Dennis Bergkamp (b. May 10, 1969, Amsterdam), Dutch football player.
Dennis Bergkamp is a striker who stands out more because of the quality of his goals than the quantity. He is the kind of player who can leave the two or three defenders he passed wondering what the hell just happened.
He likes to score from outside the box or take the ball from there inside the box to score.
A case in point is the goal he scored against Newcastle on the March 2, 2002.
- Dennis is standing just outside the box, with his back towards the defender.
- A long pass from the midfield comes flying low over the ground.
- Without even looking towards the defender, he touches the ball only once, leg out-stretched.
- The ball curves past the defender, but Dennis also passes the defender on the other side, like two streams of the same river passing a rock.
- The goal a second later is then just a matter of formality for Bergkamp and the flabbergasted goal keeper.
This example illustrates his fine ability to handle the ball, to not need to touch the ball more than once (other, otherwise excellent strikers, often need to 'control' the ball by bringing it to rest, giving defenders the chance to intercept), to leave defenders standing and his preference to score (or to prepare a goal) from outside the box.
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Dennis Bergkamp played in his professional career for only three clubs.
Dennis Bergkamp is second on the all-time list of goal scorers for the Dutch national team: 37 in 79 games. (The all-time leader is Patrick Kluivert, with 40 goals in 75 games as of 13 December 2003. #3, Faas Wilkes, only needed 38 games for 35 goals and #4, Abe Lenstra, 47 games for 33 goals.)Professional career
Stats