Few of the legionnaires of football players during their lifetime received a monument, and not just anywhere, but in the homeland of football - in England. One of them deservedly became Bergkamp Dennis. For 11 years, he faithfully served the London Arsenal.
Childhood
Born into a family of passionate football fans, namely fans of Manchester United, Bergkamp Dennis was fascinated by the great game from early childhood. Attending matches of the English championship, to which a boy with his father and brother periodically came from Amsterdam, led to the fact that at the age of ten Dennis became a student of the famous Ajax Academy - The Future.
Ajax
After 2 years, Bergkamp Dennis was on a pencil with scouts of the club’s youth team and signed his first contract. In the junior team, Dennis from the defender is retrained as an attacker and wins the Netherlands championship with partners.
For the main team of Ajax, Dennis made his debut at the age of 17, and the first ball for the club held at the goal of Haarlem.
Dennis made his debut in the European arena in the KOK quarterfinal game with Malmo. Ajax lost the meeting with a score of 0: 1, which did not stop him from going further.
The great “Ajax” shone with magnificent stars that season. They played for him - Raikaard, Witchge, Bosman, Winter, Wowters, the ingenious Marco van Basten, and the famous Johan Cruyff led this company.
In the final match, in which the Dutch met Lokomotiv from Leipzig, Ajax won the Cup Winners Cup for the first time in its history. The substitute in the 65th minute Bergkamp did not spoil the game and left a good impression. In the same 1987, Bergkamp Dennis wins the Country Cup team.
In 1990, Bergkamp and partners temporarily interrupted the hegemony of PSV Eindhoven and won the Dutch championship.
The year 1993 brings Ajax the country's Cup again, after which the talented guy goes to the illustrious Inter.
International
The player’s adaptation to the viscous defensive style of the Italian championship dragged on. Accustomed to the constant dominance in Ajax, Bergkamp could not get used to the tough defensive option - catenaccio, which is widely used in Series A and puts defense at the forefront. In closed Italian football during the match, the striker is given only a few chances to hit the opponent’s goal, and Dennis is not able to fully demonstrate his abilities.
Nevertheless, in 1994, despite the failure in the championship, Inter won the UEFA Cup, and the Dutchman became the top scorer of the tournament.
But the new management of Inter decides to renew the team, and Bergkamp Dennis goes to the British Isles.
"Arsenal"
Arsenal coach Bruce Riok decided to make the team’s game more spectacular, and he needed an attack leader. But Bergkamp needed eight matches to score the long-awaited goal. According to the results of the season, “gunners” from fifth place get into the UEFA Cup, and at the top of the table Manchester United dominates.
The new coach of the team - Arsene Wenger instilled in the “Gunners” an effective style of play, turning it into a perfect mechanism. Nominated as a center forward, Dennis is a playmaker and actually the brain of the team. According to the results of the 1996/97 season, Arsenal becomes the third, and Dennis makes 13 assists.
British career peak
The heyday of the Dutch legionnaire fell on the 1997/98 season. Strengthened by the acquired Anelka and Overmars, the “gunners” make a golden double, and Dennis Bergkamp has a direct relationship to almost all the goals of the team. Having scored 22 goals, he is recognized as the best player according to the versions of the football association and journalists and in addition receives the Bronze Ball.
This will be followed by a long annual struggle for the championship against the “red devils” from Manchester, which Arsenal will lose four times, taking only the second place. Two gold medals won in the fight against Chelsea and Liverpool, three FA Cups and the same number of Super Bowls are the merits for which the Dutch legionnaire will be included in the notorious Hall of Fame for British football.
Holland team
Bergkamp appeared in the national team in 1990 in a match with Italians. The first goal was scored in the same year against the Greeks.
At the 1992 European Championships, Dennis scores five goals and becomes the best scorer in the dispute.
Thanks to three goals from Dennis at the 1994 World Football Forum, the Dutch reached 1/4, where they lost to the Brazilians with a score of 2: 3.
But the 1998 World Cup became especially significant for Dennis. The goal scored in the gates of Argentina, became the decoration of the tournament. Despite the semifinals lost to the Brazilians, Bergkamp ended up in the symbolic national team of the championship.
Having lost the Italian national team semifinals of the home Euro 2000, Bergkamp announced the completion of his performances for the national team.
Dennis Bergkamp: goals that went down in history
During his long career, Dennis scored 272 goals, but two of them will never be forgotten by football fans.
On March 3, 2002, after being disqualified, Dennis entered the game with Newcastle. Goal Bergkamp “Newcastle” forever remained in the history of football. At the beginning of the match, being in front of the penalty area with his back to the goal and the defender, Dennis received a pass and, incredibly throwing the ball in one direction, himself, having bypassed the defender, rushed after him from the other, after which he just shot into the right corner of the goal.
A true masterpiece, forever gone down in history, was the amazing goal of Bergkamp Argentina. After the longest transfer of Frank de Boer, Bergkamp, ​​who burst into the penalty area, took the ball with one movement, processed it the second, leaving Ayal lost at work, and elegantly shot under the crossbar.
Aerophobia
Until 1994, Bergkamp did not feel discomfort from being in the cabin. But everything changed the flight of the Netherlands national team to the World Cup in the United States. For unknown reasons, the flight was somewhat delayed, and one of the journalists joked gloomily that the plane was apparently mined. Since then, Dennis Bergkamp has been afraid to fly. He did not play away matches if he could not reach the place of the game by car or train.
Trainer
Having completed his football career, Bergkamp categorically refused to learn the coaching profession. He rejected the offer of the Arsenal management to work as a scout in the club system. Dennis devoted two years to his family, constantly traveling around the world. But the idle lifestyle soon bored Bergkamp, ​​and in 2008 he began to attend coaching courses, where he mastered the profession under the guidance of Arsene Wenger. As a coach, Bergkamp wants to return to England, but for now his main achievement is two Ajax titles, where he worked as an assistant.
Personal life
Dennis Bergkamp married in a happy 1993 year for him. With his wife, Henrita Rosendahl, they raise four children. Dennis Roland's nephew plays for the Sparta Rotterdam. Bergkamp's best friend for many years remains Mark Overmars. And the grateful son gratefully thanked his parents by buying them a luxurious mansion in a suburb of Amsterdam.
Dennis Bergkamp is a football player who is proud not only of his country, but of the whole world. Fans are grateful to him for a wonderful spectacular game. This is a man whose achievements the young generation should strive for.