League Greece club Panathinaikos. He has represented the Netherlands national team.

Vilhena began playing football with the "big boys in the neighbourhood", leading him to join VDL Maassluis, where his relatives used to play for He then became a product of the Feyenoord's youth academy, joining the club in 2003. After being linked a move away from the club, Vilhena signed his first professional contract with Feyenoord, starting 1 July 2011. After nine years in the club's youth ranks, he moved up to join parent-club Feyenoord in January 2012.

Vilhena made his debut for the Rotterdam-based club on 22 January 2012 versus VVV Venlo, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute, losing 2–1. He then made his first start for the side, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 win against FC Twente on 19 March 2012. After the match, manager Ronald Koeman praised his performance, saying: "If you play so sovereignly, show so much daring and keep it physically ninety minutes long as B-junior then that is very good. It is also nice to have another left leg in the midfield." Vilhena found his first team appearances, mostly from the substitute bench for the rest of the 2011–12 season. At the end of the season, he made six appearances in all competitions. Following this, Vilhena signed a contract extension with Feyenoord.

At the start of the 2012–13 season, Vilhena made his UEFA Champions League debut, coming on as a 71st-minute substitute, in a 2–1 loss against Dynamo Kyiv in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League third round and was ultimately eliminated from tournament following a 1–0 loss in the second leg. Having started out on the substitute bench, he soon became a first team regular for the side. Vilhena scored his first goal for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie on 25 November 2012 against AZ Alkmaar, a game that finished 2–0. After long months of speculation, he would sign a contract extension with the club on 3 December 2012, keeping him until 2016. It was later confirmed on 16 January 2013. In the quarter–finals of the KNVB Cup against SC Heerenveen, he came on as an 85th-minute substitute and successfully converted his penalty to help the club win 7–6 in a shootout following a 2–2 draw. On 3 February 2013, in Feyenoord's 3–1 win against Willem II, Vilhena became the youngest player for the club to ever score at least two goals in a single Eredivisie-match. He accomplished this feat at the age of 18 years and 31 days. This was followed up by scoring his fourth goal of the season, in a 3–1 win against AZ Alkmaar. His performance was praised by Cor Pot, saying: "It remains to be seen whether Vilhena can really reach the top. We shouldn't get too excited about that. But he is of course excellent as a left midfielder or shadow striker. Tonny will mainly have to stay on the ground with both feet". At the end of the 2012–13 season, Vilhena made thirty–one appearances and scored four times in all competitions, having helped the club finish in third place.

At the start of the 2013–14 season, Vilhena played in both legs of the UEFA Europa League Qualification Round against Kuban Krasnodar, losing 3–1 on aggregate. He then contributed two assists in two consecutive matches against Roda JC and NEC Nijmegen before scoring his first goal of the season, in a 1–0 win against FC Utrecht on 22 September 2013. Since the start of the 2013–14 season, Vilhena continued to be a first team regular for Manager Koeman despite facing threats from Otman Bakkal. On 19 January 2014, he scored his third goal of the season and set up the club's first goal of a 5–2 win against Utrecht. Vilhena later scored four more goals later in the season, including a brace against SC Cambuur, in a win that secured the club a Champions League qualifying spot. Despite missing two matches during the 2013–14 season, he featured in a then career-high 32 league games including 29 starts in the league.

At the start of the 2014–15 season, Vilhena continued to start in the first team, playing in the centre–back position and helped the club beat Zorya Luhansk 5–4 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League Play–Offs to reach the group stage. However, he found his first team opportunities limited due to poor performance and was placed on the substitute bench. Amid to his first team opportunities, Vilhena made a start in a number of matches as a cover for the absence of players, and to fight for his first team place. In November 2014, he also stated of interest over a new contract. Vilhena was also shortlisted for the Golden Boy but did not win. His lack of first team opportunities led to transfer speculation on whether he would be loaned out to get first team football but eventually stayed at Feyenoord following an intervention from Fred Rutten. Despite this, Vilhena continued to have his playing time, mostly coming from the substitute bench for the rest of the 2014–15 season. Despite this, he went on to make thirty–one appearances in all competitions.

At the start of the 2015–16 season, Vilhena started the season well when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–2 win against FC Utrecht in the opening game of the season. Over the summer transfer window, Vilhena continued to be linked a move away from Feyenoord, as Sampdoria wanted to sign him but he stayed at the club. Vilhena, however, continued to have his playing time, mostly coming from the substitute bench. Amid to first team football, he was shortlisted for the Golden Boy once again but did not win. By December, Vilhena soon found his way back to the first team plan under the management of Giovanni van Bronckhorst. He scored two consecutive goals in two matches between 17 December 2015 and 20 December 2015 against Willem II and NEC Nijmegen. Vilhena later scored three more goals later in the 2015–16 season, scoring against AZ Alkmaar, FC Utrecht and Groningen. He then started in the KNVB Cup Final against FC Utrecht and helped the side win 2–1 to win the tournament. Vilhena then helped Feyenoord finish third place in the league after beating Willem II 1–0 on 1 May 2016. At the end of the 2015–16 season, he went on to make thirty–three appearances and scored six times in all competitions. Following this, it was announced by Feyenoord that Vilhena will not be part of the team due to his high wage demands. However a month later the club announced Vilhena had agreed to a new two-year deal, running until mid-2018.

At the start of the 2016–17 season, Vilhena started the whole game in the centre–midfield position, as they lost 1–0 against PSV Eindhoven in the Johan Cruyff Shield. In a follow–up match against Groningen in the opening game of the season, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–1 win. Since the start of the 2016–17 season, Vilhena continued to regain his first team place, playing in the midfield positions. On 15 September 2016, he scored his second goal of the season in a 1–0 win against Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League. A week later, against TOP Oss in the first round of the KNVB Cup, Vilhena captained the side for the first time in his career as they won 4–1 to progress to the next round. He started in every match since the start of the 2016–17 season until missing one match against Go Ahead Eagles on 6 November 2016 for personal reasons. He scored on 4 and 11 December 2016 against Sparta Rotterdam and AZ Alkmaar respectively. On 19 March 2017, Vilhena scored his fourth goal of the season in a 2–1 win against SC Heerenveen. However, he was suspended for two matches after an incident involving Mathias Pogba during a 1–0 loss against Sparta Rotterdam on 5 March 2017. Initially suspended for four matches, Vilhena's suspension was reduced to two matches. Despite being suspended on two occasions later in the 2016–17 season, he continued to regain his first team place for the side, as he helped the side win the league for the first time since 1999. Following the tournament win, Vilhena dedicated the league title win to his late mother. He also extended it a further two years in the final year of his initial contract, committing to the club until 2020. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Vilhena made thirty–seven appearances and scoring five times in all competitions.