Ronaldo Wilkins

Ronaldo Wilkins
Personal information
Full name Ronaldo Wilkins
Date of birth (1999-12-30) 30 December 1999 (age 24)
Place of birth Tagabe, Port Vila, Vanuatu
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Shepherds United
Number 10
Youth career
2010–2013 Zimako Football Academy
2013–2014 Teouma Academy
2015–2016 Wellington Phoenix
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Shepherds United
2017 Sia-Raga
2017– Shepherds United
2018– Erakor Golden Star
International career
2014 Vanuatu U15 3 (0)
2015 Vanuatu U17 6 (4)
2016– Vanuatu U20 8 (3)
2017– Vanuatu 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 July 2017
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 July 2019

Ronaldo Wilkins (born 30 December 1999) is a Ni-Vanuatu footballer who plays as a midfielder for Erakor Golden Star in the Port Vila Football League and the Vanuatu national football team.

Club career

Wilkins grew up in Tagabe, an area in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. When he was 6-years-old he start playing at Wan Smol Bag Futsal. After a few years he moved to New Caledonia when he joined the Zimako Football Academy.[1] In 2014 he returned to Vanuatu to start his senior career with Shepherds United. After he had played at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics he joined the academy of New Zealand professional club Wellington Phoenix.[2] After two years he returned to Vanuatu and went to play for Sia-Raga. On 16 October 2017 it was announced by Vanuatu Football Federation President Lambert Maltock that Wilkins would have a two-week trial at the academy of Brazilian football giants São Paulo. The trial began on 4 November and was arranged by Giovani Fernandez who is a football developer for the Oceania Football Confederation.[3]

International career

U17

On 13 January 2015 Wilkins made his debut for the Vanuatu U17 National Team during the 2015 OFC U-17 Championship. He scored 4 goals in 6 matches, being instrumental in Vanuatu's road to the third place in this championship.

U20

In September 2016 he played the 2016 OFC U-20 Championship helping Vanuatu to qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[citation needed]

First Team

Wilkins debuted for Vanuatu national football team on 2 December 2017.[citation needed]

Honours

National Team

References

  1. ^ "Ronaldo: I was born to play football". pngfacts.com. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Vanuatu U-20 midfielder Ronaldo Wilkins excited to take on football giants". pngfacts.com. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Who is Ronaldo Wilkins? The Vanuatu wonderkid who trialled at Sao Paulo – Oceania's Eleven Series". Oceaniafc.com. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.