It’s one of the most iconic moments in World Cup history. A touch of genius of which so few footballers have ever been capable.
It’s perhaps fair to say that, outside of the red half of north London and in Amsterdam, Dennis Bergkamp is highly thought of but not as revered as his talent should make him. This may be a result of his difficult spell in Italy with Inter Milan or his lack of Champions League success with Arsenal, a lot of which was his own doing due to a fear of flying.
Above all else, though, the Netherlands continued their tradition of being ‘nearly men’ when it came to major international tournaments during the 1990s. Bergkamp played in three European Championships and two World Cups. He was the joint Golden Boot winner at the 92 Euros, but the Netherlands were knocked out by eventual winners Denmark in the semi-finals on penalties. He scored in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup, but Brazil defeated the Dutch. In Euro 96 he was his side’s best player in an uncomfortable group stage before they flopped with a penalty shootout defeat to France in the quarter-finals. His final outings for the Oranje came at his home Euro 2000 and another semi-final exit on penalties – this time against Italy.
But we go back two years to France 1998 and Bergkamp’s decisive intervention in the quarter-final tie against Argentina. It was a pulsating occasion in the blistering heat of Marseille, with the scores locked at 1-1. Patrick Kluivert had given the Dutch a 12th minute lead, thanks to a Bergkamp assist. But the Argentines equalised just five minutes later through Claudio Lopez.
Thereafter followed a spicy affair with several bookings interrupting some scintillating football. Javier Zanetti, Juan Sebastian Veron and Gabriel Batistuta were at the peak of their powers for Argentina, while Kluivert, Bergkamp, Edgar Davids and Edwin van der Sar gave the Dutch hope of a golden summer.
Arthur Numan’s 76th red card seemed to have given Argentina the advantage but Daniel Passarella’s men had been unable to take it prior to levelling matters up at 10v10 with three minutes left, Ariel Ortega inexplicably dismissed for a head-butt on van der Sar. It seemed to worry La Albiceleste and gave the colourful Dutch support new-found belief. As the game entered stoppage time, Argentina were visibly tired, and stood off as Guus Hiddink’s Oranje mounted a final charge. It was time for Bergkamp’s greatest moment on the international stage. Perhaps the highlight of the entire tournament, eventually won by host nation France, and certainly the goal of it.
Frank de Boer, under absolutely no pressure, ran with the ball up towards the half-way line. Glancing up, he spotted Bergkamp make his move into the far right of the penalty area. Make no mistake, this was no punt upfield, but an audacious yet sublimely weighted through ball.
However, given the pace and sheer height of the ball, Bergkamp had no right to get on the end of it. Given he was running forward to reach the pass, the control with his right foot was extraordinary, the second touch inside his marker Roberto Ayala as improbable as it was exquisite and then he calmly finished it off, slotting low beyond Carlos Roa’s hand. All three touches were with his right foot. He had also deceived one of the best defenders of the time in Ayala who couldn’t have been closer to him. Utter genius.
In just four touches – pass, control, flick and finish – Bergkamp has scored one of the greatest goals on a World Cup stage, in the most dramatic of fashions, and put his side into the semi-finals.
Denied on penalties once more against Brazil in the semi-finals, Bergkamp had at least made a personal mark. He had a sublime international strike to sit alongside his touch of genius in Arsenal colours, such as that memorable swivel past Nikos Dabizas of Newcastle, and the touch and flick during a hat-trick against Leicester, not too dissimilar to his Dutch delight.
Bergkamp’s standing had finally risen.
