Everything about Boudewijn Zenden totally explained
Boudewijn "Bolo" Zenden (born
August 15,
1976 in
Maastricht) is a
Dutch footballer who plays most often as a
midfielder. Zenden is currently playing for
Marseille. He has earned 54
caps and scored 7 goals for the
Dutch national team, and he represented his country in the
1998 FIFA World Cup,
Euro 2000 and
Euro 2004 tournaments.
Prior to joining Marseille, Zenden played for
PSV Eindhoven (1994-98),
Barcelona (1998-2001),
Chelsea (2001-03),
Middlesbrough (2003-05) and
Liverpool (2005-07). He started his career out as a
winger, playing on the left, however he's also played as a
left-wingback and a central midfielder during his career.
Youth
Zenden's father Pierre Zenden is a former
judoka, who worked as a
sports broadcaster for the public
NOS broadcasting system from 1968 to 2005. Zenden played football and was also competitive in
judo as a child. In 1985 Dutch club
MVV Maastricht signed Zenden after watching him play for amateur club Leonidas. Two years later Zenden joined the youth academy of
PSV Eindhoven.
He earned his judo
black belt by the age of 14 and was three times judo champion of his home province of
Limburg. However, at the age of 16 he chose to pursue a career in football.
Club career
PSV
As his career developed at PSV Eindhoven, Zenden made the
left wing position his own, displacing
Peter Hoekstra and finally becoming a firm member of the starting line-up after the departure of Dutch national team player
Jan Wouters. Zenden was an important part of the PSV team that won the Dutch
Eredivisie league championship in 1997, and he received the 1997 "Dutch Talent of the Year" award. After another season at PSV, in which he scored 12 goals in 23 games, he moved to
Spanish club
Barcelona in 1998.
Barcelona
At Barcelona he became part of a large contingent of Dutch players under Barcelona's Dutch coach
Louis van Gaal. He found his first-team opportunities at Barcelona limited by the form of fellow Dutchman
Marc Overmars, who played in Zenden's favoured left wing position for both club and country. Instead, Zenden was deployed as a left
wingback, a defensive role which he took on successfully, as he displaced
Spanish international and local favourite
Sergi Barjuán. He helped Barcelona win the 1998-99
La Liga championship, and in the 1999-2000 season, he scored his only three goals for the club. However, after Van Gaal's resignation as coach in 2000, first team appearances became more scarce for Zenden. At the end of the 2000-2001 season, English club
Chelsea bought him for
£7.5 million.
Chelsea
In his three years at Chelsea, Zenden played in the
2002 FA Cup final, a 2-0 defeat by
Arsenal, however he struggled to maintain a constant place in the starting line-up mainly due to persistent injuries.
Middlesbrough
He was
loaned out to
Middlesbrough for the 2003-2004 season. Here he found playing success, as he scored the winning goal in the 2004
League Cup final against
Bolton Wanderers to secure Middlesbrough their first major trophy in club history. When his contract with Chelsea expired in the summer 2004, he moved to Middlesbrough on a
free transfer, signing a one-year contract for the 2004-2005 season. He was deployed in a
central midfield position, where he played 36 of 38 league games, scoring 5 goals in the process, and was voted the Middlesbrough fans' 2005 Player of the Year. However, it would be his last for Middlesbrough, as he left in the summer of 2005 when his contract ran out.
Liverpool
Zenden joined newly crowned
UEFA Champions League champions
Liverpool on July 4, 2005. He started his Liverpool career being used regularly as a left midfielder, and was in the starting line-up as Liverpool won the 2005
European Super Cup. He suffered a serious
cruciate ligament injury in his right knee in December 2005, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Zenden suffered a further knee injury playing against
Manchester City on November 25th, 2006, and has recovered since undergoing surgery.
Zenden played in both legs of Liverpool's
Champions League semi-final against
Chelsea, scoring Liverpool's first penalty in the
penalty shootout at the end of the second leg, which Liverpool won 4-1.
Marseille
On
May 24 2007, it was announced by Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez that Zenden's contract wouldn't be renewed and that he was allowed to talk to other clubs, and on
July 6,
2007, Zenden signed a 2 year contract with
Olympique de Marseille.
