Mark Van Bommel life and biography

Mark Peter Gertuda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977 in Maasbracht) is a Dutch footballer who plays for and captains Bayern Munich in the German first division. He is also the son-in-law of the coach of the Dutch national team, Bert van Marwijk.

He is a famously combative central midfielder who can also operate as enforcer or playmaker. He is also known for his extremely powerful shot, his seemingly boundless energy, tackling ability, and range of passing. Van Bommel is known to have a short and bad temper that has often landed him in trouble with officials and opposing players.

Career

Mark van Bommel started his amateur career at local club RKVV Maasbracht before earning a professional contract with Fortuna Sittard in 1992. His other colleagues at Fortuna at that time who would later join PSV alongside him were Wilfred Bouma and Kevin Hofland.

PSV
Van Bommel was signed by PSV in 1999 where he formed a midfield partnership with Swiss international Johann Vogel. He won three Eredivisie titles and two Johan Cruyff Shields with the club. He was also named Dutch Player of the Year in 2001 and 2005.

In his final season with PSV, having assisted the team to the Dutch league title and a Champions League semi-final place, he was expected to join his father-in-law Bert van Marwijk who at the time managed the Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, but van Bommel opted to stay at PSV until the end of the 2004–05 season.

After the Champions League semi-final loss to AC Milan and with the Eredivisie title in PSV's hands at the end of April, he confirmed he would join FC Barcelona in May 2005 after the club won their own domestic league.

Barcelona
With Frank Rijkaard as his new coach at Barcelona, van Bommel played 24 matches, scoring twice in his first season and winning La Liga and the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League.

Bayern Munich
On 26 August 2006, Bayern Munich team manager Uli Hoeneß announced van Bommel would be joining the Bavarian side. Media reports speculated that the move was influenced by the ongoing Owen Hargreaves transfer saga, but Hoeneß insisted the club intended to go forward with both players. Bayern Munich paid 6 million euro to Barcelona in the deal.

Since joining the German side, van Bommel has proved to be a key player for them, providing strength in the middle of the pitch. Due to his terrific performances during his first season at Bayern, he was voted the Bayern Player of the Year for the 2006–07 season, beating out long time fan-favorites Roy Makaay and Mehmet Scholl. After Oliver Kahn retired in 2008, van Bommel was selected as captain. He is the first non-German captain of Bayern Munich.

International career

His debut for the Dutch national team was on 7 October 2000 against Cyprus, which was won 4–0. However, for the Oranje, he did not make an appearance in a major tournament until 2006, with the Dutch national team failing to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and injury preventing him from playing during UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Dutch national team manager Marco van Basten was dissatisfied with van Bommel's defensive performance in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Romania and he was subsequently not selected for the rest of the qualification series. With many Dutch football observers believing van Bommel's international career to be over, he was selected back into the Dutch side for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In the 2006 World Cup, van Bommel played in all the games for his country except the match against Argentina as both teams had already sealed their passage to the knockout stage of the tournament. His position in the team was as right-half. His duties were mainly to play the anchor role in the Dutch three-man midfield in their usual 4–3–3 formation.

He was the first of many players booked in the second-round match Dutch team defeat against Portugal, dubbed "The Battle of Nuremberg" by the press. After the World Cup, van Bommel was not called up for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers against Luxembourg and Belarus. In September 2006, after his move to Bayern, he was added to van Basten's squad to face Bulgaria; however, van Bommel stated (alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy) to no longer intend to play for Oranje as long as van Basten is in charge. After van Basten left to manage AFC Ajax, new Netherlands head coach and father-in-law Bert van Marwijk called up van Bommel again, which led to his return in the Dutch national team. Van Bommel has won 50 caps and has scored nine goals for the Dutch national team.

Read more