Farewell to finesse as Bergkamp signs off
Like his Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry, Bergkamp is that rare breed of forward who is as adept at setting up goals as scoring spectacular ones himself.
The Dutchman, who plays his final league game on Sunday, will be remembered for scoring one of the top 10 World Cup goals, winning European trophies with Ajax Amsterdam and Inter Milan, and an 11-year Arsenal career highlighted by two Premier League and FA Cup doubles.
What has set Bergkamp apart is his touch, vision and slide-rule passing which could flip open a defense in the blink of an eye from his position in the "hole" behind his strikers.
Until the arrival of Henry, many fans considered him the most skilful foreigner to have played in English football.
Bergkamp, 37 next Wednesday, helped the Netherlands reach the World Cup quarterfinals in 1994 and the last four in 1998.
Both times they went out to Brazil while a bomb scare during the 1994 tournament in the U.S. put him off flying for life.
His last-minute winner in the 1998 quarterfinal against Argentina in Marseille was ranked in a poll as the sixth best in World Cup history.
Bergkamp raced into the Argentina box, brought down a high 50-meter pass out of defense from Frank de Boer, turned inside defender Roberto Ayala and blasted a rising shot from the right past goalkeeper Carlos Roa into the roof of the net.
The goal set a Dutch national team scoring record, since surpassed by Patrick Kluivert. Bergkamp quit international football in 2002 with 37 goals in 79 games.
"When Dennis Bergkamp scores, it's not a common goal, it's always what we call 'a Dennis Bergkamp goal'," Henry said. "He is the best player I have ever played with as a partner. It is a dream for a striker to have Dennis in the team with you."