Philippe Senderos

Infobox Football biography
playername = Philippe Senderos


fullname = Philippe Sylvain Senderos
height = height|m=1.89
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1985|2|14
cityofbirth = Geneva
countryofbirth = Switzerland
currentclub = Milan
(on loan from Arsenal)
clubnumber = 24
position = Centre back
youthyears = 1992–2001
youthclubs = Servette
years = 2001–2003
2003–
2008–
clubs = Servette
Arsenal
→ Milan (loan)
caps(goals) = 26 (3)
64 (4)
00 (0)
nationalyears = 2003
2005–
nationalteam = Switzerland U21
Switzerland
nationalcaps(goals) = 02 (0)
31 (3)
pcupdate = 14:31, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 16:53, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Philippe Sylvain Senderos (born February 14, 1985 in Geneva) is a Swiss footballer of Spanish and Serbian descent who currently plays for AC Milan as a centre back on loan from Arsenal FC.

Club career

Early career

A member of the youth team set up at Swiss club Servette, his international options were expansive due to having a Spanish father and a Serbian mother.

However, Senderos has played at all levels of football from the Under-15s upward for Switzerland, first coming to the general football world's attention when he captained Switzerland to the UEFA U-17 Championship in 2002.

As a result, he received inquiries from top-flight clubs such as Manchester United F.C., Arsenal F.C., Liverpool F.C., Juventus F.C., Real Madrid C.F., and both F.C. Internazionale Milano and A.C. Milan.

Arsenal

Senderos signed for Arsenal in December 2002, though he remained at Servette until the following summer. [ [http://www.4thegame.com/club/arsenal-fc/player-profile/3993/philippesenderos.html Philippe Senderos] , profile on 4thegame.com] The transfer fee was reportedly £2.5m. His first season at Arsenal was plagued by injury and he did not make his first-team debut until Arsenal's 2–1 away victory against Manchester City in the League Cup on October 27 2004. He made 13 league appearances in all during the 2004–05 season, including a UEFA Champions League debut against FC Bayern Munich.

Senderos had an extended run in the first team when Sol Campbell was unavailable due to injury in 2005, and after Campbell's return from injury, retained his place on the first team. Senderos started the 2005 FA Cup final against Manchester United; Arsenal eventually won the game on penalties.

A further series of injuries to Sol Campbell meant Senderos was able to forge a defensive partnership with Kolo Touré in the 2005–06 season. Senderos became a major force in the Arsenal's Champions League run which included a record-breaking run of ten clean sheets. He was injured however, for the final in Paris, which Arsenal lost 2–1 to FC Barcelona; coincidentally, Campbell started the match in his stead and managed to score the first goal.

In the summer of 2006, Senderos was handed the number 6 jersey, formerly worn by then Arsenal captain Tony Adams. However, Senderos was unable to start the 2006–07 season after the shoulder injury he incurred in the World Cup that summer.

In the Arsene Wenger biography by Xavier Rivoire he reveals that Arsene Wenger consulted Tony Adams about making Senderos captain of the club before he made Thierry Henry club captain. [ [http://www.oleole.com/blogs/arseblog/posts/another-one-bites-the-dust] ]

He captained the Arsenal squad for the first time on August 2 2007, in their 2–1 friendly win against Lazio in the Amsterdam Tournament.

Senderos scored his first 2007–08 Premiership goal against Sunderland on October 7 2007 at the Emirates Stadium. He also scored his second against Blackburn Rovers on February 11 2008.

Senderos came under heavy criticism after Arsenal's Champions League exit to Liverpool. Many pundits have blamed his slack marking for the goals from Sami Hyypia and Fernando Torres. Senderos was said to have been devastated after the match and was blaming himself for the loss. His father stated that Philippe was a natural-born winner and he was not used to this and that is why he reacted so badly. [cite web
url=http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_3434660,00.html
title=Reds loss affected Senderos
author=Chris Bevan
publisher=Sky Sports
date=17 April 2008
accessdate=2008-08-02]

AC Milan

On August 27 2008, Arsenal confirmed that Senderos has joined AC Milan on a season-long loan. [cite news
title = Senderos joins AC Milan on season-long loan
url = http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/senderos-joins-ac-milan-on-season-long-loan
publisher = Arsenal.com
date = 2008-08-27
accessdate = 2008-08-27]

International career

He made his full international debut on March 26 2005 in Switzerland's 0–0 draw against France in Paris. After playing a big part in Switzerland's successful qualifying campaign, he was named in their 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. He started alongside Patrick Müller in all three of Switzerland's group matches, managing to score a goal in the third match against Korea Republic. He broke his nose in that match, but more significantly, he suffered shoulder ligament damage that ruled him out of the remainder of Switzerland's World Cup campaign. They were knocked out in the Round of 16 to Ukraine but they were the only team not to concede a goal in both normal and extra time. They lost on penalties, 3–0.

Senderos was also part of the Swiss squad at the UEFA Euro 2008 finals, appearing in all three group matches as the team failed to qualify for the knockout stages.

Personal life

The origins of Philippe Senderos in Spain (Story and pictures) [http://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/noticias/deporte/Senderos_y_sus_raices_espanolas_en_Castilla.html?siteSect=181&sid=8789608&cKey=1210337385000&ty=st "swissinfo.ch"]

In an interview with "The Observer", he said, amongst other things, that he speaks six languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese) and that, if his football career were to end tomorrow, he would go into a career in communications: "I'd learn another language, something that not many people speak, like Russian or Greek". [cite web
url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1461634,00.html
title=Arsenal's cultured ministry of defence
author=Anna Kessel
publisher=The Observer
date=2005-04-17
accessdate=2007-02-28] When Cesc Fàbregas first moved to Arsenal Philippe helped him learn English and French.

His brother Julien Senderos plays basketball and used to play for Geneva Devils and 2007-2008 he plays for Meyrin Grand-Saconnex and played for the Swiss national team. [ [http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_f43ulKJBGLcVnbH-aqLVu2.playerID_57498.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2007.roundID_4950.teamID_368.html] ]

Arsenal career statistics

"(correct as of 19 May, 2008)"

Honours

Arsenal
*Winner
**FA Cup: 2005
**Emirates Cup : 2007
**Amsterdam Tournament : 2005, 2007, 2008
*Runner-up
**UEFA Champions League : 2005-06
**Football League Cup : 2007
**FA Community Shield: 2005

References

External links

* [http://www.philippesenderos.com/ PhilippeSenderos.com] Philippe Senderos Official Website
* [http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players/philippe-senderos Profile] at arsenal.com
*soccerbase|30235
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=10636 Profile] at sporting-heroes.net

Persondata
NAME= Senderos, Philippe Sylvain
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Senderos, Philippe
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH= 1985-02-14
PLACE OF BIRTH= Geneva, Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=