Clarence Seedorf

Clarence Seedorf
C-Seedorf.jpg
Personal information
Full name Clarence Clyde Seedorf
Date of birth 1 April 1976 (1976-04-01) (age 34)
Place of birth Paramaribo, Suriname
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club Milan
Number 10
Youth career
Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1992–1995 Ajax 64 (11)
1995–1996 Sampdoria 32 (3)
1996–1999 Real Madrid 121 (15)
1999–2002 Internazionale 64 (8)
2002– Milan 252 (41)
National team
1994–2008 Netherlands 87 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 15, 2010.
† Appearances (Goals).

Clarence Clyde Seedorf (born 1 April 1976) is a Dutch footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Italian club A.C. Milan. He is the only player in the world to have won the Champions League with three different clubs. He is the older brother of Chedric Seedorf.[1] As of 18 June 2009, Seedorf and former team mate Giuseppe Bergomi are co-owners of the Lega Pro Prima Divisione (formally Serie C) side Monza.

He was born in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, but grew up in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Contents

Club career

Early career

Seedorf started his career as a right midfielder for Ajax during the early 1990s. He made his professional debut on 29 November 1992 against Groningen at the age of 16 years and 242 days, making him the youngest debutant for Ajax ever.[2] In his early career, he played a role in Ajax's Eredivisie winning years of 1994 and 1995. He was also a key member during Ajax's 1995 UEFA Champions League winning campaign. After making his name in the Ajax side, Seedorf had one season with Sampdoria,[3] scoring three goals.

Real Madrid

Seedorf moved to Real Madrid in 1996, where he was "a virtual ever present in the Blancos team for the first three seasons".[3] In his first season he helped that team regain the La Liga title; in his second season (1997–1998), he played a major role in the team's Champions League success as Real Madrid secured a 1–0 victory over Juventus in the final – the second Champions League title of his career. While playing for Real Madrid, Seedorf scored a notable goal against Atlético Madrid, a shot from around 45 meters away.

Seedorf's spell at Real Madrid ended when he was transferred back to Italy during the 1999–2000 season – this time to Internazionale, for a fee about 45 billion Italian lira (about €23M).[4]

Internazionale

Despite helping the team to the Coppa Italia final in 2000, a game that was eventually lost, Seedorf could not help bring any major silverware to the club. However, he will be remembered by many Inter fans for his two goals against Juventus in a 2–2 draw on the 9 March 2002, both of which were superb long-range efforts.

Milan

Seedorf with Milan.

After two years with Internazionale, Seedorf moved to city rivals Milan in 2002, exchanged with Francesco Coco. [5] He won the Coppa Italia with Milan in 2003, which was the first time they had won the competition in twenty-six years. In the same season, Seedorf gained his third Champions League medal, to became the first player to win the Champions League with three different clubs.[3] The all Italian final saw Milan beat Juventus on penalties after a 0–0 draw, despite Seedorf failing to convert his own penalty.

The following season, 2003–2004, Seedorf played a role in the Milan side that won Serie A. It was also Seedorf's fourth national league title win of his career, after his two Dutch title wins with Ajax and his one Spanish win with Madrid.

Seedorf played a major role as Milan reached the Champions League final again in 2005. He started the Istanbul tie against Liverpool in which Milan contrived to lose a 3–0 lead, eventually losing on penalties after a 3–3 draw. Seedorf did not take any of those spot-kicks. Milan also finished runners-up in the Scudetto to Juventus in 2005.

A match-fixing scandal tarnished Serie A and Milan were weakened by the scandal but were allowed to continue in Europe the following season, which led to their best players staying at the club. Seedorf's role as foil to Kaká became increasingly impressive as the pair combined in style to score and supply the goals which drove Milan past Bayern Munich and Manchester United to another Champions League final, again against Liverpool, beating them 2–1 in Athens, with Seedorf collecting his fourth UEFA Champions League medal. In that same year, Seedorf was a part of a Milan squad which won the FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the first European player to win the trophy with three different clubs (Ajax in 1995 and Real Madrid in 1998). He ended up winning the Silver Ball for the competition.

At the end of the 2006–07 season, Seedorf was voted best midfielder of the Champions League. He played his 100th game in the Champions League on 4 December against Celtic.

In Milan, Seedorf has formed a formidable midfield partnership with Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, which began since the 2002–03 season. This midfield trio is still used until now in the starting line-up, although their form has declined over the last two years. Under the guidance of coach Carlo Ancelotti, their role was to support an attacking midfielder, whether it be Rivaldo, Rui Costa, Kaká, or Ronaldinho.

International career

Seedorf has played in Euro 1996, (where his penalty miss proved decisive in the quarter final shootout defeat to France), the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. However, many have suggested that his national career could have been even more impressive if he had not let an argumentative and rebellious streak get the better of him on several occasions. In addition, he has a long history of underperforming during critical moments while playing for the national team. This was one of the reasons why former national team coach Marco van Basten decided to ignore Seedorf when he was appointed coach after Euro 2004. Thus, Seedorf did not play in the World Cup 2006 qualifying series, as well as missing out on the FIFA World Cup itself.

