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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | FC Barcelona | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 6, 2006 | |||
Mark van Bommel (born April 22, 1977 in Maasbracht, Netherlands) is a Dutch footballer, who currently plays for FC Barcelona.
Van Bommel first started his amateur career in local club RKVV Maasbracht before earning a professional contract to play for 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, although Fortuna were nothing close to championship winning team even with these then budding talents in the side.
His strength at central midfield position led Dutch giants PSV to sign him in 1999, and he won three Eredivisie titles with the club. He even won Dutch Player of the Year title in 2001 for his performances. His debut for the Dutch national team was on October 7, 2000 against Cyprus which his team comfortably won 4-0. For PSV, his midfield role was further enhanced when he was partnered with Swiss international Johann Vogel with whom he forged a powerful midfield force rivalling that of Ajax Amsterdam's. However, for the Oranje, he has yet to feature in a major tournament, with the Dutch failing to qualify for the
and injury preventing him from playing during Template:Ec2 in Portugal.
In his final season with PSV, having assisted the team to the Dutch title and a Champions League semi-final place, he was expected to join his father-in-law Bert van Marwijk who currently manages the German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in the January transfer window but snubbed the transfer and was content to remain at PSV until the end of the 2004/2005 season. This would mean that PSV would not be able to cash in on their biggest asset but his performances in this season has probably more than made up for that potential loss with Champions League revenue by far the biggest attraction. Until after the Champions League semi-final loss to AC Milan, his transfer destination is shrouded with speculations among them linking him to Spain to play for FC Barcelona of which rivals Real Madrid are also tipped to win his signature under the Bosman ruling who were eager to seek a combative defensive midfielder in the same mould as French player Claude Makelele. With the Eredivisie title safely in PSV's hands at the end of April, he confirmed his intention to join FC Barcelona in May 2005 after Barcelona's capture of the La Liga title.
Despite such a prospective move to a more illustrious club, the Dutch national team manager Marco van Basten was dissatisfied with his level of commitment to the national side's cause as he allegedly turned in indifferent displays in
qualification matches as of late and was promptly told that he may no longer feature for the 'Oranje' (at least not under van Basten's management). This particular development occurred during the match against Romania which the Dutch team won 2-0 but van Bommel was singled out by his national team manager for poor performance and was not chosen for the subsequent qualification match against Finland. By so doing, van Basten would have been setting the precedent which have befallen Patrick Kluivert and Clarence Seedorf who have since been ignored for selection for the national team.
His international statistics stand at 36 caps for the Dutch with seven goals to his credit. He has won the Dutch player of the Year award for two times in 2001 and 2005 as well as the Johan Cruijff Shield in 2001 and 2003.
External links
| Netherlands squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup | ||
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| FC Barcelona – current squad | |
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