International career
Zenden made his debut for the Dutch national team in a
1998 World Cup qualification match against
San Marino on
April 30,
1997. He was included in the starting formation, and played the entire game as the Netherlands won 6-0. He was called up to represent the Netherlands at the 1998 World Cup in
France, where Zenden started the tournament as a substitute. Coming on twice as a substitute, he was selected to start in the semi-final loss to
Brazil. He was once more selected to play in the 3rd placing playoff against
Croatia, where he scored a goal after a solo run and a powerful long-range shot. After scoring, he attempted to celebrate with an acrobatic somersault, but failed, throwing himself head first to the ground.
It was during the run-up to
Euro 2000 that he gained acclaim, with the tournament itself providing the platform some of his finest performances. His raw pace and acceleration down the flank, coupled with his ability to function both as a wing-forward and as a wing-back made him a versatile player to have in the squad. His man-of-the-match performance in a friendly against Germany at the turn of the millennium cemented his position in the national team -- he set up the opening goal for
Patrick Kluivert, then added his own name to the scoresheet with a thunderous volley from
Ronald de Boer's corner, before nearly putting the gloss on the finish when he left the entire German defence for dead with his raw pace, beat the goalkeeper with his shot, only for it to rebound off the upright.
Zenden played in all five Dutch matches at
Euro 2000. Carrying his pre-tournament form into the big event, Zenden grabbed a goal against
Denmark and the winner against
France to help the
Netherlands finish top of Group D. The Dutch annihilated the Yugoslavians 6-1 in the quarter-final; Zenden once again put in a stellar performance, including the assist for what turned out to be Kluivert's hat-trick goal. He started the semi-final against
Italy, but he was substituted in a game that would see the Dutch be eliminated on
penalties. Zenden was named in the
UEFA Team of the Tournament, along with compatriots
Patrick Kluivert (top goalscorer),
Frank de Boer, and
Edgar Davids.
Zenden featured again in
Euro 2004 (Euro 2004), though he only played in the first match against
Germany and as a substitute in the semi-final defeat to
Portugal. Following the tournament, Zenden, like other experienced players including
Clarence Seedorf and
Edgar Davids, found himself excluded from the national squad selection by new Dutch national team coach
Marco van Basten. Since September 2004, Zenden hasn't been called up, and the injury he suffered in December 2005 put paid to any chance he might have had of playing in the
2006 World Cup.
Career statistics
Club performance
| Club |
Season |
Premiership |
FA Cup |
League Cup |
Europe |
Others |
Total |
| App |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
| Liverpool FC |
2006-07 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
30 |
0 |
| 2005-06 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
2 |
| Middlesbrough FC |
2004-05 |
36 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
49 |
8 |
| 2003-04 |
31 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
7 |
| Chelsea FC |
2003-04 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2002-03 |
21 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
1 |
| 2001-02 |
22 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32 |
3 |
| Club |
Season |
Primera Div |
Spanish Cup |
- |
Europe |
Others |
Total |
| App |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
| FC Barcelona |
2000-01 |
10 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
- |
- |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
| 1999-00 |
29 |
2 |
? |
? |
- |
- |
10 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
3 |
| 1998-99 |
25 |
0 |
? |
? |
- |
- |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
29 |
0 |
| Club |
Season |
Eredivisie |
Dutch Cup |
- |
Europe |
Others |
Total |
| App |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
pp |
oals |
| PSV Eindhoven |
1997-98 |
23 |
12 |
? |
? |
- |
- |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
12 |
| 1996-97 |
34 |
8 |
? |
? |
- |
- |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
38 |
9 |
| 1995-96 |
25 |
7 |
? |
? |
- |
- |
? |
1 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
8 |
| 1994-95 |
27 |
5 |
? |
? |
- |
- |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
5 |
| Total |
|
306 |
49 |
14 |
1 |
14 |
2 |
59 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
394 |
58 |
International goals
» Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first.
Honours
PSV Eindhoven
Barcelona
1998–99 Spanish League Championship
Middlesbrough
2003–04 League Cup
Liverpool
2005–06 European Super Cup
2006–07 Community Shield
2006–07 UEFA Champions League - Runner-upFurther Information
Get more info on 'Boudewijn Zenden'.
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