On 12 November 2006, Seedorf was recalled for the first time since June 2004 as a replacement for the injured Wesley Sneijder. He started and played the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 friendly draw against England. Seedorf won the last of his 87 caps for the Netherlands in 2008.[3] In Euro 2008 qualifiers against Romania (0–0 at home) and Slovenia (1–0 away win), Seedorf played 4 and 6 minutes. There were doubts on his position within the national team, as Marco van Basten favoured players such as Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie. On 13 May 2008, Seedorf announced that he would not take part in Euro 2008, due to his ongoing conflict with van Basten.[6]

Career statistics

Club Performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Netherlands League KNVB Cup Europe Total
1992/93 Ajax Eredivisie 12 1 3 0 15 1
1993/94 19 4 2 0 21 4
1994/95 34 6 11 0 45 6
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1995/96 Sampdoria Serie A 32 3 2 1 - 34 4
Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total
1996/97 Real Madrid La Liga 38 6 4 0 - 42 6
1997/98 36 6 2 1 11 0 49 7
1998/99 37 3 5 1 8 3 50 7
1999/00 10 0 0 0 6 0 16 0
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1999/00 Internazionale Milano Serie A 20 3 5 2 0 0 25 5
2000/01 24 2 4 0 7 3 35 5
2001/02 20 3 2 1 10 0 32 4
2002/03 Milan Serie A 29 4 3 2 16 1 48 7
2003/04 29 3 5 0 8 0 42 3
2004/05 32 5 4 1 13 1 49 7
2005/06 36 4 2 1 11 1 49 6
2006/07 32 7 5 0 14 3 51 10
2007/08 32 7 0 0 7 2 39 9
2008/09 33 6 1 0 7 0 41 6
2009/10 29 5 0 0 8 1 37 6
2010/11
Country Netherlands 65 11 16 0 81 11
Italy 348 52 33 8 101 12 482 72
Spain 121 15 11 2 25 3 157 20
Total 534 78 44 10 142 15 720 103

[7] [8]

Netherlands national team
Year Apps Goals
1994 1 1
1995 7 3
1996 11 2
1997 7 0
1998 12 1
1999 7 0
2000 10 2
2001 4 1
2002 2 1
2003 7 0
2004 9 0
2005 0 0
2006 1 0
2007 8 0
2008 1 0
Total 87 11

Club playing honours

Ajax
Real Madrid
Milan

Individual playing honours

Personal life

Seedorf is from a football family. His brothers Chedric, Rhamlee and Jurgen, his cousin Stefano and his nephew Regilio are all professional football players. His father, Johan, is a player agent.[9] Seedorf is married to Luviana, a Brazilian. He has four children (three daughters and a son named Denzel) and lives in Milan. In an interview with Nick Webster on Fox Soccer Channel's Center Circle program, Seedorf mentioned studying for the UEFA coaching designation. Although he is in his thirties, there have been no reports of imminent retirement and coaching. Seedorf acted as a pundit for the BBC's 2010 World Cup coverage, and was praised for his "classy, informed stints in the BBC studio".[10]

References

  1. ↑ (Dutch) "Brothers Seedorf on the way with Ajax". 15 April 1999. http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/inp/1999/04/0415F058.htm. Retrieved 7 December 2008. 
  2. ↑ "Wijnaldum jongste Feyenoord-debutant" (in Dutch). NOS.nl. http://www.nos.nl/nosstudiosport/artikelen/2007/4/8/08041716wijnaldumjongstefeyenoorddebutant.html. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Paul Madden (2010-04-01). "Spanish Cumpleanos: Javier Irureta". Goal.com. http://www.goal.com/en/news/2669/birthdays/2010/04/01/1858499/spanish-cumpleanos-javier-irureta. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  4. ↑ "Oriali a Madrid per Seedorf Ed e' nata l' idea Benarrivo" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 1999-08-09. http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/1999/agosto/09/Oriali_Madrid_per_Seedorf_nata_ga_0_9908092250.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-27. 
  5. ↑ "Agreement reached between inter and ac milan for seedorf-coco swap". inter.it. 2002-05-30. http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?L=en&N=2938. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  6. ↑ "Seedorf pulls out of Deutsch Euro 2008 squad". FourFourTwo. http://fourfourtwo.com/news/restofeurope/9043/default.aspx. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  7. ↑ http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=4766
  8. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/seedorf-intl.html
  9. ↑ (German) "Warum Beckenbauer junior München verließ". Der Spiegel. 8 December 2008. http://www.spiegel.de/dertag/pda/avantgo/artikel/0,1958,593691,00.html. Retrieved 5 February 2009. 
  10. ↑ Williamson, Laura (8 July 2010). "WORLD CUP 2010: Clarence Seedorf has the class to admit that Dutch are lucky". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2010/article-1292904/WORLD-CUP-2010-Clarence-Seedorf-class-admit-Dutch-lucky.html. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 

External links

A.C. Milan – current squad

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