Everything about Dennis Bergkamp totally explained
Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (born
May 10,
1969 in
Amsterdam) is a retired
Dutch professional footballer. At club level he played for
Ajax,
Internazionale,
Arsenal and also represented the
Netherlands at international level. Bergkamp played most of his best games as a
support striker, where his tactical awareness and deft passes made him a great exponent of the game from the
'hole'. He was selected by
Pelé as one of the
FIFA 125 greatest living players and is widely regarded as one of the
English Premier League's all-time greatest players. In 2007 he was inducted into the
English Football Hall of Fame, the first ever Dutch player to receive the honour. He has also finished third in the
FIFA Player of the Year award twice.
Early life
Raised in a flat in western Amsterdam, Bergkamp was one of four sons of a Catholic plumber. He was never known to socialize much outside of his own family. His parents, who were football fanatics, named him after
Manchester United,
Manchester City and
Scotland striker Denis Law.
Club career
AFC Ajax
Bergkamp was brought up through
Ajax's famous youth system, joining the club at age 12. He was given his professional debut by coach
Johan Cruijff on
December 14,
1986 against
Roda JC, and went on to make 14 appearances that season. He played as a substitute in the 1987
European Cup Winners Cup final against
Lokomotive Leipzig, which Ajax won.
The following season, Bergkamp became a regular for Ajax, winning the
Dutch league in 1990, the
UEFA Cup in 1992 and the
KNVB Cup in 1993. From 1991 to 1993 Bergkamp was top scorer in the
Eredivisie, and he was voted
Player of the Year in 1992 and 1993. In all, Bergkamp scored 122 goals in 239 games for his hometown club.
Internazionale
In the summer of 1993, Bergkamp and his Ajax team-mate
Wim Jonk were signed by
Internazionale of
Milan. However, his time in Italy was less successful. Although he won a second UEFA Cup in 1994, he found it hard to adapt to the Italian defensive style of play, scoring just 11 times in 50 appearances. Bergkamp's poor form wasn't helped by his frosty relationship with the Italian press, and indeed some of his teammates.
Arsenal
After two unhappy seasons at Inter, Bergkamp was signed by
Arsenal boss
Bruce Rioch in June 1995 for £7.5m. Bergkamp made his debut against
Middlesbrough on
19 August 1995 but had to adapt to the English style of play; it took him seven games before he managed to score his first goal, against
Southampton. Slowly but surely, Bergkamp's stature grew, playing as a forward behind the main striker,
Ian Wright. They soon formed a strong partnership which was one of the finest in the
Premier League. Bergkamp has been regarded by many football pundits such as
Alan Hansen as being the greatest foreign player to grace the
English game.
Bergkamp's arrival at Arsenal was significant, not only as he was one of the first world-class foreign players to join an English club since the lifting of the
Heysel ban in 1990, but also because he was a major contributor to the club's return to success after a brief period of mediocrity of the mid-1990s.
Bergkamp hit his best form for Arsenal after the arrival of
Arsène Wenger in September 1996. Arsenal won a
Premiership and
FA Cup double in the
1997-98 season (although Bergkamp missed the cup final with an injury), and Bergkamp was voted
PFA Player of the Year. In September 1997, he became the first and so far only player to have come first, second and third in
Match of the Day's Goal of the Month competition, for a
hat trick against
Leicester City. He scored 16 times that season, as well as being involved in setting up many more. At the end of that same season, he helped the Netherlands to a fourth-place finish at the
1998 World Cup. In that competition he scored one of the greatest goals of all time in a quarter final win against Argentina, after receiving a 60 yard pass from
Frank de Boer.
While his form since hasn't matched the spectacle of that season, Bergkamp continued to be a regular in the Arsenal team. He won the double again in 2002, the FA Cup in 2003 and the Premiership for a third time in 2004. The club's domestic success hasn't been matched in European competition, the closest to winners' medals coming when they lost the 2000 UEFA Cup final to
Galatasaray on
penalties and the 2006 Champions League final loss to Barcelona; Bergkamp travelled overland to
Paris for his competitive farewell, only to be an unused substitute.
In 2005, due to Arsenal's reluctance in offering him a new deal, there was speculation that Bergkamp would leave the club, and possibly football altogether. Bergkamp had said he'd retire from football if not offered a new contract with Arsenal for the
2005-06 campaign, despite interest from his former club Ajax. Following Arsenal's penalty shootout victory over
Manchester United in the FA Cup Final in
Cardiff though, it was revealed he'd sign a one-year contract extension, which was custom by the manager Arsène Wenger for players over 30 years old, keeping him at the London club for their final season at the
Arsenal Stadium at Highbury.
