Mark van Bommel

Mark van Bommel
Mark van Bommel.jpg
Personal information
Full name Mark Peter Gertuda Andreas van Bommel
Date of birth 22 April 1977 (1977-04-22) (age 32)
Place of birth    Maasbracht, Netherlands
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Playing position Central Midfielder / Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club Bayern Munich
Number 17
Youth clubs
0000–1992 RKVV Maasbracht
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1992–1999
1999–2005
2005–2006
2006–		 Fortuna Sittard
PSV Eindhoven
FC Barcelona
Bayern Munich		 153 (13)
169 (46)
024 0(2)
066 0(9)   
National team2
2000– Netherlands 046 0(8)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 16 November 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 21 November 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Mark Peter Gertuda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977 in Maasbracht) is a Dutch footballer who plays for and captains Bayern Munich. He is also the son in law of the coach of the Dutch national team Bert van Marwijk.

He is a combative central midfielder who can also operate as a midfield enforcer or as a playmaker. He is best known for his extremely powerful shot. He is also known for his unlimited energy, tackling ability and range of passing.

Contents

Career

Van Bommel started his amateur career at local club RKVV Maasbracht before earning a professional contract with Fortuna Sittard in 1992. His other colleagues at Fortuna at that time who would later join PSV Eindhoven alongside him were Wilfred Bouma and Kevin Hofland.

PSV Eindhoven

Van Bommel was signed by PSV in 1999 where he formed a midfield partnership with Swiss international Johann Vogel. He won three Eredivisie titles and two Johan Cruijff Shields with the club. He was also named Dutch Player of the Year in 2001 and 2005.

In his final season with PSV, having assisted the team to the Dutch league title and a Champions League semi-final place, he was expected to join his father-in-law Bert van Marwijk who at the time managed the Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, but Van Bommel opted to stay at PSV until the end of the 2004–05 season.

After the Champions League semi-final loss to AC Milan and with the Eredivisie title in PSV's hands at the end of April, he confirmed he would join FC Barcelona in May 2005 after the club won their own domestic league.

FC Barcelona

With Frank Rijkaard as his new coach at Barcelona, Van Bommel played 24 matches, scoring twice in his first season and winning La Liga and the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League.

FC Bayern Munich

On 26 August 2006 Bayern Munich team manager Uli Hoeneß announced van Bommel would be joining the Bavarian side. Media reports speculated that the move was influenced by the ongoing Owen Hargreaves transfer saga, but Hoeneß insisted the club intended to go forward with both players.[1] Bayern Munich paid $7.7 million to Barcelona in the deal.

Since joining the German side, van Bommel has proved to be a key player for them, scoring a solid six goals in 30 appearances, providing strength in the middle of the park. Due to his terrific performances during his first season at Bayern, he was voted the Bayern Player of the Year for the 2006–07 season, beating out long time fan-favorites Roy Makaay and Mehmet Scholl.

After Oliver Kahn retired in 2008 Mark van Bommel was selected as captain. He is the first non-German captain of Bayern Munich.

International career

His debut for the Dutch national team was on 7 October 2000 against Cyprus which was won 4–0. However, for "Oranje", he did not make an appearance in a major tournament until 2006, with the Dutch national team failing to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and injury preventing him from playing during Euro 2004 in Portugal.

The Dutch national team manager Marco van Basten was dissatisfied with Van Bommel's defensive performance in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Romania and was subsequently not selected for the rest of the qualification series. With many Dutch football observers believing Van Bommel's international career to be over, he was selected back into the Dutch side for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In the 2006 World Cup, Van Bommel played in all the games for his country except the match against Argentina as both teams had already sealed their passage to the knockout stage of the tournament. His position in the team was as right-half. His duties were mainly to play the anchor role in the Dutch 3-man midfield in their usual 4-3-3 formation.

He was the first of many players booked in the second-round match Dutch team defeat against Portugal dubbed "The Battle of Nuremberg" by the press. After the World Cup, Van Bommel was not called up for the Euro 2008 qualifiers versus Luxembourg and Belarus. In September 2006, after his move to Bayern, he was added to Van Basten's squad to face Bulgaria; however Van Bommel stated (alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy) to no longer intend to play for "Oranje" as long as Van Basten is in charge.[2] After Van Basten left for Ajax Amsterdam, new Netherlands head coach Bert van Marwijk called up Van Bommel again, which led to his return in the Dutch national team. Van Bommel has won 45 caps and has scored eight goals for the Dutch national team.

Mark van Bommel: International Goals[3]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 14 March 2001 Mini Estadi, Barcelona, Spain Flag of Andorra.svg Andorra 0–5 0–5 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 15 August 2001 White Hart Lane, London, England Flag of England.svg England 0–1 0–2 Friendly
3. 5 September 2001 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia 2–0 5–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
4. 5 September 2001 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia 4–0 5–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
5. 2 April 2003 Sheriff Stadium, Tiraspol, Moldova Flag of Moldova.svg Moldova 1–2 1–2 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
6. 18 August 2004 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 1–2 2–2 Friendly
7. 3 September 2004 Galgenwaard Stadium, Utrecht, Netherlands Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Liechtenstein 1–0 3–0 Friendly
8. 15 October 2008 Ullevål Stadium, Oslo, Norway Flag of Norway.svg Norway 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

PSV Eindhoven

Barcelona

Bayern Munich

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Hargreaves says Man Utd deal off". BBC Sport (29 August 2006). Retrieved on 8 August 2008.
  2. ↑ "Van Bommel frozen out by Van Basten regime". soccernet.espn.go.com (1 October 2006). Retrieved on 8 August 2008.
  3. ↑ "Gespeelde wedstrijden" (in Dutch). KNVB. Retrieved on 16 May 2007.

External links

FC Bayern Munich – current squad

1 Rensing • 2 Sagnol • 3 Lúcio • 5 Van Buyten • 6 Demichelis • 7 Ribéry • 8 Altıntop • 9 Toni • 11 Podolski • 15 Zé Roberto • 16 Ottl • 17 Van Bommel (c) • 18 Klose • 20 Sosa • 21 Lahm • 22 Butt • 23 Oddo • 24 Borowski • 25 Müller • 26 Ekici • 27 Yilmaz • 28 Badstuber • 29 Kopplin • 30 Lell • 31 Schweinsteiger • 32 Niedermeier • 33 Breno • 35 Kraft • 36 Fürstner • 39 Kroos • Coach: Klinsmann