With Ajax Bergkamp won his second European Cup, the UEFA Cup in 1992. He was three times Dutch topscorer (1991, -92, -93) and was voted twice 'Football Player of the Year' by his Dutch collegues (1992 and -93). In Ajax Dennis played right behind the strikers, position what was later taken by another top player, Finnish Jari Litmanen. In the Dutch league Dennis played 185 games and scored 103 goals. Altogether, Bergkamp played 239 games for Ajax and scored 122 goals.
After this great year Bergkamp and his teammate Wim Jonk were sold to Inter of Italy. That was the effect of his excellent performance in Euro 1992. Johan Cruyff disapproved it because he felt that Bergkamp would not play well in the defensive style of Inter. But Bergkamp wanted a challenge and he chose Inter over clubs like AC Milan and Barcelona, where football was played more similar to the attacking Ajax system. Again he played in UEFA Cup final and won it, now with Inter. He stayed in Italy for two seasons, but as Cruyff predicted, Dennis had a difficult time in Milano. The club promised a change of playing style but it didn't happen. Moreover, Bergkamp's releationship with his teammates was not so good. For an example, one of his teammates in Inter, the Uruguayan striker Ruben Sosa treated him more as a rival than a colleague. Dennis also could't go down well with the quite-hungry Italian press; When he wouldn't talk to them, they talked to his gardener who told them that one of Italy's most highly paid footballers liked to stay at home with his wife. Bergkamp received much criticism in Milan. During this unhappy time, he still played well for the Netherlands played an important part in Netherlands' 1994 World Cup campaign, playing every game in the finals. The Dutchmaster scored three goals in five World Cup matches.
After the World Cup, Bergkamp returned to Milan for one more year. At the end of the 1994/95 season, he realized that things will not change at Inter. Having opted to leave, Bergkamp's decision to join Arsenal was made quickly.
On the 20th of June 1995, Dennis became Arsenal's record purchase for £7.5m.

Now he could play matches in foreign countries only if they could be reached by car, train or boat. That's why one of his nicknames is "The Non-Flying Dutchman".
His move to Arsenal was one of the biggest and most talked about transfers to the Premiership. Therefore, when he didn't score at the start of the season, he was higly criticised.

Dennis scored 16 times that season. Others said Bergkamp was not aggressive enough. Those criticism were actually quite unfair. As Ruud Gullit pointed out, Bergkamp is neither a target man or creative midfield. His strength is to be in the right place at the right time. He would create more goals than he would score. Statistic also showed that Bergkamp was involved in 75% of the Arsenal's goals at the beginning of the season. Finally, in his 8th Premier League game, he silenced the critics with two stunning goals, his first two for Arsenal.

His start

Dennis Bergkamp was born in Amsterdam on May, 1969. He was named after the famous Manchester United's player Denis Law but there had to add one more 'n' because "Denis" reminds too much "Denise" in the Netherlands. Dennis drilled the ball hour after hour against the garden wall at his family home at a young age or dribbled around his three elder brothers who were also all football fanatics. For years, his parents took him and his brothers to England on holiday and his love for English developed during his childhood years. His family were Manchester United fans, but Dennis admired Glenn Hoddle of Spurs the most.

Bergkamp is another product of the Ajax youth system. He joined the Ajax youth team when he was 12. But even the hard work was not enough to please the couches at Ajax, they thought young Bergkamp was too lightweight and not physically strong enough to be a football player. For years, he struggled in the youth team.

After Dennis played few years with the Ajax youth, Johan Cruyff discovered Bergkamp's talent and took him away from the junior-team and asked him to play with the first team. His first league game was in 14th of December in 1986 against Roda JC Kerkade and few months later he made his European debut in the Cup Winners Cup against Malmö FF. In that year he made four goals in the CWC and Ajax won the Cup. In 1990 he won the Championship medal with Ajax and in 1993 the Dutch Cup. He also became an international in the Dutch squad. His international debut was in 1990 against Italy and two months later he scored his first goal for his country against Greece. He was a regular ever since until he retired at international level after Euro 2000. In 1992, the Netherlands went to Sweden as a favourite to win the European Championship. Bergkamp played alongside with his superstar teammates such as Gullit, van Basten, Rijkaard, and Koeman. Dennis played well and scored three goals (top scorer in the tournament with Larsen, Riedle and Brolin) before the Netherlands lost to Denmark in penalty shootout in the semi-finals.

Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (born May 10, 1969 in Amsterdam) is a retired Dutch professional footballer. He played for Ajax Amsterdam, Internazionale, Arsenal and the Netherlands. Bergkamp played most of his best games as a support striker, where his tactical awareness and deft passes made him a great exponent of the game from the 'hole'. He was selected by Pelé as one of the FIFA 125 greatest living players. He has also finished third in the FIFA Player of the Year award twice.