On
April 15 2006, the home match against
West Bromwich Albion, the Arsenal supporters dedicated the original "Supporter's Day" match theme (one of the designated theme days Arsenal prepared to celebrate their last year at Highbury before moving to the Emirates Stadium) to "Dennis Bergkamp Day", to commemorate Bergkamp's time at Arsenal. Bergkamp came on as a second half substitute, setting up the winning
Robert Pirès goal, after Albion had equalised just after he came on. He scored a curler himself at the 89th minute, as Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners. That goal proved to be the last goal Bergkamp scored in Arsenal colours and in competitive football.
Bergkamp officially retired from competitive football after the 2006 Champions League final game against
FC Barcelona on
May 17 2006. The last game he played in Arsenal colours was also the last game at Highbury, against
Wigan Athletic on
May 7 2006 - the final
Premier League game of
that season. Bergkamp scored 120 goals for Arsenal in 424 appearances, and set up a further 166 goals in his Arsenal career. This makes him one of the top three assist makers in Premier League history.
International career
Bergkamp made his international début for the
Netherlands against
Italy on
September 26,
1990. His first major tournament was
Euro 92, where the Dutch were defending champions. Bergkamp impressed, but the Dutch lost on penalties in the semi-finals to the team that would go on to win the tournament,
Denmark, despite Bergkamp scoring both in regular time and in the penalty shoot-out.
Bergkamp also impressed in the
1994 FIFA World Cup, playing in all of his side's matches, scoring a spectacular goal against
Brazil, a match the Dutch ultimately lost 3-2. The Netherlands disappointed in
Euro 96, with the squad riven by in-fighting, although Bergkamp still scored once, and set up
Patrick Kluivert's consolatory goal against
England that got the side into the quarter-finals.
In the
1998 FIFA World Cup, Bergkamp scored three times, the most memorable of which being the winning goal in the final minute of the quarter-final against
Argentina. Bergkamp took a leaping first touch to instantly control a long 60-yard aerial pass from
Frank de Boer, brought the ball down through Argentine defender
Roberto Ayala's legs, and finally finished by firing a volley with the outside of his right foot past the keeper at a tight angle from the right. With three intelligent right-footed touches in a matter of seconds, he was able to turn the game and send his national squad into the semifinal round.
The Netherlands joint-hosted
Euro 2000 and were one of the favourites. After progressing through the "group of death", they lost on penalties to Italy in the semi-finals. Bergkamp didn't score at all during the tournament but still played an important role. After the defeat, Bergkamp announced his retirement from international football, because the next major tournament, the
2002 FIFA World Cup, would be played in
Japan and
South Korea and Bergkamp's
aviophobia (see below) would prevent him from travelling there. He didn't play the qualification matches, since he thought that it would be unfair to do so.
He ended his international career first on the all-time list of goal scorers for the Dutch national team, with 37 goals in 79 games, although his record has since been passed by
Patrick Kluivert.
Post-football career
Bergkamp had the honour of being the focus of the first match at Arsenal's new ground, the
Emirates Stadium. On
22 July 2006, a
testimonial was played in his honour at the new stadium, with
Arsenal playing his old club
Ajax. Bergkamp kicked off the match with his father, Wim, and son, Mitchel. All four children act as the match's mascots. The first half was played by members of Arsenal and Ajax's current squads, while the second was played by famous ex-players from both sides; for example
Ian Wright,
Patrick Vieira,
Emmanuel Petit and
David Seaman for Arsenal, and
Marco van Basten,
Danny Blind,
Johan Cruijff,
Frank and
Ronald de Boer for Ajax. Arsenal won the match 2–1 with goals from
Thierry Henry and
Nwankwo Kanu;
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had earlier opened the scoring for Ajax, making him the first goalscorer at the Emirates Stadium.
Upon retiring from playing Bergkamp insisted he wouldn't move into coaching. He turned down an offer to scout for Arsenal and instead concentrated on travelling and spending time with his family. However, in May 2008 he'll start a fast-track coaching diploma for former Dutch international footballers. Because of his aviaphobia, he'll study under former manager Arsene Wenger in
London.
It has been confirmed by
Marco van Basten that Bergkamp has been offered a trainee role at
Ajax which will help him establish himself in future coaching capacity. Bergkamp has taken up the offer and will start his new post straight away.
Others on Bergkamp
In
Brilliant Orange (ISBN 0-7475-5310-6),
David Winner's analysis of the way in which Dutch football and Dutch culture blend, the
sculptor Jeroen Henneman analyzes the effect of Dennis Bergkamp's passes and how he can split a defence:
» "It's a miracle. One moment the pitch is crowded and narrow. Suddenly it's huge and wide."
Bergkamp's close control and skill in passing the ball has put him in very high regard by Arsenal's fans, who have given him the nickname "God". Other nicknames given to him by fans included "Dennis the Menace", "the Dutch Master", "the non-Flying Dutchman", "Iceman" and "Bergy".
