Arjen Robben ( born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch professional
footballerwho plays for German
Bundesliga club
Bayern Munich and the
Netherlands national team. Robben has appeared at the
2004,
2008 and
2012 UEFA European Championships, and the
2006,
2010 and
2014 FIFA World Cups. He is a
forward who usually plays as a left or right sided
winger. Robben is known for his
dribbling skills, speed, crossing ability and his accurate left foot long-range shots from the right wing.
Robben first came to prominence with
Groningen, for whom he was player of the year for the
2000–01 Eredivisieseason. Two years later he signed for
PSV, where he became the
Netherlands' Young Player of the Year and won an
Eredivisie title. The following season Robben's signature was pursued by leading English clubs, and after protracted transfer negotiations he joined
Chelsea in 2004.
Robben's Chelsea debut was delayed through injury, but upon returning to fitness he helped Chelsea bring home two consecutive
Premier League titles, and was the
FA Premier League Player of the Month in November 2005. After a third season in England which was punctuated by injury, Robben moved to Spanish club
Real Madrid for
€35 million. In August 2009, Robben transferred to Bayern Munich for a fee of around
€25 million, scoring two goals on his debut. In his first season in Munich, Bayern won the league title, Robben's fifth league title in eight years, and Robben scored the winning goal in the
2013 UEFA Champions League Final. After his first season with Bayern, Robben was also named
Footballer of the Year in Germany.
Club career
Real Madrid
Robben completed his move to
Real Madrid on a five-year deal on 22 August 2007, with the transfer fee reported as
£24 million (€35 million). He made his debut on 18 September as a substitute for
Raúl during a
Champions League match against
Werder Bremen, which Real Madrid won 2–1. His league debut came on 23 September, this time as a substitute for
Royston Drenthe in a 1–1 away draw against
Valladolid. On 10 February 2008, Robben scored his first goal, this time at home in a 7–0 victory against Valladolid. Robben proved crucial for many Real Madrid matches, making his famous runs down the left wing, and quickly became a first choice for the left midfield position, making 28 appearances during his debut season and scoring five goals. Real Madrid won the league title with some games to spare, and were already the champions of Spain when they played their
arch-rivals FC Barcelona on 7 May 2008. The Barcelona players formed a guard of honor as the Madrid team came onto the pitch at the
Santiago Bernabéu, and Robben played an important part in Real Madrid's subsequent 4–1 victory, scoring the champions' second goal.
He retained his key role in the Real Madrid midfield during the 2008–09 season, playing 35 times and scoring eight goals. Although the Dutchman was one of the Spanish side's most important players in the pre-season games leading up to the 2009–10 season, having scored three goals and help set up another four, he was among the players whose place in the first team became threatened following the arrival of
Florentino Pérez and the signings of
Cristiano Ronaldo and
Kaká. Real Madrid accepted a bid of around €25 million for Robben from
Bayern Munich. Robben claimed he was "forced" to leave Real Madrid, saying that he "didn't want to go, but the club wanted to sell him".
Bayern Munich
2009–10
On 28 August 2009, Robben moved to
Bayern Munich for around €25 million. He was given the number 10 shirt, last worn by his fellow
Dutchman,
Roy Makaay. His debut came the day after. He came on as a half-time substitute against
Wolfsburg, scored two goals, and helped his team beat last season's champions in Bayern's first win of
the 2009–10 season. On 9 March 2010, Robben scored the deciding goal in Bayern's 2–3 defeat (4–4 on aggregate over two legs) against
Fiorentina, taking them through to the quarter finals of the
2009–10 UEFA Champions League on
away goals.
On 7 April 2010, Robben sent Bayern Munich into the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League with a stunning volley against
Manchester United from the edge of the area into the corner of the net. The game ended 3–2 to United (4–4 on
aggregate) with Bayern advancing again due to away goals.
On 17 April 2010, he scored his first
hat-trick in the Bundesliga against
Hannover 96 in the Allianz Arena. The game ended 7–0 to the Bavarians. On 8 May 2010, he won his first Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich after scoring two goals in their 3–1 victory over
Hertha BSC, finishing as Bayern's top scorer in the process.
