“Behind every action there must be a thought.”
For Arsenal and Netherlands forward Dennis Bergkamp, who scored one of the World Cup’s greatest-ever goals against Argentina on July 4, 1998, his pursuit of perfection could be both a blessing and a curse.
In his autobiography Stillness and Speed, one of the chapters is titled ‘It Has To Be Perfect’. Bergkamp was his own harshest critic: "...you want to move on and go further. You keep raising the bar, and therefore it’s never good enough,” he said. Famously, he also once said: “I suppose I’m not that interested in scoring ugly goals.”
Against Argentina, he combined masterful skill with a clinical finish. Ironic, because Bergkamp told author David Winner in his book Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius Of Dutch Football: “I should be more of a killer.”
Going into France 98 on the back of our stellar double-winning season, the Dutch forward had scored some absolutely superb goals. His mind-bogglingly exquisite hat-trick against Leicester City in a 3-3 draw at Filbert Street, comprising artistry, poise, athleticism and a velvet shoe touch will forever be etched in memory.
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In the opening months of the season Bergkamp perfected the art of receiving the ball, using a defender as a screen, feinting one way, and then curling a shot into the right-hand corner of the net. “As long as the touch and the flight are right, you don’t need to blast the ball,” he said.
At Marseille’s Stade Velodrome, the quarter-final was tied up at 1-1 with extra-time looming. Patrick Kluivert had given the Netherlands the lead, courtesy of Bergkamp’s cushioned header, but Claudio Lopez equalised just five minutes later. Both teams had been reduced to 10 men as the clock ticked into the 90th minute, when Ronald de Boer delivered a pinpoint 50-yard pass, followed by three perfect touches from Bergkamp.
Leaping high, he killed the ball with his right boot, then nudged it left with his instep, wrong-footing defender Roberto Ayala. With the outside of his right foot, he then flicked the ball past goalkeeper Carlos Roa and into the net.
The elegance of the finish took the breath away. BBC commentator Barry Davies yelled: “Beautifully pulled down by Bergkamp - OH WHAT A GOAL.” The Dutch radio commentator Jack van Gelder simply yelled ‘D-E-N-N-I-S B-E-R-G-K-A-M-P multiple times before uttering a joyful OHOHOHO afterwards. Bergkamp, his hands covering his face in pure joy, collapsed on his back, with the orange hordes behind the goal celebrating wildly.
Unsurprisingly Bergkamp has since described the goal as his best, adding: “It’s like your life has led up to this moment.” As a child, he was obsessed with geometry, angles, and space. “It’s like solving a puzzle,” the Iceman once said of playing football, adding that even on a crowded pitch, he could find space where others could not.
Dutch artists and mathematicians were in awe of Bergkamp’s spatial awareness. In Brilliant Orange, artist Jeroen Henneman’s diagram of a curled Bergkamp pass to Arsenal teammate Nicolas Anelka is accompanied by the caption: “One moment, the pitch is crowded and narrow. Suddenly it is huge and wide. A miracle.”
Mathematician Dr Rob Ruurs believed that Bergkamp followed in the tradition of other Dutch greats Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten. “Among most of my colleagues, there is a view that someone like Dennis Bergkamp… is certainly a great artist. It is to do with his use of space.”
“I’m a different kind of footballer,” Bergkamp said. As supporters of Arsenal and the Netherlands will testify, that was something of an understatement.
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