Everything about Arjen Robben totally explained
| cityofbirth =
Bedum
| countryofbirth =
Netherlands
| height =
| currentclub =
Real Madrid
| clubnumber = 11
| position =
Winger (Right/Left)
| youthyears =
| youthclubs =
| years = 2000-2002
2002-2004
2004-2007
2007-
| clubs =
FC GroningenPSVChelseaReal Madrid
| caps(goals) = 46
Arjen Robben (born
January 23,
1984 in
Bedum) is a
Dutch footballer who currently plays as a
winger for Real Madrid. He is also a part of the
Netherlands national football team and has appeared in the
UEFA Euro 2004 and the
2006 FIFA World Cup.
Robben was named
F.C. Groningen's team player of the year during the
Eredivisie 2000-01 season and the Netherlands' Young Player of the Year during his time at
PSV Eindhoven. He was also the
FA Premier League Player of the Month during the month of
November 2005 at
Chelsea F.C.
Early football life
Born in the town of
Bedum in the province of
Groningen, the Netherlands, Robben took to football from an early age. He began playing with local club
VV Bedum. Robben became an adherent of the
Coerver Method, created and popularised by Dutch football coach
Wiel Coerver. Robben's skill in ball control and technical footwork made him a valuable player, and he was quickly signed by local club F.C. Groningen.
Club career
F.C. Groningen
F.C. Groningen placed Robben in their C-class youth team for the
1999/2000 season. He scored 50 goals in their competitions. Manager
Jan Van Dijk added the winger to the first team before Groningen's November 2000 away game against
F.C. Twente, but he didn't play until
December 3,
2000 against
RKC Waalwijk, as a substitute for the injured
Leonardo dos Santos in the 79th minute. Over the winter, Robben managed to play himself into the
starting lineup. In 18 starts for Groningen over the 2000-01 season, he scored 2 goals. Robben was named player of the year for his first season with the club, and with teammate Jordi Hoogstrate, he demonstrated the strength of the Groningen youth academy. Robben stayed with Groningen and improved steadily during the 2001-02 season, playing in 28 matches and scoring 6 goals.
After this good start, PSV couldn't keep up with rival
Ajax Amsterdam and were forced into a fight for second place in the Eredivisie. Robben travelled to London and met with
Manchester United coach
Alex Ferguson. Ferguson's offer came in much too low for PSV's and/or Robben's liking; Eindhoven chairman
Harry van Raaij told Manchester United the most that their
€7 million offer would buy them was a shirt with Robben's autograph. Almost immediately, Chelsea owner
Roman Abramovich offered
€ 18 million (
£ 12.1 million), and PSV accepted. The rest of his season with PSV was disappointing. He injured his hamstring twice and missed several games. By the end of the season, Robben scored five times in 23 Eredivisie matches. His early Chelsea career was punctuated by dazzling displays as one of few "out and out" wingers in the English game. His instant development of a quick and fluid front three with
Ivorian centre-forward
Didier Drogba and Irish winger
Damien Duff was perhaps the most prevalent consequence of Robben's arrival. However, Robben was badly injured in a league game away to
Blackburn Rovers and forced to sit out Chelsea's title run-in and progress to the semi-finals of the
UEFA Champions League.
Back to fitness for
2005-06, Robben was an integral part of the Chelsea left wing. In 28 matches, Robben contributed 6 goals as Chelsea won a second consecutive
FA Premier League championship, the first back-to-back titles for the west London club.
After the
Fifa World Cup 2006, Robben returned to a new look Chelsea squad. With the arrivals of
Andriy Shevchenko,
Michael Ballack and
Ashley Cole, Chelsea manager
José Mourinho had largely shelved the 4-3-3 formation with two wingers that he'd used over the past two seasons and instead began using a 4-1-3-2 formation, with midfielders
Frank Lampard and
Michael Essien on the flanks instead of specialist wingers like Robben. This saw the winger struggle to get a position in Chelsea starting lineup at the beginning of the season.
In November 2006, Mourinho started to give Robben more playing opportunities, either as a
withdrawn forward, playing off a lone
target man, or as a winger, when reverting to the tried and tested 4-3-3. After the absence of
Joe Cole due to knee injury, Robben was then recognised as an important player for Chelsea with his ability to bring the ball down the flanks at speed essential in a team not especially endowed with great dribblers. He was named man of the Match on
December 23 2006 against
Wigan, a match where he got two assists and the winning goal in. He was then sidelined for a few weeks due to a slight thigh strain.
In January 2007, Robben returned yet again against Wigan and with an assist and a goal to his credit Robben was again named Man of the Match. Robben was inflicted with yet another injury in a match against Liverpool F.C. dated
January 20,
2007. Robben made his return in a 3-0 victory against
Middlesbrough F.C. in February driving in a shot that took a deflection past
Mark Schwarzer for an own goal by
Abel Xavier. Robben also came on as a substitute against
FC Porto making his presence felt immediately after sending in a cross that led to an
equaliser scored by
Andriy Shevchenko. Robben came on in the 2nd half of the
Carling Cup final and provided the cross for
Didier Drogba to head in the winner and he also scored a crucial goal in the 2nd leg of the
2006-07 UEFA Champions League against Porto, which led to Chelsea winning the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
At the end of March 2007, Robben underwent a knee operation after sustaining a knee injury upon returning from international duty that was expected to rule him out for at least four weeks. Robben made his return in a
2006-07 UEFA Champions League semi final encounter against Liverpool. Robben played a brief role in the
FA Cup final against
Manchester United on
May 19, which Chelsea won.
