Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst OON; born 5 February 1975 in Rotterdam), known as Gio
in Spain, is a retired Dutch footballer and former captain of the Dutch national team.
During his club career, Van Bronckhorst played for RKC Waalwijk, Feyenoord, Rangers, Arsenal,
FC Barcelona, and again Feyenoord.
He was an instrumental player in Barcelona's 2005–06 UEFA Champions League victory, being
in the starting line-up of the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League final against his old club
Arsenal F.C., having played every Champions League match for Barcelona that season.
He earned over 100 caps for the Dutch national team, and played for his country in three
World Cups, as well as three European Championships.
After captaining The Oranje through the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, he was elected into
the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Club career Childhood and early career
Van Bronckhorst was born in Rotterdam to Victor van Bronckhorst, an Indonesian-Dutch and Fransien
Sapulette, a Moluccan mother.
He began playing for a local amateur youth team in Rotterdam, Linker Maas Oever from
the age of 6, joining the youth academy at Feyenoord the following year.
In 1990, aged 15, the club offered him a professional contract, which he accepted.
He won the Dutch Youth League with Feyenoord in 1991, but struggled to break into the first
team.
He was loaned out to RKC Waalwijk, making his league debut in 1993.
He returned to Feyenoord for the 1994–95 season, but was used as a fringe player, making
only ten appearances for the club.
1995–96 was his breakthrough season, as he started almost every game for Feyenoord,
playing alongside the likes of Regi Blinker and Henrik Larsson.
He also made his debut for the national Olympic team in 1996, although they failed to qualify
for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
He was given his first full international cap in August 1996, being given a starting
place by Guus Hiddink in the Oranje's lineup to face Brazil in a friendly at the Amsterdam
Arena.
He was part of the Holland squad for the 1998 World Cup, but did not play during the tournament.
Domestically, with Feyenoord failing to break the PSV-Ajax stranglehold on the Eredivisie
for the fourth year in a row, and major players such as Larsson leaving the team, Van Bronckhorst
began to search for a new club.
He chose to join up with Dick Advocaat at Rangers, joining the club in 1998, with fees
reported to be £5 million, and £5.5 million.
Rangers Van Bronckhorst was already a regular international
when he signed for Rangers in 1998, joining up with compatriot Dick Advocaat, the Scottish
club's new manager.
In his first competitive game for Rangers, a remarkable UEFA Cup tie away to League of
Ireland side Shelbourne, Van Bronckhorst marked his debut with a finely-struck goal, as Rangers
came back from 3–0 down to win the match 5–3.
Van Bronckhorst went on to score 22 goals for Rangers, mostly as a play-making midfielder
of notable skill and subtlety, before joining Arsenal for a fee of £8.5 million, signing
a five-year contract.
Arsenal Arsène Wenger had signed Van Bronckhorst
to replace the midfield void, left by the departure of Emmanuel Petit from Arsenal,
and he was expected to partner Patrick Vieira in the centre.
However, his period at Arsenal was marked by a cruciate knee ligament injury, which
saw him sidelined after only a few months at the club.
He did however make 21 league appearances as Arsenal won the 2001-02 FA Premier League.
Barcelona As the 2003–04 season approached, Van Bronckhorst
had the opportunity to move to FC Barcelona and work with new boss Frank Rijkaard on a
one-year loan, with a view to a permanent transfer.
After adapting to his new role as a left-back, he helped Barça to a revival in the second
half of the season.
In May 2004, Van Bronckhorst completed his move from Arsenal to Barcelona for a fee of
€2 million, signing a three-year deal.
He won the La Liga title with Barça in the 2004–05 season after some of his finest
displays together with 4 goals to his credit.
In 2005–06, he helped his club repeat as Liga champions while winning the 2006 Champions
League as well.
In Spain, he used 'Gio' as the name on his shirt, as opposed to 'Bronckhorst' from his
time at Arsenal.
He said on Dutch Football program Studio Voetbal, that he could return to Feyenoord due to a
contract clause that would allow him to sign immediately with the club he supported as
a boy.
Return to Feyenoord
On 21 August 2007, Van Bronckhorst's contract with Barça ended and he subsequently joined
up with Feyenoord for the second time in his career.
