Monday, May 26th, 2008
The Non-Flying Dutchman
I just came across this article in the Financial Times, from April 2006, on Dennis Bergkamp. He was the definitive footballer for me, along with Jürgen Klinsmann, in terms of what I wanted to do on a football pitch — barring his moments of wild anger, of course. Although I only had a few chances to see Klinsmann in action, I feel lucky to have witnessed each of these Bergkamp moments mentioned in the article:
There was his instant flick with back to the goal and then full-circle spin around Nikos Dabizas, of Newcastle United; the loblet that placed Fredrik Ljungberg alone in front of Juventus’s goal; or his outside-of-the-foot strike against Argentina.
For your delight, here is a video (along with some incongruous music) that displays these three moments — the Newcastle goal at 2:04, the Ljungberg assist at 3:26, and the Argentina goal at the end. Here is that last one again, previewed with a goal from Bergkamp’s legendary hat-trick against Leicester City in September 1997 to make the point that it was no fluke.
I think this also sort of explains why I’d sometimes burst into spontaneous laughter or applause while watching football on TV by myself.
May 28th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
An_Unsuitable_Boy said:
The thing with Bergkamp though was that he had this nasty streak as well. Zidane had it as well so it shouldn’t stop him from being loved. Just thought I’d point it out. E.g stamping on Mihajlovic and smashing Bowyer with a forearm.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The Non-Flying Dutchman | Tea Break said:
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June 16th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The Non-Flying Dutchman | Tea Break said:
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