5 Footballers Who Symbolise the Phrase, ‘The Beautiful Game’

2. Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp was the ultimate number 10, a man of such apparent brilliance, and always the coolest head on the pitch. After being shipped off to Arsenal rather unwisely by Italian giants Internazionale, the Dutchman soon settled in at Highbury, leaving fans aghast with his poetic playmaking and a marvellous finishing technique. Though he did not score as many as his strike partners like Ian Wright, Nicolas Anelka, and Thierry Henry, he was more often than not the man who threaded the killer pass for his compatriots to capitalise on. When he did score, it was frequently via a moment of sheer brilliance, take for example, his goal against Argentina in the €™98 World Cup quarterfinal, or his incredulous balletic finish against Newcastle in the early noughties. Where other players of his era scooped many of the personal accolades, Bergkamp was content to stay off the radar and let his football do the talking for him, instead of having to face the flash of the cameras. Most Arsenal fans out there probably believe that Thierry Henry is the finest player to ever pull on the red jersey of The Gunners, but all of them will be in full appreciation of the majesty Bergkamp carried until his retirement in 2006.