Van Bronckhorst became a pivotal member of the Eredivisie team's squad, proving to be
something of a rock in an injury-hit side.
At the beginning of his first season in Rotterdam, coach Bert van Marwijk made Van Bronckhorst
captain.
International career Giovanni van Bronckhorst made his national
team debut in August 1996 at the FNB Stadium in a match against South Africa and has since
gone on to earn over 100 caps, including three World Cup and three Euro campaigns.
He did not appear in the 1998 World Cup and only saw limited action in Euro 2000 as cover
for left-back Arthur Numan.
He began and finished his international career in the same stadium.
Euro 2004 However later national team coaches appreciated
Van Bronckhorst's left-back capabilities, most notably Dick Advocaat who played him
for the Netherlands in the Euro 2004 competition in Portugal.
The Dutch team reached the semi-finals of the tournament when the host team, Portugal,
eliminated them.
2006 World Cup He was a regular in the national team for
the 2006 World Cup qualification campaign.
However, in the Round of 16 match against Portugal, he received a red card in a match
that saw four red cards given, a World Cup record.
There was an unusual scene in which Van Bronckhorst was sitting in the stands next to his FC Barcelona
teammate at the time, Deco of Portugal who had also been sent off.
Euro 2008 Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored the winning
goal in a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Slovenia on 28 March 2007.
The Netherlands won the match 1–0.
On 9 June 2008, while playing in a 3–0 victory over Italy in UEFA Euro 2008, he assisted
in the second goal scored by the Netherlands and also scored the third goal, after running
all the way from the back.
For the second goal, he first cleared the ball off his own line and ran deep into the
Italian half, then received the ball and crossed it to Dirk Kuyt who headed it down to Wesley
Sneijder to slot between the post and the advancing Gianluigi Buffon.
He later even scored another one himself to condemn the world champions to an embarrassing
defeat.
Prior to Euro 2008, captain Edwin Van der Sar had announced his intention to retire
from international football after the tournament and played his last game as captain in the
3–1 quarter-final loss to Russia, Van Bronckhorst was selected to succeed the goalkeeper as
captain of the national team.
2010 World Cup He was included in the preliminary squad for
the tournament, and on 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that he
would be part of the final squad of 23, and would serve as the team captain.
In the semi-final against Uruguay he scored the opening goal of the match, which the Netherlands
won 3–2.
The powerful long range strike, which rose into Fernando Muslera's top left-hand corner,
is widely considered to be one of the best goals in World Cup history.
Van Bronckhorst's final game for the Netherlands and as a professional footballer came in the
World Cup Final against Spain, he was replaced in the 105th minute by Edson Braafheid with
the score 0–0, only for Andrés Iniesta to condemn the Dutch to a defeat, scoring
the only goal of the game in the 116th minute.
After ending the tournament as runners-up, Van Bronckhorst stated that he was proud of
what the team had achieved.
International goals Managerial career
Having retired at the end of the 2009/2010 season prior to the 2010 World Cup, it was
announced on 21 July 2011 that Van Bronckhorst would assist newly appointed Feyenoord manager
Ronald Koeman, alongside fellow ex-Feyenoord player Jean-Paul van Gastel.
Feyenoord finished the season second behind Ajax, qualifying for 2012/2013 UEFA Champions
League.
Career statistics
* played in 2003 Community Shield matches.
Awards and honours
Club Rangers
Scottish Premier League: 1998–99, 1999–2000 Scottish Cup: 1999, 2000
League Cup: 1998 Arsenal
Premier League: 2001–02 FA Cup: 2002, 2003
FA Community Shield: 2002, Runner-up: 2003 Barcelona
La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06 Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006
UEFA Champions League: 2006 Feyenoord
KNVB Cup: 1994–95, 2007–08 National team
FIFA World Cup Runner-up: 2010 EURO Semi Final : 2000, 2004
Personal Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau
References
External links Van Bronckhorst at FC Barcelona English Speaking
Supporters Fansite Voetbal International profile
Giovanni van Bronckhorst – FIFA competition record
Giovanni van Bronckhorst at National-Football-Teams.com Giovanni van Bronckhorst profile and stats
at Wereld van Oranje Official website