Steven Jerome Pienaar (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈstivən ˈpinɑːr]; born 17 March 1982) is a South African former professional footballer and current coach of the U14 team of Sharjah FC in the United Arab Emirates.

He was brought to the attention of Ajax CT whilst playing for the School of Excellence and was asked to join their youth academy.

[6] At the age of 18, Pienaar was brought over to the Netherlands in January 2001 but did not make his Eredivisie debut until 24 February 2002, a 1–0 victory over NAC Breda.

He became a pivotal member of the Ajax team that won the Dutch League in 2002 and 2004, shining as one of Ajax's best players alongside Zlatan Ibrahimović, Maxwell, Cristian Chivu, Mido, Nigel de Jong, Rafael van der Vaart, and Wesley Sneijder, as well as future Everton teammates John Heitinga and Andy van der Meyde.

Seen as a replacement for the Arsenal-bound Tomáš Rosický, Pienaar's first year with Dortmund saw him receive the number 10 shirt vacated by the Czech playmaker.

[8] Pienaar made his debut for Everton in a 2–1 home victory over Wigan Athletic on 11 August 2007, replacing Leon Osman in the 73rd minute as a substitute.

[2] In January 2011, both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur had bids accepted to buy Pienaar from Everton before the South African joined Spurs for a fee of £3 million on a four-year contract.

[14] Pienaar's spell at Tottenham was characterised by persistent injuries and not much impact in games, which resulted him rarely featuring in the team.

[16] He made his second debut for the club in a 1–1 draw away to Wigan Athletic,[17] and scored his first goal of his loan spell with opener in a 2–0 win over Chelsea a week later.

In October 2013, Pienaar returned from a hamstring injury suffered two months earlier as he came on as a substitute against Hull City and scored the winning goal just ten seconds later.

[26][27] Despite Everton finishing the 2013–14 season fifth with a club record of 72 Premier League points, Pienaar struggled with injuries for large parts of it and only scored one goal and made two assists in the matches he did feature in.

[47] In the run up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Pienaar was involved in a high-profile Adidas sportswear advertising campaign.