Arjen Robben

Arjen Robben (born January 23 1984 in Bedum,
Netherlands) is a football (soccer)|footballer for
the Netherlands national football team|Dutch
national team and Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea, having
recently transferred to the England|English club
from Dutch power PSV Eindhoven. And he has an
girlfriend, her name is Bernadien Eillert.

In his younger years he played for the local
footballclub VV Bedum. Later he transferred to FC
Groningen. In his first season he won the Player
of the Year prize at his club. After two seasons
in Groningen Robben went to PSV for
Euro|€4.2 million.

Again after two seasons of great football at PSV,
he was sold to Chelsea. Manchester United
F.C.|Manchester United was the first in line to
buy Robben. But PSV wasn't happy with the €7
million offer. Chelsea offered €18 million
and PSV sold him.

In Ec2|2004 in Portugal, during a match against
the Czech Republic national football team|Czech
Republic, the then Dutch team manager Dick
Advocaat substituted Robben with Paul Bosvelt. The
Dutch team eventually lost that match after
leading by two goals. That decision brought severe
criticism on Advocaat and as a result, Advocaat
resigned from his post after losing in the
semi-finals of Euro 2004 from Portugal.

In another Euro 2004 match, Robben scored the
winning goal against Sweden national football
team|Sweden during a Kicks from the penalty
mark|penalty shootout in a quarterfinal match. He
did not make his competitive debut for Chelsea
until November 2004, as he was injured in a
pre-season friendly match against A.S. Roma,
breaking a metatarsal bone in his right foot.

However, since returning from injury, Robben (in
combination with Damien Duff) has made an
impressive impact with his explosive speed,
dribbling skills and finishing; and in November
2004 he was awarded the prestigious player of the
month award. In a game against Blackburn Rovers on
February 2 2005 he broke two metatarsal bones in
his left foot, ruling him out for two months.

On March 19, 2005 Robben returned to the Chelsea
team. Robben came on for Duff midway through the
second half and played an instrumental role in one
of Mateja Kežman's two goals. Chelsea went on to
defeat Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace 4-1. But
injury soon caught up with him again, he is force
to be taken off in a Football World Cup 2006 -
European Qualification Groups|World Cup 2006
Qualifying match for the Netherlands, causing him
to miss a critical Champions League match against
Bayern Munich, which Chelsea went on to win 6-5
over two legs.