Dennis Bergkamp was born on 10 May 1969 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He was named after the famous manchester United's player Denis Law. ( I think it's all because of his father, who is a Manchester United's follower) But how come Bergkamp is called "Dennis", not "Denis" now? Cos the civil servant at the registry office felt that Denis was too close to Denise and so insisted on the extra "n". Dennis drilled the ball hour after hour against the garden wall at his family home at a young age, or dribbled around his three elder brothers who were also all football fanatics. He didn't follow his father to support the Manchester United, he supported Tottenham Hotspur. It's all because of Glenn Hoddle, the footballer which Dennis admired most. "Main thing was that I was a big fan of Glenn Hoddle. When you want to see Hoddle play you watched Tottenham" Dennis said.

AFC Ajax Amsterdam
Dennis joined the Ajax Youth team when he was 12. "The normal things for professional players now, I already did when I was 12 years old. I didn't have time to go out. If we had a game on Saturday, I would stay it on Friday night. I didn't smoke, I didn't drink. I stayed in on Saturday nights and Sunday to do my homework so I could train two or three times a week" He said. His superb skill attracted Johan Cruijff very much, the Dutch Legend. Cruijff took Dennis away from the junior-team and asked him to play with the first team. Dennis made his Dutch league debut for Ajax against Roda J.C on the 14th of December 1986 and his first European appearence in the Cup Winner's Cup against Malm FF in 1987. During his days in Ajax, Dennis really helped Ajax quite a lot in winning the Cup Winner's Cup (1987), Dutch Championship (1990), UEFA Cup (1992), and Dutch Cup (1993). Besides, he was three times in a row the Dutch Topscorer and even set a record in the Dutch league by scoring in ten consecutive matches.

F.C Internazionale Milan
After some successful years playing for Ajax, Dennis surprised pundits by rejecting offers from AC Milan and Barcelona. He, together with Wim Jonk went to FC Internazionale, better known as Inter Milan. Though he picked up a UEFA Cup winner's medal, his two years ended in frustration. I think, it's because his position did not suit him. (Dennis played as the central striker in Inter Milan, but his best position was right behind the strikers) Besides, Dennis didn't have a good relationship with his teammates, for an example, one of his teammates in Inter Milan, the Uruguayan striker Ruben Sora treated him more as a rival than a colleague. Dennis also could not go down well with with the quite-hungry Italian press, when he wouldn't talk to them, they talked to his gardener who told them that one of Italy's most highly paid footballers liked to stay at home with his wife. Although, Dennis really had a difficult time in Inter Milan, he refused to look back on that time as a failure. " I don't think so. Of course I couldn't bring the football I am bringing now or I brought at Ajax, but as a player I think I learnt a lot. I think I wouldn't have been the footballer I am now if I didn't go there" He admitted.

Arsenal F.C
Having opted to leave, Bergkamp's decision to join Arsenla was made quickly. "I wanted to go to England and as soon as I heard the name Arsenal. I thought of London. I thought of the club, a very successful club." On the 20th of June 1995, Bergkamp moved from Inter to Arsenal FC at 7.5 million pounds. Dennis really had made a good move, he started to resume his form and became the sharpest in 97/98 season, he mainly helped Arsenal to be the double winner. Besides, he also won a lot of personal honours for himself. Dennis walked away with the Player of the Month awards for August and September, and became the first to register a one-two-three finish in Match of the Day's Goal of the Month. Do you still remember his third goal against Leicester last season? I think it is the best goal he has ever scored in the Premeirship. (Of course, the best of the best is the goal against Argentina in World Cup 98) If you want to recall it at anytime you want, you can simply visit a web site i.e http://user.tninet.se/~tdz627s/ to download it. His excellent performance not only brought him numerous monthly awards, but some important awards too. Such as the PFA Footballer of the Year, Football Writer's Association Player of theYear award and Goal of the Season 97/98 Award. Dennis was even named "GOD" by the London people. What a great name!
Since Bergkamp did not have enough rest before the start of 98/99 season, he was not as sharp as he used to be. Fortunately, "GOD" seems to come back recently, he has scored a few brilliant goals and made some great assists in the match against Villa and Leeds. I can be sure, Bergkamp will definitely resume the form that won him trophy last season!
By the way, there are three years left on his contract with the Gunners. Dennis has insisted that at this moment he will probably has no intention to extend the contract. He wants to finish his career at Arsenal.

The Dutch National Team,Oranje
I think everybody here has no doubt that Bergkamp plays a very important role in the Dutch National team in recent years. His first national appearence was on the 26 September 1990 in a friendly match against Italy, Dennis impressed everybody. Then, his first great performance appeared in the 92's European Championship, where Dennis played along with Dutch superstar, Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard, and Koeman. Finally Holland reached the semi-finals and Bergkamp became the Dutch topscorer with 3 goals. He also had good performance in both World Cup 94 & 98, especially World Cup 98. Dennis scored a magnificent and crucial goal in the match against Argentina and led Oranje into the semi-final. (However I feel it's really a pity that Holland was once again beaten by Brazil.) This goal impressed everyone, especially Oranje followers. It was voted as the "Goal of the tournament" too! After World Cup 98, Bergkamp has been the lastest all time topscorer of Oranje, he scored totally 36 goals, the old record was held by Faas Wilkes with 35 goals. By the way, Dennis has decided to play for Oranje until at least the year 2000, when the European Championship is held in Holland and Belgium.


Non-Flying Dutchman
Most of the people know one of Bergkamp's nickname is "non-flying dutchman", which means he has a phobia of flying. It stems from a bomb scare on a flight from Dallas to Amsterdam during the World Cup 94 and the fact that he had previously lost friends in an air crash. After that, Dennis decided not to fly anymore. Now, he can only play matches in foreign countries where they can be reached by car, train or boat. There was a rumour that Bergkamp would put aside his fear of flying and take to the sky for Arsenal in Champions League. Of course, it's not true! "It is all a bit ridiculous." He said. "I said four years ago that I wouldn't fly and I'm happy with that." I think all of us must esteem to his decision.

Off the Pitch
Dennis is well known as "Iceman", cos he is as cool as ice. However, Dennis is totally different off the pitch, once people know him. "I think I'm quite emotional. What I don't show on the pitch when I score a goal." He said. "I'm a different person in private." His inner feelings are clearly something for his wife, Henrita, and his two childs, Estelle and Mitchel, alone. Dennis first met Henrita in Spain when he was 21. A few years later, they got married and their first child, Estelle, was born when Dennis was 26. He has just became a father for the second time last year (Sept,98). This time, it's a boy called Mitchel. Being a professional footballer, Dennis demurs at the suggestion that his profession is a main topic of conversation round the dinner table. "The other things in life are very important to me as well, so we talk more about them than about football. i.e. family matters and my hobbies such as tennis and golf"