Clarence Seedorf

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Clarence Seedorf
Personal information
Full name	Clarence Clyde Seedorf
Date of birth	April 1, 1976 (1976-04-01) (age 32)
Place of birth	Paramaribo, Suriname
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Right/left/centre midfield
Club information
Current club	A.C. Milan
Number	10
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992–1995 1995–1996 1996–2000 2000–2002 2002–	Ajax Sampdoria Real Madrid Internazionale A.C. Milan	064 (11) 032 0(3) 121 (15) 064 0(8) 189 (30)
National team2
1994–	Netherlands	086 (11)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:26, 21 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of November 18, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Clarence Seedorf (born April 1, 1976 in Paramaribo, Suriname) is a Dutch-Surinamese football midfielder, who currently plays for AC Milan in Serie A. He is the first, and to date, the only player who has won the UEFA Champions League with three different clubs: Ajax (1995), Real Madrid (1998), and AC Milan (2003, 2007). Furthermore, Seedorf is the first European player who won the Intercontinental Cup (now FIFA Club World Cup) twice with two different clubs (Madrid 1998 and Milan 2007). He has also played for Sampdoria and Internazionale, and is a member of the Netherlands national team, although he has announced he will not play in Euro 2008.

For his current side, Milan, Seedorf normally plays on the left side of a midfield three or behind the lone forward in coach Carlo Ancelotti's 4-3-2-1 formation.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Real Madrid 1.3 Inter Milan 1.4 A.C. Milan 2 International career 3 Awards and honors 4 Trivia 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Seedorf started his career as a right midfielder for Ajax Amsterdam during the early 1990s. He made his professional debut on November 29, 1992 against FC Groningen at the age of 16 years and 242 days, making him the youngest debutant for Ajax ever.^[1] In his early career, he played a role in Ajax's Eredivisie winning years of 1994 and 1995. He was also a key member during Ajax's 1995 UEFA Champions League winning campaign. His performances during the season saw him move to Sampdoria in the summer of 1995, although he only spent one season there, scoring 3 goals.

[edit] Real Madrid

Seedorf moved to Real Madrid in 1996, helping that team regain the La Liga title in his first season. In his second season, 1997-1998, he played a major role in the team's Champions League success as Real Madrid secured a 1-0 victory over Juventus in the final, in his second Champions League title of his career. While playing for Real Madrid, Seedorf scored a notable goal against Atlético de Madrid, a shot from around 45 yards away. Seedorf's spell at Real Madrid ended when he was transferred back to Italy during the 1999-2000 season - this time to Inter Milan.

[edit] Inter Milan

Despite helping the team to the Coppa Italia final in 2000, a game that was eventually lost, Seedorf could not help bring any major silverware to the club. However, he will be remembered by many Inter fans for his two goals against Juventus in a 2-2 draw on the 9th March 2002, both of which were superb long-range efforts.

[edit] A.C. Milan

After two years with Inter Milan, Seedorf moved to city rivals A.C. Milan in 2002. He won the Coppa Italia with Milan in 2003, which was the first time they had won the competition in twenty-six years. In the same season, Seedorf gained his third Champions League medal with a third different team, after an all Italian final in which AC Milan beat Juventus on penalties after a 0-0 draw. As a result, Seedorf became the first and only player to have won Champions' League trophies for three different clubs. The following season, 2003–2004, Seedorf played a role in the AC Milan side that won Serie A. It was also Seedorf's fourth national league title win of his career, after his two Dutch title wins with Ajax and his one Spanish win with Real Madrid.

Seedorf played a major role as Milan reached the Champions League final again in 2005. He started the Istanbul tie against Liverpool in which Milan contrived to lose a 3-0 lead, eventually losing on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Seedorf did not take one of those spot-kicks. Milan also finished runners-up in the Scudetto to Juventus in 2005.

Another strong season by Milan in 2006, with Seedorf a key figure in most games in partnership with Andrea Pirlo, Kaká and Rino Gattuso, saw the team fall just short of another Champions League final when they were narrowly defeated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Barcelona.

A match-fixing scandal tarnished Serie A and Milan were weakened by the scandal but were allowed to continue in Europe the following season, which led to their best players staying at the club. Seedorf's role as foil to Kaká became increasingly impressive as the pair combined in some style to score and supply the goals which drove Milan past Bayern München and Manchester United to another Champions League final, again against Liverpool FC, beating them 2-1 in Athens, with Seedorf collecting his fourth UEFA Champions League medal. In the following season, Seedorf was a part of AC Milan squad which won the FIFA Club World Cup. He ended up winning the Silver Boot for the competition.

Clarence was often said to be over-rated, playing well for A.C. Milan and sometimes for his country. Although many Dutch fans are angry because he plays well for his club and performs very poorly for his country. Some say he does not try for his country and is ashamed to be Dutch.

At the end of the 2006-2007 season, Clarence Seedorf was voted best midfielder of the Champions League. He played his 100th game in the Champions League on December 4 against Celtic F.C..

[edit] International career

Seedorf has played in Euro 96, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. However, many have suggested that his national career could have been even more impressive if he had not let an argumentative and rebellious streak get the better of him on several occasions. In addition, he has a long history of underperforming during critical moments while playing for the national team. This was one of the reasons why current national team coach Marco van Basten decided to ignore Seedorf when he was appointed coach after Euro 2004. Thus, Seedorf did not play in the World Cup 2006 qualifying series, as well as missing out on the FIFA World Cup itself.

