In April 2006, Simon Kuper wrote in the Financial Times:
"One night last year some legends of Dutch football gathered for dinner in an Amsterdam house. Around midnight conversation turned to an old question: who was the best Dutch footballer ever? Dutchmen have been voted European Footballer of the Year seven times, more than any other nationality except Germans. Yet Jan Mulder, a great centre-forward turned writer, chose a player who had never even threatened to win the award nor, at the time, a Champions League: 'Bergkamp.' He had the finest technique, said Mulder. Guus Hiddink, the great Dutch manager, nodded, and so the matter was settled."
What will Dennis Bergkamp do now his playing days are over? The Dutch master pondered that question after his testimonial, smiled and replied with a single word: "Nothing."
When the laughter died down, Bergkamp elaborated. After two decades of model professionalism, he was looking forward to life without the pressure or the routine that goes hand-in-hand with top-level football.
"I can bring the kids to school, play golf a little bit, just relax and do other things than what football brings," said Bergkamp.
"In football you are in hotels every weekend, you have to watch your food, be at training at a certain time in the morning. That's how I live with football so now I can have a free weekend. It will be nice to do something different."
"Something different" means football is off Bergkamp's agenda for now, but he is not ruling out a return to the game in some capacity. Coaching is not on the Dutchman's radar but he has discussed a few ideas with Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.
"I've never really thought about coaching," said Bergkamp. "I never believed it was something for me, it didn't attract me in any way. But, sure, when you realise you can't play football anymore but you still love the game, you might come back in some sort of way.
"I spoke to Arsène Wenger about a few things, scouting for example. Like a lot of people he said it would be a shame if I left the game like that and didn't come back.
"I can understand that a little but I have to be a bit selfish at this point, step back, enjoy what I've done, relax a little. I could not step straight into something else, not at all. At the moment I have to say no."
on the mix of past and present stars... "It was brilliant to start the first half and see the new players. I felt really, really old in the first half and young in the second half. It was great to see those players back and the reaction from the fans was amazing. It was an amazing day."
on his emotions... "It was difficult not to get emotional. A lot of things have happened. I've got a great family but with those players and fans it feels like one big family. It was fantastic."
on the presence of Cruyff and Van Basten... "It is those people who truly love football and apart from being there for me they love the game too so every opportunity they want to show that. We asked them and they were ready to come over and be here. I showed them a lot of respect down the years and this is how they have paid it back."
on Frank Rijkaard... "He is one of the most honest, best guys that you can have in football. He has his heart in the right place, he is a really nice man and if anyone beat us I would want it to be him. I was happy for him that he won it [the Champions League] with Barcelona. When I made my debut [for Ajax] he was there as well of course. He told me I had a golden future in front of me and now on the pich he said I had had a amazing career. A lot of people have said those words and it sums it up for me, especially coming from [Rijkaard]. Over the years he has been a very honest guy and those words you feel they came from his heart."
Dennis Bergkampból nem lesz még egy. És nem a személyre gondolok, sokkal inkáb a szerepre, amit betöltött - és nem túl nagy szó - az életemben. Miatta szerettem meg a klubot és lettem Ágyús 1997-ben, valahol tudatra ébredésem késő hajnalán. Ha az Arsenalra gondolok, automatikusan ő az első kép. A példakép, nem csak a játékával, hanem nyilatkozataival, életvitelével, személyiségével.
A tavaly nyári személyes találkozás legmerészebb álmaim beteljesülése volt, a DB10 Day csak fokozta, hogy utolsó gólját élőben láttam pedig gyerekim és unokáim számára lesz százszor, unalomig ismételt történet...
Lojalitás, elegancia, kivételes játékintelligencia, elképesztő technikai tudás, önzetlenség - csak pár jelző, ha meghallom a nevét.
Jelen pillanatban pótolhatatlan űrt hagy, bár a mezre pillantva mindig tudni fogják, hogy ki az örök Ágyús kedvencem: Dennis és az ő 10-es, vitán felül legendás meze.
Csak annyit szeretnék mondani, hogy KÖSZÖNÖM, DENNIS!
Dixon on Bergkamp (bbc) News conference: Dennis Bergkamp
By Lee Dixon Arsenal defender 1988-2002
During my time at Arsenal I was lucky to play alongside fantastic players like Tony Adams, Thierry Henry and Ian Wright. But Dennis Bergkamp topped the lot.
Along with Gianfranco Zola, he is the best foreign player in the history of the Premier League.
It was an absolute pleasure to be in the same team as Dennis. He could pick out passes that no-one else would see and make things happen in even the tightest of games.
If he had the ball and I made a good overlapping run from right-back, I could guarantee he would find me.
At his prime, Dennis was the focal point of every Arsenal team he played in, and I think his arrival at Highbury was the catalyst for the massive success we went on to enjoy under Arsene Wenger.
Dennis was a major figure in the Arsenal dressing room
Lee Dixon I remember I was on holiday when I first heard the news that we'd signed him from Inter Milan, and I couldn't quite believe it.