A week later, Bayern played in the
DFB-Pokal Final against the previous champions of the tournament,
Werder Bremen, in
Berlin's
Olympiastadion. Bayern won the game by 4–0; Robben scored the first of those four goals from a penalty kick. Robben thus helped the Bavarians achieve their fifteenth DFB-Pokal title. On 25 May 2010, Robben was named
Footballer of the Year in Germany for the year 2010. He won the election by attaining a record 72.1% of the vote and was the first Dutch person to win this election.
2010–12
The
2010–11 season started badly for Robben, after medical tests confirmed that his hamstring had not properly healed and that he would be out for two months. Bayern chairman
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stated that "Of course, Bayern Munich are very angry" with the
Dutch FA, and would be seeking compensation from them, continuing "Once again we must pay the bill as a club after a player is seriously injured playing for a national team." On 15 January 2011, he returned to first team action, coming on as a substitute in the 1–1 away draw with
VfL Wolfsburg.
Robben was nominated for the "UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder", but this went to his international compatriot
Wesley Sneijder. He has also been nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, and the FIFA Puskás Award, which goes to the best goal of the year, and he has also been nominated for FIFA’s "FIFPro World XI 2010" squad, thanks to his fantastic season with Bayern Munich.
In the second leg of the semi-finals of the
2011–12 UEFA Champions League, against his former club
Real Madrid which was now managed by José Mourinho (who had been his manager at Chelsea), after Bayern fell behind 2–0, Robben converted a penalty to level the tie at 3–3. Bayern advanced to the final after winning the resulting penalty shootout.
On 3 May 2012 it was reported that Robben has signed a new contract with Bayern which will last till 2015.
Robben had an extra-time penalty saved by former teammate
Petr Čech in the
2012 UEFA Champions League Final at the
Allianz Arena against
Chelsea. Had he scored, Bayern Munich would have led Chelsea 2–1. However the match ended in a penalty shootout which Chelsea won. That was the fourth major cup final that he had been on the losing side during the last two years (World Cup final, two Champions League finals and the DFB Pokal). Three days later in the same stadium while playing as a second half substitute for the Netherlands in a friendly against Bayern Munich, he was jeered by some disgruntled Bayern Munich fans every time he touched the ball (due to his penalty miss in the Champions League final, and as he did not play on Bayern's side during that match due to a decision taken by Netherlands coach
Bert van Marwijk). The match had been organized to compensate Bayern, since Robben aggravated an injury playing for the Netherlands at the 2010 World Cup, and went on to miss several months of the 2010–11 season.
2012–14
In the
2012–13 season, Robben had started the season on the bench, as manager Jupp Heynckes preferred to start
Thomas Müller on the right wing, with
Toni Kroos at the attacking midfielder position. Robben had played through the season as a substitute, but earned his chance to start again after Kroos was injured during the
Champions League tieagainst
Juventus. He started on the right wing for the rest of the season, having moved Müller back to the middle. Robben started against
Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals of the
DFB-Pokal and scored the game's lone goal in the 43rd minute. In the Champions League semi-final against
FC Barcelona, Robben started both games and scored in both games, including the go-ahead goal in the second leg. Bayern would then go on to return to the
Final. Robben atoned for his penalty miss the previous season by setting up teammate
Mario Mandžukić's goal to open the scoring in the 60th minute then netting an 89th minute winner in a 2–1 victory over
Borussia Dortmund to give Bayern their fifth
European Cup. During the presentation he was named
Man of the Match by
UEFA.
