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The Footballing Gods Gifted Dennis Bergkamp Him His Incredible First Touch

Home> Football

Published 14:05 10 May 2022 GMT+1

The Footballing Gods Gifted Dennis Bergkamp Him His Incredible First Touch

The Arsenal legend was known for his moments of pure magic and the Dutchman's first touch was unmatched.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Dennis Bergkamp had one of the best first touches that football has ever seen and a video of all his greatest examples is one of the best things you could watch.

The Arsenal legend's three most famous goals show incredible examples of his amazing talent, even if some people still question whether he meant one of them, but he had a whole career of showing off his first touch.

We all remember the goals against Newcastle United and Leicester City for the Gunners and his World Cup quarter final strike against Argentina for Netherlands, but the next two and a bit minutes will remind you just how good he was.

The Dutchman retired from football at the end of 2006, after playing 11 seasons for Arsenal, playing 423 times for the Gunners, scoring 120 times.

During his playing career he won Eredivisie, the Dutch Cup twice, the European Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup with Ajax before winning the UEFA Cup again with Inter and three Premier League titles and four FA Cups when he moved to England.

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His impact at Highbury, where he was part of the Invincibles season in 2003/04, was so great that he now has a statue outside of the Emirates.

Bergkamp's first touch is immortalised outside Arsenal's ground. Image: PA Images
Bergkamp's first touch is immortalised outside Arsenal's ground. Image: PA Images

Probably his most famous goal, at least for the Gunners, came just over 20 years ago, when he deceived Nikos Dabizas to score against Newcastle.

Despite the goal coming over two decades ago, people still debate today whether or not the first touch was meant to send the ball in the opposite direction.

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Having done that, whether on purpose or not, Bergkamp was able to show the speed of thought, and quickness in his legs, to collect the ball and smash it home.

Bergkamp beats Dabizas to the ball. Image: Premier League
Bergkamp beats Dabizas to the ball. Image: Premier League

Such was the former Inter Milan player's brilliance that strike partner Thierry Henry even named above Messi as the greatest player he'd even played with.

When asked the question, the Frenchman simply and quickly answered "Dennis Bergkamp," despite even winning the Champions League with Messi.

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The 53-year-old could soon return to the Premier League as a coach, having worked at Ajax for six years previously, and join former Arsenal teammate Patrick Vieira.

Asked recently if he would join Vieira at Crystal Palace, the Dutchman said, "Who knows? I get along well with Patrick. I admire his calmness and his career. Especially the person he is and he’s nice to be around. So who knows what will happen in the future."

Featured Image Credit: YouTube

Topics: Dennis Bergkamp, Arsenal, Premier League

Ryan Sidle
Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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@Sidler28

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