We weren't used to signing world-class players in those days and his arrival injected a huge amount of belief into the squad.
Although he took a while to score his first goal for the club, his influence was immediate.
Dennis helped change the way we played and his arrival elevated our ambition. We thought, "If we've got a player like this, we must be a decent side."
I've talked about the impact Dennis made on the pitch, but he was also a major figure in the Arsenal dressing room.
This might surprise some people, because he is a very private man who rarely gives interviews.
But, aided by his excellent command of English, he quickly became part of our dressing-room banter and was never afraid to venture his opinions.
We even used to joke that he wished he was born in England. On away trips, the English players sat at the back of the team coach and the French players at the front.
606 VIEW Dennis Bergkamp was the best player ever to play for Arsenal
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Needless to say, there was a lot of banter between the two groups.
Dennis would always sit with the English lads - me, Tony Adams, Nigel Winterburn, David Seaman and Ray Parlour - and join in with the jokes and wind-ups.
Looking back, the only thing that counts against him was not being in the team for overseas games.
We really suffered when he wasn't in the side for those European away matches. No-one else could play like he did, because Dennis is a one-off, and we had to change the way we approached those matches.
But that shouldn't detract from the fact that Dennis had been a truly great player during his 11 years in the English game and I'm proud to be taking part in his testimonial on Saturday.
Rioch pays tribute to Bergkamp By Lewis Wiltshire (bbc)
He was perfect for the club - a good team man, great for spirit and popular in the dressing room
Bruce Rioch
You might think that after seeing Dennis Bergkamp give Arsenal 11 years, 423 games and 120 goals, the man who signed him for the club would feel a dash of pride.
The £7.5m he paid for the Inter Milan star may have been a British record fee for a foreigner, but it now looks, in relative terms and given Bergkamp's contribution, almost paltry.
Yet Bruce Rioch is keen to stress how easy the decision was to go after the Dutchman, who retires from football after his testimonial at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
"Paying that money for him was not a risk," Rioch told BBC Sport.
"I've taken bigger risks paying £100,000 for a player at a Second Division club when that was all the money the club had and you had to get it right.
"It was an easy signing - Dennis was blessed with great talent, technique and he fitted perfectly into the way I wanted the team to play.
606 VIEW Bergkamp is the reason why Henry is usually so much better for Arsenal than he is for France!
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"I had a really explosive striker in Ian Wright who liked to run down behind defenders and what he needed was service. Dennis could link the back and midfield with the frontline and he scored his fair share of goals as well.
"He was perfect for the club - a good team man, great for spirit, popular in the dressing room and he just integrated well into the club."
Rioch was invited to the Dennis Bergkamp Day held at Arsenal towards the end of last season, when a match against West Brom became a tribute to the striker.
The former Arsenal manager could not attend due to commitments with his current club, Odense, but is hoping to get back to London for the testimonial.
Bergkamp scored 16 goals in his first and only season under Rioch
"He's had a great career at Arsenal," added Rioch.
"He's been there more than 10 years and to my knowledge - certainly in the period I was there - he never once indicated that he didn't want to stay.
"He found he was at the right football club. He enjoyed life in London - not the nightlife but being able to find seclusion away from football when he wanted it. He has a great family and he's just had a fantastic career."
Rioch hesitates, however, when asked if Bergkamp is the best Arsenal player ever.
"I wouldn't necessarily go that far because that's for other people to make that decision," he said.
"Arsenal Football Club in their great history have had some outstanding players and it's for others to decide who the best one is. That's not an easy decision because there have been some truly fantastic players, like Thierry Henry.
"But Dennis Bergkamp's loyalty has been without question, he's been an integral part of the club and the team. I guess you could say they've had value for money!"
Rioch certainly ranks the Dutchman as the best player he personally has signed at any of the clubs he has managed - even if it was without risk.
He added: "I wish him well - one of the greatest guys I have met, popular with his team and the fans. He has all the qualities you look for in a football player."
It was a family day for Bergkamp as he said his footballing farewells Dennis Bergkamp bowed out of football on a entertaining, celebratory opening day at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. A sell-out crowd revelled in seeing some of the club's greats play in a second-half Legends match against Bergkamp's first club, Dutch side Ajax.
Ian Wright, Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira and Marc Overmars were some of the names to return for the Gunners.
And 59-year-old Johan Cruyff and Holland manager Marco van Basten came on for Ajax in the last 10 minutes.
Ajax's Dutch international striker Klass-Jan Huntelaar had the honour of scoring the first goal at the 60,000 capacity stadium in a first half in which the clubs sent out a host of youngsters for a regulation pre-season run-out.
Huntelaar went close on a couple of occasions before turning in Edgar Manucharyan's low, flat cross from the left.
After the break the girths were a little wider and the legs, in some cases, a bit slower than in their heyday as a new match began between two teams of legends.
But it was Arsenal's only present day player on show who gave Arsenal the lead.