Robben scored his first goals of the
2013–14 season in the
2013 DFL-Supercup, where Bayern were beaten 4–2 by Borussia Dortmund. On 9 August 2013, his opening goal helped Bayern to a 3–1 win over
Borussia Mönchengladbach in their first match of the
Bundesliga campaign. On 17 September, he scored in Bayern's
Champions League opener against
CSKA Moskva at the Allianz Arena. He went on to score two further goals during the
Champions League group stage; in away wins against
Manchester City and CSKA as Bayern finished as group winners. On 23 November, Robben was one of three scorers as Bayern beat title rivals Borussia Dortmund 3–0 at the
Westfalenstadion. On 4 December, Robben was substituted with a deep cut on his right knee in a 2–0
DFB-Pokal win away to
FC Augsburg which prevented him from taking part in the
2013 FIFA Club World Cup.
On 1 March 2014, Robben scored a hat-trick in Bayern's 5–1 win over
FC Schalke 04. On 19 March, he signed a contract extension with Bayern, which will keep him at the club until 2017. On 9 April, Robben scored Bayern's third goal in a 3–1 Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United, to secure qualification to the semi-finals. On 17 May, Robben scored Bayern's opening goal in a 2–0 extra-time defeat of Borussia Dortmund in the
2014 DFB-Pokal Final, giving him his third league and cup
double in five seasons with the club. His goal made him the first player to score in three separate DFB-Pokal finals. On 13 July, after winning the third place match at the
2014 FIFA World Cup,
Louis van Gaal invited Robben to follow him to
Manchester United, but the latter ruled out the move.
In Bayern's opening match of the
2014–15 Bundesliga season, Robben scored one goal and assisted the other as the team defeated
VfL Wolfsburg 2–1 on on 22 August 2014. On 1 November, he scored the winning goal from a penalty kick against Borussia Dortmund in
Der Klassiker. On 16 December 2014, Robben scored his 100th competitive goal for Bayern Munich in a home match against
SC Freiburg.
On 21 February 2015, Robben scored twice in a 6–0 win against
SC Paderborn 07, giving him the record of having scored against every Bundesliga team he had faced.
International career
2014 World Cup
In the Netherlands' first match of the
2014 FIFA World Cup, Robben scored two goals in a 5–1 win over Spain. In the Netherlands' second group stage match, a 3–2 win over
Australia, Robben scored the team's opening goal as they qualified for the
knockout stage. In the Round of 16 knock-out game with
Mexico, the Netherlands won on a penalty awarded after Robben went down following a challenge from
Rafael Márquez. The
Associated Press said that Robben's "theatrical" fall "did little to defuse the debate about his reputation for diving." Robben maintained that the penalty was correct but admitted to falling easily earlier in the match, telling
a Dutch TV channel that "the one [at the end] was a penalty, but the other one was a dive in the first half. I shouldn't be doing that."
In the
quarter-final, Robben scored the Netherlands' second kick in a 4–3 penalty shootout defeat of
Costa Rica. On 11 July, Robben was named on the 10-man shortlist for FIFA's
Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player.
Style of play
Robben is regarded as one of the best wingers in the world, with
ESPN stating he is "able to take on and beat defenders at the drop of a hat, Robben's ability to get to the byline and deliver in accurate crosses instils fear into any defence." Usually deployed on the right wing, Robben often cuts inside on his left foot to move to a more central attacking position, and uses his speed and
dribbling skills to take on defenders until he finds the space to make an attempt on goal.
He is predominantly a
left footed player. During a match he will often drift to the left wing, with his teammate, in the case of Bayern Munich,
Franck Ribéry, switching over to the right. Another factor in his playing style is his relationship with the right-fullback. At Bayern, this partnership with
Philipp Lahm has had benefits for the team's efficiency and chemistry. Robben's defensive work improved when he went to Bayern where he often tracks back and covers for his partner when he pushes forward and becomes a temporary right back.
Robben has been often accused of
diving, and he has at times openly admitted to the charges. In December 2011, Robben apologised for a dive against
VfL Bochum in a
DFB-Pokal match which earned him a yellow card, saying "I must not do things like this". In July 2014, Robben admitted to diving in the first half of Netherlands' match against Mexico in the last 16 round of the
2014 FIFA World Cup, but maintained that he had not dived for the decisive penalty he won in stoppage time which Netherlands converted to win 2-1. Following the incident, Robben's former manager at Chelsea,
José Mourinho, claimed that Robben's speed and creativity cause opponents who cannot stop him to foul him, but "sometimes [Robben] tries to get an advantage, or to get a penalty".
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/
