Rohin van Porsie
I grew up watching Dennis Bergkamp back in Holland. I loved him as a player, I
was with Feyenoord from an early age and their big rivals are Ajax, but I just
loved great footballers, so Dennis was one of my favourites.
"THERE'S ONLY ONE DENNIS BERGKAMP, ONE DENNIS BERGKAMP,
One of the most vivid memories
from when I was young was sitting
at home with lots of family and
friends watching the 1998 World Cup
Quarter-Final against Argentina. I
was 14. Dennis wasn't playing too
well, in fact the Dutch team weren't
playing very well and then he scores
this amazing goal. Frank de Boer
sends a long pass, he controls the
ball instantly, beats Ayala, then puts
it in the top corner - and in the last
minute of a World Cup Quarter-Final.
It takes a special player to do that.
When I left Feyenoord, there were a
few other clubs I could have joined
in Flolland, England and Spain but
the thought of being able to play
with Dennis Bergkamp meant that
my decision was made up 100 per
cent - it had to be Arsenal.
And when I joined, everything I'd
ever thought about Dennis as a
player was confirmed. I've been
lucky to play with a lot of good
players already in my career, but
Dennis is the best, definitely. I
learnt so much from him in the two
years we played together, he's just
a fantastic example to players in so
many ways. I also really appreciated
the way Dennis and his wife were so
helpful to me and my wife Bouchra
in helping us settle in England.
As a player Dennis is just so smart
and he uses his intelligence all the
time on the pitch. Fie sees
situations before any other player
sees them, sometimes it's like he's
seen a situation before it's actually
happened! It's amazing. I have
always loved the way that Dennis
has managed to stay so focused
throughout his career. Even though
he has won big trophies he's stayed
just as hungry and dedicated. His
attitude to training is amazing and I
heard he was still training hard in
the weeks leading up to this match,
which is typical.
Everyone likes Dennis and I realised
Arsenal fans loved him but I didn't
really know just how much - it didn't
take long to find out though, about
five minutes! That was how long I'd
been warming up before my first
Highbury match when the guy on
the PA started reading out the team
line-ups and Dennis's name, as
usual, got the biggest cheer of all!
It's a big shame I won't get the
chance to play with Dennis again for
Arsenal, but I have a DVD of his
great moments which I have
watched a couple of times and now
I can't watch him in training or
matches, I think I will be watching
this DVD a lot more!
It was an absolute privilege to play
with you Dennis.
**Even though
he has won big
trophies he's
stayed just as
hungry and
dedicated. His
attitude to
training is
amazing and I
heard he was
still training
hard in the
weeks leading
up to this
match, which is
typical. 99
