National team: Netherlands (Group F)
Squad number: 17
Club side 09/10: Hamburger SV (GER)
Position: Striker or Winger
Age: 23
Caps: 9
Goals: 2
World Cup prospects:
Likelihood of starting the tournament: Unlikely. The Dutch side are likely to start with a four pronged attack either consisting of Van der Vaart/Sneijder/van Persie/Robben or Robben/Sneijder/van Persie/Kuyt. Now Robben is injured this may improve Elia's chances, but I envisage him being used as a late sub rather than a starter. The explosive start to his international career has done his chances no harm however and I would expect him to play the Michael Owen 1998 role, coming on as a late sub, grabbing a goal in the group stage, and then exploding onto the international scene in the knockout stages.
Commitment to shirt: Debatable. He has worn the shirt for his country, but not in every game he has played for them. However, all his goals for Holland have come wearing number 17. He is unable to wear 17 for his club due to pureblood 17 Jerome Boateng wearing it. However, with Boateng joining Manchester City, perhaps a good World Cup performance can convince him to adopt the 17 shirt as his own.
It should be noted, however, that the number 17 shirt has a bad reputation in The Netherlands, after a controversial decision in the 1974 World Cup Final. It is up to Eljero Elia to do what Robin van Persie (17 2002), Pierre van Hooijdonk (17 1998), Gaston Taument (17 1994), Hans Gillhaus (17 1990) and Wim Rijsbergen (17 1978) have been unable to do in the past - erase those bad memories with a fantastic performance in the Zeventien.
How to follow him throughout the tournament: Easy, Eljero Elia has his own twitter account, which can be incomprehensible Dutch sometimes, but quite comprehensible Dutch as well if you think about it.
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