Arsène Wenger also said about him after Arsenal's 3-1 win over
West Bromwich Albion (
April 162006) that Bergkamp had:
» "Intelligence and class. Class is of course, most of the time linked to what you can do with the ball, but the intelligence makes you use the technique in an efficient way. It's like somebody who has a big vocabulary but he doesn't say intelligent words, and somebody who has a big vocabulary but he can talk intelligently, and that's what Dennis is all about. What he does, there's always a head and always a brain. And his technique allows him to do what he sees, and what he decides to do."
Bergkamp's former strike partner
Thierry Henry praised the Dutchman after his last game for the club:
» "Dennis is the best player I've ever played with as a partner. It is a dream for a striker to have him in the team with you."
Arsenal Legend Ian Wright said of Bergkamp:
» "He's the messiah. We told him to get us into Europe when he joined and that's exactly what he did."
In April 2006,
Simon Kuper wrote in the
Financial Times:
» "One night last year some legends of Dutch football gathered for dinner in an Amsterdam house. Around midnight conversation turned to an old question: who was the best Dutch footballer ever? Dutchmen have been voted
European Footballer of the Year seven times, more than any other nationality except Germans. Yet
Jan Mulder, a great centre-forward turned writer, chose a player who had never even threatened to win the award nor, at the time, a Champions League: 'Bergkamp. He had the finest technique', said Mulder.
Guus Hiddink, the great Dutch manager, nodded, and so the matter was settled."
Aviophobia
Dennis Bergkamp is well known for having a disabling
fear of flying, which developed after the Dutch squad were involved in an incident concerning their aircraft during the
1994 FIFA World Cup in the
United States. The Dutch squad travelled together with a group of journalists, one of whom made remarks about the long waiting time, wondering if there was a bomb on the plane. This provoked a panic amongst passengers and in particular Bergkamp. This incident reminded Bergkamp of a
plane crash which killed many Surinamese-Dutch players when they flew to Suriname. Ever since, Bergkamp has had a dislike of flying. This gave rise to the nickname the
non-Flying Dutchman, a variation on
The Flying Dutchman. He was thus often unable to play for Arsenal outside of England. He would, if required, take a train or drive there himself. The tiring nature of such long journeys to Europe forced him to miss domestic matches around European away games. Bergkamp retired from international football after the
2000 European Football Championship.
Personal life
Bergkamp is married to Henrita Ruizendaal with whom he's four children: daughters Estelle, Yasmin, and Saffron; and son Mitchel. He lives in
Hertfordshire.
Honours
Internazionale
Arsenal
Awards
Eredivisie topscorer 1991, 1992, 1993.
Dutch Player of the Year 1992, 1993.
European Footballer of the Year: 3rd place 1992, 2nd place 1993
English PFA Players' Player of the Year 1998.
English Football Writers Player of the Year 1998.
Premier League Goal of the Season 1998, 2002.
Arsenal FC Player of the Year 1998.
FIFA Player of the Year: 3rd place 1993, 1997.
Match of the Day's Goal of the Season: 1997-1998, 2001-2002
Inducted into English Football Hall of Fame in 2007 ceremony (External Link
)
Statistics
|-
|1986-87||rowspan="7"|Ajax||rowspan="7"|Eredivisie||14||2||0||0||colspan="2"|-||14||2
|-
|1987-88||25||5||0||0||colspan="2"|-||25||5
|-
|1988-89||30||13||0||0||colspan="2"|-||30||13
|-
|1989-90||25||8||0||0||colspan="2"|-||25||8
|-
|1990-91||33||25||6||3||colspan="2"|-||39||28
|-
|1991-92||30||24||11||6||colspan="2"|-||41||30
|-
|1992-93||28||26||6||4||colspan="2"|-||34||30
|-
|1993-94||rowspan="2"|Inter Milan||rowspan="2"|Serie A||31||8||13||9||colspan="2"|-||44||17
|-
|1994-95||21||3||3||1||colspan="2"|-||24||4
|-
|1995-96||rowspan="11"|Arsenal||rowspan="11"|Premier League||33||11||10||2||colspan="2"|-||43||13
|-
|1996-97||29||12||6||7||colspan="2"|-||35||19
|-
|1997-98||28||16||9||4||colspan="2"|-||37||20
|-
|1998-99||29||12||4||0||3||1||36||13
|-
|1999-00||28||6||11||0||2||0||41||6
|-
|2000-01||25||3||0||0||5||1||30||4
|-
|2001-02||33||9||0||0||6||2||39||11
|-
|2002-03||29||4||0||0||7||1||36||5
|-
|2003-04||28||4||0||0||6||0||34||4
|-
|2004-05||30||8||0||0||4||0||33||8
|-
|2005-06||24||2||0||0||4||1||28||3
185||103||23||13||colspan="2"|-||208||116
52||11||16||10||colspan="2"|-||68||21
316||87||40||13||37||6||393||106
553||201||79||36||37||6||669||243
|}
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