Theo Lucius

Theodorus Martinus Maria "Theo" Lucius (born 19 December 1976) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He could operate as a right back or a central defender, and also as a defensive midfielder.

He spent most of his 16-year professional career with PSV, winning nine major titles with the club, notably four Eredivisie championships, and appearing in 254 games in the competition overall (17 goals).

Club career Den Bosch Lucius was born in Veghel, North Brabant. When he was five years old he started his football career at amateurs VV Heeswijk, joining BVV Den Bosch eight years later and being reconverted from a striker to a midfielder; since the age of 15, he also worked as a carpenter, and made formwork for a concrete factory.

In July 2010, aged nearly 34, Lucius finally returned to Den Bosch, again in the second division. At the end of the campaign, he moved to another team in the category, FC Eindhoven. After one year he joined RKC Waalwijk on an amateur basis, but left after only one month due to lack of playing time, rejoining his previous club in the following transfer window.

International career On 4 June 2005, Lucius made his debut with the Netherlands, led by Marco van Basten, in a 2–0 home win against Romania for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Four days later, in the same competition – again as a starting right back – he won the second of his three caps, in a 4–0 win over Finland.

Personal life In January 2004, Lucius made headlines for selling illegal fireworks to a man from Breda in December of the previous year. When using the device, the man was badly injured and lost his eye. As a result, Lucius spent a few days in jail and was sentenced to community service,

He was also a poker player, with a rather negative record.

After his active career, Lucius became co-owner of a café in his home town of Heeswijk-Dinther.

Career statistics

Honours PSV Eredivisie: 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 KNVB Cup: 2004–05; Runner-up 2000–01, 2005–06 Johan Cruyff Shield: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003; Runner-up 2002, 2005

Feyenoord KNVB Cup: 2007–08 Johan Cruijff Shield: Runner-up 2008