Giovanni van Bronckhorst

Football player infobox
playername = Gio
fullname = Giovanni van Bronckhorst


height = height|m=1.78 75 kg
nickname = Gio
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1975|2|5
cityofbirth = Rotterdam
countryofbirth = Netherlands
currentclub = Feyenoord
clubcrest =
clubnumber = 8
position = Left back, Defensive Midfielder
years = 1993–1994 1994–1998 1998–2001 2001–2003 2003–2007 2007–
clubs = RKC Waalwijk Feyenoord Rangers Arsenal FC Barcelona
Feyenoord
caps(goals) = 012 0(2) 103 (22) 071 (13) 041 0(2) 105 0(5)
032 0(7)
nationalyears = 1996–
nationalteam = Netherlands
nationalcaps(goals) = 082 0(5)
pcupdate = 9 June, 2008
ntupdate = 22 August, 2008

Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst, nicknamed "Gio" (born February 5, 1975 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch footballer of Moluccan ancestry. He plays as a defender and midfielder, and currently defends Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie. He is best known for his range of passing and free kicks.

Van Bronckhorst signed a three-year contract with Feyenoord in June 2007, leaving Barcelona as a free agent. Prior to joining Barcelona, van Bronckhorst played for RKC Waalwijk (1993-94), Feyenoord (1994-98), Rangers (1998-2001), and Arsenal (2001-03). He has earned 63 caps for the Dutch national team (as of November 2006), and played for his country in the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000, Euro 2004, 2006 World Cup and the Euro 2008.

Career

Club career

Rangers

Van Bronckhorst was already a regular international when he signed for Rangers in 1998, joining up with compatriot Dick Advocaat, the Scottish club's new manager. In his first competitive game for Rangers, a remarkable UEFA Cup tie away to League of Ireland side Shelbourne (although played at Tranmere Rovers' Prenton Park), Van Bronckhorst marked his debut with a finely-struck goal as Rangers came back from 3-0 down to win the match 5-3. Van Bronckhorst went on to score 22 goals for Rangers (13 in the league, three in the Scottish Cup, one in the Scottish League Cup, three in the Champions League and two in the UEFA Cup), mostly as a play-making midfielder of notable skill and subtlety, before an £8.5 m transfer to Arsenal in the summer of 2001.

Arsenal

Arsène Wenger signed van Bronckhorst to replace the midfield void left by the departure of Emmanuel Petit from Arsenal and he was expected to partner Patrick Vieira in the centre. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/1484947.stm] , BBC Sport 13 August 2001] However, his period at Arsenal was marked by a cruciate knee ligament injury which saw him sidelined after only a few months at the club. When he returned, his role was increasingly minimal and he found himself behind Vieira, Edu and shortly before his departure to Barcelona, Gilberto Silva in the pecking order. He did not leave Arsenal without any silverware, however, as he collected two FA Cup winners' medals and a Premier League winners medal.

Barcelona

As the 2003-2004 season approached, Van Bronckhorst had the opportunity to move to FC Barcelona and work with new boss Frank Rijkaard as part-exchange for the transfer of Cesc Fàbregas to Arsenal. After adapting to his new role as a left back, he helped Barça to a revival in the second half of the season. He won the La Liga title with Barça in the 2004/05 season after some of his finest displays together with 4 goals to his credit. In 2005/06, he helped his club repeat as Liga champions while winning the 2006 Champions League as well (He was the only player who participated in all Champions League matches that season). In Spain, he styled his shirt name to 'Gio' as opposed to his time at Arsenal where his name was 'Van Bronckhorst'. He said on Dutch soccer program Studio Voetbal, that he could return to Feyenoord due to a contract clause that allows him to sign immediately with the club he supported as a boy.

International career

Van Bronckhorst made his national team debut in August 1996 and has since gone on to earn 60 caps, including two World Cup and three Euro campaigns. He did not appear in the 1998 World Cup and only saw only limited action in Euro 2000 as cover for leftback Arthur Numan.

Euro 2004

However later national team coaches appreciated van Bronkhorst's leftback capabilities, most notably Dick Advocaat who played him for the Netherlands in the Euro 2004 competition in Portugal. The Dutch team reached the semi-finals of the tournament where Portugal disposed of them.

2006 World Cup

He was a regular in the national team for the 2006 World Cup qualification campaign. However, in the Round of 16 match against Portugal, he received a red card in a match that saw four red cards given, a World Cup record. Interestingly, Van Bronckhorst was seen watching the closing minutes while sitting next to his Barça teammate, Deco of Portugal, who was issued a red card moments earlier.

Euro 2008

Van Bronckhorst scored the winning goal in a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Slovenia on March 28 2007. The Netherlands won 1-0.

On June 9 2008, while playing in a 3-0 victory over Italy in Euro 2008, he assisted in the second goal scored by the Netherlands and also scored the third goal, after running all the way from the back. For the second goal, he first cleared the ball of his own line and ran deep into the Italian half, then received the ball and crossed it to Dirk Kuyt who headed it down to Wesley Sneijder to slot between the post and the advancing Gianluigi Buffon.

References

External links

* [http://www.fcbes.com/articles/article_gio.php Van Bronckhorst at FC Barcelona English Speaking Supporters Fansite]
* [http://www.vi.nl/vi/show/id=40053/dbid=11208/typeofpage=40054/sc=3117c5 Voetbal International profile]
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