Arthur Numan

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Arthur Numan
Personal information
Full name	Arthur Numan
Date of birth	December 14, 1969
Place of birth	Heemskerk, Netherlands
Height	1.82 m
Position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Retired
Youth clubs
	Haarlem
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1987-1991 1991-1992 1992-1998 1998-2003	Haarlem FC Twente PSV Eindhoven Rangers	91 (5) 49 (7) 181 (27) 176 (6)
National team
	Netherlands	45 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Arthur Numan (born 14 December 1969 in Heemskerk, Netherlands) is a retired Dutch footballer. He was one of the Dutch teams' left back specialist in the years from 1997 to after 2000 and was a regular fixture in the international team.

He started his career in a Dutch amateur club SV Beverwijk and was quickly spotted by the football team in Haarlem who handed him his first professional game against DS '79 on 26 March 1988 which his team won 2-0 and he was a substitute for teammate André Sitek. He originally played in a more attacking role as opposed to his playing style late in his career although his long-time mentor Dick Advocaat, then the coach of Haarlem, decided to field him as a left fullback, a move which quickly saw him rise to recognition within the Eredivisie.

Numan joined FC Twente at the close of the 1990/1991 season where he has scored goals even as a defender. He was also named team captain for the Enschede team and also captained the Dutch Under 21 national team. However, it was not until he joined Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven that his talents were fully appreciated. He was drafted into the Dutch team for a friendly game against Poland which ended in a 2-2 draw on October 1992. It was not a happy debut for Numan as he was singled out for substitution after merely 25 minutes by Advocaat who was then the national team coach, brought on PSV teammate Gerald Vanenburg as his team was already down 2-0 very early in the game although the manager explained that it was not that he played badly but that the manager had to add more attack to the team, hence the decision.

More domestic success was to follow in a big club such as PSV and he was selected to represent the Dutch team for the 1994 World Cup in the USA by Dick Advocaat although he was never included in the starting line-up for any of the Netherlands' games in that tournament. He did cap his World Cup debut against the Ireland team as a substitute 15 minutes before the end of that match. His long-term appearance in a major tournament was also hindered by not starting in the Euro 96 tournament although by then, his talents had already been appreciated by team manager Guus Hiddink.

By then, PSV was already a star-studded team with players such as Jaap Stam, Philip Cocu, Luc Nilis and Ronaldo. Numan was selected for the captaincy of the team although he was often in conflict with fellow fullback Serbia-Montenegro Željko Petrović over captaincy issues. Numan was at the peak of his career then and this is no less evident in the Dutch team's run-up to the qualification for the 1998 World Cup in France,where he featured in nearly all of the qualification games and his team qualified easily due to the wealth of talents such as Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert, Frank de Boer, Marc Overmars and Edwin van der Sar. Numan played in all of the group matches in France although the quarterfinal game against Argentina was marred with his second yellow card of the game (after a tackle on Diego Simeone) and he was to miss the crucial clash with eventual finalist Brazil in which his drafted stand-in Winston Bogarde was also absent due to injury. He played in the 3rd placing match against Croatia although he could not help his team to win the bronze medal and ensure that his star side win at least a consolation prize for all their efforts.

In a £4.5 million deal that will take him to Glasgow Rangers at the end of the 1997/1998 season, Numan's career was then blighted by recurring injuries that will force him to sit out of many vital games. Dick Advocaat who managed the Scottish team at that time patiently waited for his key man to recover, a move which was rewarded when he helped the team to considerable league success as well as the treble in his penultimate season at Rangers. Numan was awarded the teams vice-captaincy serving as deputy to captain Lorenzo Amoruso. He also teamed up with a talented squad at Rangers, among them, Ronald de Boer, Bert Konterman, Fernando Ricksen and Michael Mols. He had a particularly prolific relationship with German international left sided midfielder Jorg Albertz. However, at the end of the 2002/2003 season, he informed the now debt-ridden club that he could not agree a deal with them and that he would mutually terminate the contract come the end of the season. He stated that he was willing to accept a pay-cut offer but felt that his club has under-rated him.

Meanwhile, Numan continued to feature in the Dutch team, even representing his country on home soil during the Euro 2000 tournament, where he played some of his finest games, ably convincing then manager Frank Rijkaard of his impressive form. By 2000, Numan's career at the international stage appeared to wane and his automatic leftback spot was open to his contenders Winston Bogarde and Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his efforts in the Euro 2000 helped changed Rijkaard's perception. He was to play for the remaining games of his team's failed attempt to capture their first major trophy since 1988 culminating in the semi-final loss to Italy on penalties.

He was determined to assist his national team to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan under manager Louis van Gaal although the crucial game against Ireland at Landsdowne Road stadium in late 2001 saw the Dutch team being outplayed at every position and eventually trooped out 1-0 losers, with the outcome enough for Ireland to qualify for play-off matches against Iran. His dream to play in his final World Cup was dashed and after his final international game against United States on 19 May 2002, which the Dutch won 2-0 away, he retired from the international football team and told then coach Advocaat that he will no longer wanted to feature for the Dutch team.

At the end of the Scottish Premier League season of 2002/2003, he announced his retirement. A late offer by Villarreal CF from the Spanish Primera Liga failed to convince him to renounce his retirement vow and he cited the reasons that he would like some time to reconsider his future plans, albeit not as a professional player. He refused to continue his career in Holland as he was not looking forward to start afresh training and playing hectic games every week. His total of international caps for the Dutch team stands at 45 caps.

Arthur can be seen as a regular pundit on Scotsport SPL, Scottish and Grampian TV's round-up of Scottish Premier League action.

[edit] External links

• Loyal Rangers Supporters Club Milngavie (Supporter Fan Club named after Arthur Numan)
• Soccerbase player profile

	Netherlands squad - 1994 World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 de Goeij | 2 F. de Boer | 3 Rijkaard | 4 Koeman | 5 Witschge | 6 Wouters | 7 Overmars | 8 Jonk | 9 R. de Boer | 10 Bergkamp | 11 Roy | 12 Bosman | 13 van der Sar | 14 van Gobbel | 15 Blind | 16 Numan | 17 Taument | 18 Valckx | 19 van Vossen | 20 Winter | 21 de Wolf | 22 Snelders | Coach: Advocaat

	Netherlands squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place
1 van der Sar | 2 Reiziger | 3 Stam | 4 F. de Boer | 5 Numan | 6 Jonk | 7 R. de Boer | 8 Bergkamp | 9 Kluivert | 10 Seedorf | 11 Cocu | 12 Zenden | 13 Ooijer | 14 Overmars | 15 Bogarde | 16 Davids | 17 van Hooijdonk | 18 de Goeij | 19 van Bronckhorst | 20 Winter | 21 Hasselbaink | 22 Hesp | Coach: Hiddink