On 12 November 2006, however, Seedorf was recalled for the first time since June 2004 as a replacement for the injured Wesley Sneijder. He started and played the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 friendly draw against England. He returned in the squad and played several matches. In retrospect there were two crucial games relating to his career, Euro 2008 qualifiers against Romania (0-0 at home) and Slovenia (1-0 away win). In both matches Van Basten let him play just 4 and 6 minutes. Seedorf stated in an interview in December 2007 'you give, and you give, but in return you receive nothing.'^{[citation needed]} There were doubts on his position within the national team, as Van Basten favoured players such as Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie. On 13th May 2008 Seedorf announced that he is to pull out of the Euro 2008 Dutch squad because he can no longer work with Marco Van Basten, the head coach.^[2]

[edit] Awards and honors

• Intercontinental Cup: 1
  • 1998, Real Madrid

• FIFA Club World Cup: 1
  • 2007, AC Milan

• UEFA Super Cup:2
  • 2003, AC Milan
  • 2007, AC Milan

• UEFA Champions League: 4
  • 1994/95, Ajax
  • 1997/98, Real Madrid
  • 2002/03, AC Milan
  • 2006/07, AC Milan

• Dutch Super Cup: 2
  • 1993, Ajax
  • 1994, Ajax

• Spanish Super Cup: 1
  • 1997, Real Madrid

• Italian Super Cup: 1
  • 2004 AC Milan

• Dutch championship: 2
  • 1993/94, Ajax
  • 1994/95, Ajax

• Spanish Championship: 1
  • 1996/97, Real Madrid

• Italian Championship: 1
  • 2003/04, AC Milan

• Dutch Cup: 1
  • 1992/93, Ajax

• Italian Cup: 1
  • 2002/03, AC Milan

Seedorf was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He was named UEFA Champions League 2006-07 Midfielder of the Year in August 2007.

[edit] Trivia

• Seedorf is notedly a polyglot, being able to speak Dutch, English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and German.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Clarence Seedorf profile and stats at Wereld van Oranje (Dutch)

• Seedorf Racing

v • d • e Netherlands squad - UEFA Euro 1996 1 van der Sar • 2 Reiziger • 3 Blind • 4 Seedorf • 5 Stam • 6 R. de Boer • 7 Taument • 8 Davids • 9 Kluivert • 10 Bergkamp • 11 Hoekstra • 12 Winter • 13 Numan • 14 Witschge • 15 Bogarde • 16 de Goey • 17 Cruijff • 18 de Kock • 19 Mulder • 20 Cocu • 21 Hesp • 22 Veldman • Coach: Hiddink

v • d • e Netherlands squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 van der Sar • 2 Reiziger • 3 Stam • 4 F. de Boer • 5 Numan • 6 Jonk • 7 R. de Boer • 8 Bergkamp • 9 Kluivert • 10 Seedorf • 11 Cocu • 12 Zenden • 13 Ooijer • 14 Overmars • 15 Bogarde • 16 Davids • 17 van Hooijdonk • 18 de Goey • 19 van Bronckhorst • 20 Winter • 21 Hasselbaink • 22 Hesp • Coach: Hiddink

v • d • e Netherlands squad - UEFA Euro 2000 1 van der Sar • 2 Reiziger • 3 Stam • 4 F. de Boer • 5 Zenden • 6 Seedorf • 7 Cocu • 8 Davids • 9 Kluivert • 10 Bergkamp • 11 Overmars • 12 van Bronckhorst • 13 Konterman • 14 van Vossen • 15 Bosvelt • 16 R. de Boer • 17 van Hooijdonk • 18 de Goey • 19 Numan • 20 Winter • 21 Makaay • 22 Westerveld • Coach: Rijkaard

v • d • e Netherlands squad - UEFA Euro 2004 1 van der Sar • 2 Reiziger • 3 Stam • 4 Bouma • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 Cocu • 7 van der Meyde • 8 Davids • 9 Kluivert • 10 van Nistelrooy • 11 van der Vaart • 12 Makaay • 13 Westerveld • 14 Sneijder • 15 F. de Boer • 16 Overmars • 17 van Hooijdonk • 18 Heitinga • 19 Robben • 20 Seedorf • 21 Bosvelt • 22 Zenden • 23 Waterreus • Coach: Advocaat

v • d • e A.C. Milan – current squad 1 Dida • 3 Maldini • 4 Kaladze • 5 Emerson • 7 Pato • 8 Gattuso • 9 Inzaghi • 10 Seedorf • 13 Nesta • 16 Kalac • 17 Šimić • 18 Jankulovski • 19 Favalli • 21 Pirlo • 22 Kaká • 23 Ambrosini • 25 Bonera • 31 Digão • 32 Brocchi • 36 Darmian • 43 Paloschi • 44 Oddo • 94 Aubameyang • 99 Ronaldo • ¬ Flamini • ¬ Borriello • ¬ Zambrotta • ¬ Antonini • ¬ Abbiati • ¬ Mir • Coach: Ancelotti

Awards
Preceded by Marc Overmars	Dutch Football Talent of the Year 1993 – 1994	Succeeded by Patrick Kluivert