Marc Overmars

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Marc Overmars
Personal information
Full name	Marc Overmars
Date of birth	March 29, 1973
Place of birth	Emst, Netherlands
Height	1.74m
Nickname	The Roadrunner
Position	Left-Winger
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1991–1992 1992–1997 1997-2000 2000–2004	Willem II AFC Ajax Amsterdam Arsenal F.C. FC Barcelona	31 (1) 169 (37) 125 (32) 106 (20)
National team**
1993–2004	Holland	86 (17)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 06, 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 2006.

Marc Overmars (born March 29, 1973 in Emst) is a former Dutch football player. He was best known as a right-footed left-winger, although he had that rare ability to be able to use both his feet with equal precision and power. Known for his great speed and blitzes into enemy territory, Overmars' nicknames included "the Roadrunner" or simply "meep-meep."

In all, Overmars played 86 games for the Dutch national team, scoring 17 goals. Overmars was the youngest Dutch player to reach 50 caps with the Dutch national team. His final match was the Netherlands' loss to Portugal in the semifinals of the 2004 European Championships.

Overmars first joined a small Dutch club called SV Epe before joining Go Ahead Eagles. Willem II Tilburg later bought him from Go Ahead Eagles for ₤200 000 and during the 1991/1992 season, AFC Ajax Amsterdam bought him. On February 24, 1993, he made his debut in the Dutch national team against Turkey. By the time of the 1994 World Cup, Overmars was a regular in the Dutch national team.

Marc Overmars became famous with Ajax under Louis van Gaal. He was the member of the Ajax team that won the European Cup in 1995 against A.C. Milan of Italy. However, soon after he suffered a serious right knee injury in 1996, which kept him out of Euro 96. Despite his injury, Overmars was signed by Arsène Wenger's Arsenal in the summer of 1997.

It was at the London club that his talents were demonstrated with utmost skill, scoring vital goals, including one in the 1998 FA Cup final and a 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, which helped Arsenal to the Double. In the 1998 World Cup, he was a regular fixture for Holland where he assisted his nation to a semi-final showdown with Brazil. Overmars was one of the best Dutch players in the tournament but suffered an injury in the 2nd round game against Yugoslavia. This ruled Overmars out of the next match, which was against Argentina. However, Overmars did enter late in the game as a substitute. He made an immediate impact by providing an inch perfect cross that almost led to a goal for the Netherlands. Sadly, Overmars' injury became even worse after this game and he had to sit out the entire following match against Brazil. The Netherlands lost this match on penalties. Overmars was fit again to play in the Netherlands final match, which was the 3rd/4th play-off game against Croatia, but the Dutch lost 2-1.

In the summer of 2000, he moved to Spain and joined FC Barcelona, for ₤25 million (€39.6 million). That made Marc Overmars the most expensive Dutch player ever. This transfer was the first in the history of football to be announced via the player's personal website. Despite a difficult first term at his new club, Overmars was still an impressive performer, registering eight goals in 31 appearances. He was a regular feature of Barcelona's 2001-02 UEFA Champions League campaign in which he scored once in ten matches en route to the semi-finals. Unfortunately for the former Arsenal star, he failed to inspire FC Barcelona to any trophy success.

After the Netherlands failed to qualify for 2002 World Cup, the last major international tournament that Overmars played in was Euro 2004 in Portugal. Overmars started all the games for the Netherlands from the bench, but when he did come on, the Dutch team suddenly became a more attacking team that created good chances. Nevertheless, Overmars could not prevent the Netherlands losing in the semi-finals to Portugal.

By now, Overmars was being continually troubled by a persistent knee injury. After taking doctors' advice on the problem, on July 26, 2004, he announced his retirement from professional football.

[edit] External links

• Marc Overmars Official Personal Website at icons.com

	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