It's difficult to say goodbye
Dennis Bergkamp
Thierry Henry, having chartered a private jet to fly back from a family holiday in the USA for the match, converted Lee Dixon's cross to the delight of the home fans.
And after Ronald De Boer blazed a penalty over following Gilles Grimandi's foul on Tottenham's Edgar Davids - the day's pantomime villain, Kanu's deflected shot made it two to Arsenal.
He may not have scored, despite being put through one-on-one on the right in the closing minutes, but the day was all about one man and Bergkamp was given a rousing send off.
"If I was to have a testimonial it was always going to be against Ajax and their fans have put in a lot of effort to come here," he said in an emotional speech after the final whistle when he gave thanks to one and all.
"My mum and dad were always there from the beginning and have probably seen every game.
"And my wife has been amazing over the years. You can't do a career like this alone and if it wasn't for her I would not be here.
"It's difficult to say goodbye. I've had a fantastic time over the last 11 years and a big part were the fans and how they treated me - they have been fantastic."
Bergkamp was carried shoulder high during a lap of honour by Vieira and Henry - Arsenal captains past and present.
It was applauded long and loud by the legends on the pitch as well as the crowd who have marvelled at his Arsenal displays for the last 11 years during which he has scored 120 goals in 423 games.
First-half Arsenal: Manuel Almunia, Justin Hoyte, Pascal Cygan, Matthew Connolly, Armand Traore; Alex Hleb, Alex Song, Mathieu Flamini, Ryan Smith; Dennis Bergkamp, Jeremie Aliadiere Subs: Mart Poom, Sebastian Larsson, Nicklas Bendtner, Fabrice Muamba, Joe O’Cearuill, Mark Randall, Vincent Van den Berg, Arturo Lupoli, Anthony Stokes.
Second-half Arsenal squad: David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Steve Bould, Gilles Grimandi, Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Edu, Ray Parlour; Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Oleg Luzhny, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Alex Manninger, Patrick Vieira, Glenn Helder, Kanu.
First-half Ajax: Maarten Stekelenburg, Zdenek Grygera, John Heitinga, Jaap Stam, Thomas Vermaelen, Hedwiges Maduro, Kenneth Perez, Wesley Sneijder, Jan Vertonghen, Tom de Mul, Klaas Jan Huntelaar Subs: Olaf Lindenbergh, Urby Emanuelson, George Ogararu, Ryan Babel, Edgar Manucharyan, Robbert Schilder, Markus Rosenberg.
Second-half Ajax squad: Edwin Van der Sar, Stanley Menzo, Danny Blind, Wim Jonk, Frank de Boer, Marciano Vink, Aron Winter, Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Jan Wouters, Stefan Pettersson, Bryan Roy, Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkaard, Marco Van Basten.
Én egy AJAX AMSTERDAM szurkoló vagyok már 11éve. Én nagyon szerettem DennisBergkamp-ot, mindegy hol játszott.Az Ajax-ban nagyon felfigyeltem rá. Nagyon jó játékot produkált Amsterdamban, de Londonban és az ORANJE-ban is. Nagyon hiányoltam őt a VB-ről, nem értettem meg hogy miért nem tette be őt a keretbe Van Basten. Remélem, hogy ezen a meccsen jól fog játszani és végig játssza a meccset. Kár, hogy visszavonul, igy eggyel kevesebb szupersztár fog zsonglőrködni a pályán.
Örülök, hogy ez a cikk megjelent, mert nekem néha az volt az érzésem, hogy nagyon alulértékelik Bergkampot. Talán azért, mert nem volt az a nagypofájú vezéregyéniség, nem volt nagyhangú a pályán kívül, de a játéka hihetetlen volt, azzal mindig vezér tudott lenni. Kurva jó szeme volt a pályán, iszonyat labdákat adott, amit elég kevesen vettek észre kívülről. De aki focizott valaha is, az tudja, hogy milyen 4 emberrel a nyakadon úgy kiugratni a társat, hogy pont ne legyen les, és neki csak bele kelljen tenni a belsőjét a labdába. Nekem valahogy sosem ment, max a haverokkal sörmeccseken, és asszem ezzel nem vagyok egyedül :). Hány ilyen passzt adott Dennis, te jó Isten...
Mindazok ellenére volt az egyik kedvenc játékosom, hogy nem kedvelem különösebben sem az Arsenalt, sem a hollandokat. Hiányozni fog nagyon. :(
"Mondhatnánk hogy az Arsenal ereje az állandóságban rejlik, azonban az idei szezonnal két korszak is lezárult. Új stadionba költözött a csapat és ezzel búcsút intettek a legendás Highburynek, valamint a stadionnal együtt visszavonul a lassan élő legendának számító Dennis Bergkamp. A holland csatár a világ futballjának is kiemelkedő alakja volt az elmúlt majdnem 20 évben, és valószínűleg minden idők egyik legjobb játékosa, aki nem kapott Aranylabdát.
