Giovanni van Bronckhorst as a defensive midfielder of Netherlands

Ridder Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst, or known by the name of Giovanni van Bronckhorst is a Dutch footballer who plays at left-back position or as a defensive midfielder. He was born on February 5, 1975 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
van Bronckhorst has a Dutch-Indonesian father and native mother Maluku. He began playing in local amateur team in Rotterdam at the age of 6 years and joined the Feyenoord youth academy. In 1999 at the age of 15, van Bronckhorst signed a professional contract and won the Dutch Youth League for Feyenoord in 1991. He was loaned out to RKC Waalwijk and make his debut in the Eredivisie in 1993. In season 1994-1995, van Bronckhorst played in 10 appearances and more often was on the bench. He made his debut for the Dutch national team during Olympic Games in 1996, although in the end failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Atlanta. International appearances with the Netherlands in August 1996 and was in the line-up when faced Brazil in a friendly match at Amsterdam Arena. van Bronckhorst became the Dutch squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup but did not play.
In 1998, he chose to join the Glasgow Rangers of Scotland which is the club at a cost of £ 5.5 million. Together Rangers, van Bronckhorst scored 22 goals for the Rangers is 13 goals in domestic league, 3 in the Scottish Cup, 1 League Cup in Scotland, 3 in the Champions League and 2 in the UEFA Cup.
Later in the summer of 2001, van Bronckhorst playing with Arsenal in the transfer value of £ 8.5 m. Beginning with Arsenal, van Bronckhorst suffered knee ligament injury and make him miss the game. After he recovered, his position was minimal because he was third choice after Viera and Edu. While at Arsenal, he felt the FA Cup champion and a winner of the Premier League in 2002. His last appearance with Arsenal in the FA Community Shield in 2003 and scored 2 goals including against Leicester City in January 2007 and as against Chelsea in January 2003. In season 2003-2004, van Bronckhorst has a chance to move to Barcelona with status as a loan player 1 year and intend to transfer permanently. In May 2004, van Bronckhorst moved from Arsenal to Barcelona for a fee of € 2 million over 3 years. He won the La Liga title with Barcelona in the 2004-2005 season. In summer 2006, van Bronckhorst helped win the Champions League than the Premier League champions.
van Bronckhorst back to join Feyenoord for the second time on 21 August 2007. Since joining back with Feyenoord, van Bronckhorst became an important player even coach van Marwijk chose him to be captain of the club.
van Bronckhorst made his debut with the Dutch national team in August 1996 at the FNB Stadium (Soccer City now) as against South Africa and received more than 100 caps, including 3 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 3 in the campaign. He does not appear in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and playing in the UEFA Euro 2000 low but was elected in the UEFA Euro 2004 competition in Portugal.
van Bronckhorst is a regular player in the Dutch national team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying but in the last 16 received a red card against Portugal.
On March 28, 2007, Van Bronckhorst scored the winning goal in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match when against Slovenia. He also played during win over Italy on June 9, 2008. Van Bronckhorst became captain for the Dutch national team in the quarter-final against Russia after van der Sar's announced retirement from international football before the UEFA Euro 2008. van Marwijk who is coach of the Dutch national team 23 squad announced on 27 May 2010 and became captain of the team. Van Bronckhorst made his 100th appearance in the opening game against Denmark and scored a goal in the semi final against Uruguay. Van Bronckhorst last game for the Netherlands at the 2010 FIFA World Cup when it lost to Spain in the final round.
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