After the final, Robben cleared up speculation on his future at the club in an interview: "I've always said I want to stay. I'll be here next season, that's for sure". Then, on
August 4,
Spanish media reported that
Real Madrid was close to signing Robben and/or his Chelsea teammate
Michael Ballack. Madrid coach
Bernd Schuster told Spanish radio, "Hopefully, we'll be able to announce the signing of one or two big players soon." Schuster is said to have demanded Ballack, while Madrid's president,
Ramon Calderon, is known to favor Robben. Robben has said to reporters of Spanish newspaper
AS: "I don't know when a deal will be reached. I'd like to send a message to the Madrid fans, but I can't until my future is sorted."
Real Madrid eventually secured Robben's services after dishing out a huge transfer fee. Despite rumors that he really wanted to leave Chelsea, he broke his silence and acknowledged it was hard to leave Chelsea.
He told Chelsea's official club website: "It was difficult to leave because I'd a great time in my three years at Chelsea and I made a lot of friends.
There was no time to say goodbye because the deal was closed on the Wednesday at 10 o'clock in the evening and the following morning I'd to fly.
If I've one day off I'd want to come back and say goodbye because to the fans I owe a big thank you because they were always good to me.
In my three years I won all the prizes there are to win in England."
Real Madrid
Robben completed his move to
Real Madrid on a five-year deal on
22 August 2007, with the transfer fee reported as
€36,55 million,
£24 million,. He became the fifth most expensive signing in Real Madrid's history, after
Zinedine Zidane,
Luís Figo,
David Beckham and
Ronaldo. He made his debut on September 18th, in the first Champions League game of the season against
Werder Bremen.
On October 17th, while playing with the Dutch national team, Robben pulled a muscle in his thigh and was out for around six weeks. He made his
El Clasico debut on 23 December, 2007, where he came on a substitute for
Robinho in the 85th minute. He had an impressive run, overcoming both
Gianluca Zambrotta and
Rafael Marquez down the left wing. He scored his first competitive goal for Real Madrid on January 2nd, 2008, playing against
Alicante CF. He opened the scoring, and later won the match 2-1 with
Real Madrid.
He scored his first
La Liga goal on 10 February, 2008 against Valladolid. He was positioned on both the right and left wing,
Real Madrid went on to win the game 7-0. Since then he's cemented his place in the Real Madrid starting team. Against
CA Osasuna Madrid were losing 1-0 but then a
Higuain free-kick was headed brilliantly by Robben into the net in the 84th minute.
Real Madrid eventually won the game 2-1 to win their 31st
Spanish League title in the
club's history.
This is the fourth league title Arjen Robben has won at the age of 24 and he's won the league every time for the first season of each club he's played for except his first major club Gronigen.
He then also went on to score another header against Barcelona on the 21st minute, taking the score up to 2-0, after a first goal from Raul.
International career
Robben has played in 27 games for the Netherlands, scoring 8 goals. The first international experience of Robben's career came in
Euro 2004, as the Netherlands failed to qualify for the
2002 World Cup. During Euro 2004 Dutch coach
Dick Advocaat substituted Robben in the 66th minute to defend a 2-1 lead over the
Czech Republic. However, the Czech team then scored two goals and won 3-2, which led to criticism about Advocaat's decision. In the same tournament, it was Robben who scored the deciding penalty in the shootout between Holland and
Sweden, which ensured that at the fifth attempt, the Dutch finally won a penalty shootout.
Robben played in his first World Cup Qualifiers in 2006. In six games for the Netherlands, Robben scored two goals. The Netherlands qualified for the World Cup in 2006 and in Holland's opening match against
Serbia and Montenegro, Robben scored the winning goal in the 18th minute, and was named the . In the match against
Côte d'Ivoire, Robben received this award the second time, thus becoming one of the eight players in the tournament to have won the Man of the Match Award more than once.
Personal life
Arjen Robben married Bernadien Eillert on 9 June 2007 in Groningen, whom he met at high school in Groningen at the Kamerlingh Onnes. His father, Hans, acts as his agent.
Awards and honours
Trophies
PSV Eindhoven
Real Madrid
Personal honours
U-21 European Footballer of the Year (2005)
Netherlands' Young Player of the Year(2003)
Career statistics
(Correct as of 19 May 2008)
International goals>
| # |
Date |
Venue |
Opponent |
Score |
Result |
Competition |
| 1 |
2003-10-11 |
Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands |
|
5-0 |
5-0 |
2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying |
| 2 |
2004-02-18 |
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
|
1-0 |
1-0 |
Friendly match |
| 3 |
2004-02-18 |
Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain |
|
0-2 |
0-3 |
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 |
2005-04-06 |
Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands |
|
1-0 |
2-0 |
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 5 |
2005-08-17 |
Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands |
|
1-0 |
2-2 |
Friendly match |
| 6 |
2005-08-17 |
Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands |
|
2-0 |
2-2 |
Friendly match |
| 7 |
2006-06-11 |
Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany |
|
1-0 |
1-0 |
2006 FIFA World Cup |
| 8 |
2006-08-16 |
Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland |
|
0-2 |
0-4 |
Friendly match |
Further Information
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