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Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. Known for his dribbling skills, speed, and long-range shots, he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest wingers of all time.Multiple sources:
He ranks second for the all-time Dutch top goalscorers (32) in the UEFA Champions League and is the all-time Dutch top assist provider (19) in the competition.
Robben first came to prominence with FC Groningen, for whom he was player of the year for the 2000–01 Eredivisie season. Two years later he signed for PSV Eindhoven, where he became the Netherlands' Young Player of the Year and won an Eredivisie title. The following season Robben's signature was pursued by leading clubs, and after protracted transfer negotiations, he joined Chelsea in 2004. Robben's Chelsea debut was delayed through injury, but upon returning to fitness, he helped Chelsea bring home two consecutive Premier League titles, and was the Premier League Player of the Month in November 2004. After a third season in England which was punctuated by injury, Robben signed for Real Madrid in a transfer worth €35 million.
In August 2009, Robben transferred to Bayern Munich for a fee of around €25 million. In his first season in Munich, Bayern won the league title, Robben's fifth league title in eight years. Robben scored the winning goal in the 2013 Champions League final, being named in the Squad of the Season. In 2014, he was named in the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year, and fourth place in the Ballon d'Or. In Germany, he won 20 trophies, including eight Bundesliga titles and five . During his long tenure at Bayern, Robben was also known for his fruitful partnership with fellow winger Franck Ribéry – together they were affectionately referred to by the nickname Robbery.
Robben started in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, which the Netherlands lost to Spain. He also appeared at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships, and the 2006 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. In the latter, he won the Bronze Ball and was named in the tournament's All-Star Team.
Robben proved to be a crucial player for the 2004–05 season; in November 2004, he was awarded the Premier League Player of the Month award. Robben ended the 2004–05 season with seven goals, his second highest professional total. He was shortlisted for the PFA Young Player of the Year, but was beaten by Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. Robben was badly injured in a Premier League match away to Blackburn Rovers and forced to sit out the 2005 Football League Cup Final, Chelsea's title run-in and progress to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Back to fitness for 2005–06, Robben was an integral part of the Chelsea left wing. In 28 matches, Robben contributed six goals as Chelsea won a second consecutive Premier League championship, the first back-to-back titles for the west London club.
Robben was inflicted with yet another injury in a match against Liverpool on 20 January 2007. Robben made his return in a 3–0 victory against Middlesbrough in February, driving in a shot that took a deflection past Mark Schwarzer for an own goal by Abel Xavier. He came on as a substitute for Claude Makélélé in the 2007 League Cup final against Arsenal and set up the winning goal for Didier Drogba. Robben scored a goal in the second round of the Champions League against FC Porto, which led to Chelsea winning the tie 3–2 on Two-legged tie. At the end of March 2007, Robben underwent a knee operation after sustaining a knee injury upon returning from international duty that was expected to rule him out for at least four weeks. He only made two further appearances for Chelsea, both of which were as a substitute and both of which would prove to be key games for the club. His first appearance since returning from injury was against Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final second leg which went to penalties. Robben went on to have his penalty saved by Pepe Reina, and Chelsea ultimately lost.
Robben's final appearance for the club came against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup Final. Robben replaced Joe Cole at half-time, but was then substituted himself for Ashley Cole in extra time as Chelsea emerged victorious. Spanish club Real Madrid were interested in two of Chelsea's players. Then manager Bernd Schuster is said to have demanded Michael Ballack, while Real Madrid's then president Ramón Calderón was known to favour Robben. Robben said to reporters of Spanish newspaper AS, "I do not know when a deal will be reached. I would like to send a message to the Madrid fans, but I can't until my future is sorted."
Real Madrid eventually secured Robben's services in August 2007. He told Chelsea's official club website:
Robben retained his key role in the Real Madrid midfield during the 2008–09 season, playing 35 times and scoring 8 goals. Although the Dutchman was one of the Spanish side's most important players in the pre-season games leading up to the 2009–10 season, having scored three goals and help set up another four, he was among the players whose place in the first team became threatened following the arrival of Florentino Pérez and the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká. Real Madrid accepted a bid of around €25 million for Robben from Bayern Munich. Robben claimed he was "forced" to leave Real Madrid, saying that he "didn't want to go, but the club wanted to sell him".
On 7 April 2010, Robben sent Bayern into the semi-finals of the Champions League with a stunning volley against Manchester United from the edge of the area into the corner of the net. The game ended 3–2 to United (4–4 on Aggregate data, with Bayern advancing again due to away goals.
On 17 April 2010, he scored his first hat-trick in the Bundesliga against Hannover 96 in the Allianz Arena. The game ended 7–0 to the Bavarians. On 8 May 2010, he won his first Bundesliga title with Bayern after scoring two goals in their 3–1 victory over Hertha BSC, finishing as Bayern's top scorer in the process.
A week later, Bayern played in the DFB-Pokal final against the previous champions of the tournament, Werder Bremen, in Berlin's Olympiastadion. Bayern won the game 4–0, with Robben scoring the first of his team's goals from a penalty kick. Robben thus helped the Bavarians achieve their 15th DFB-Pokal title. On 25 May 2010, Robben was named Footballer of the Year in Germany for 2010. He was the fourth foreigner and the first Dutchman to win the title. He finished the 2009–10 season with 23 goals in 37 appearances.
Robben was nominated for the UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder award, but the award went to his international compatriot Wesley Sneijder. He has also been nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award and the FIFA Puskás Award, which goes to the best goal of the year, and he has also been nominated for FIFA's FIFPro World XI 2010 squad thanks to his season with Bayern Munich. He finished the 2010–11 season with 13 goals in 17 appearances.
On 3 May 2012, it was reported that Robben had signed a new contract with Bayern which would last until 2015.
Robben had an extra-time penalty saved by former teammate Petr Čech in the 2012 Champions League final at the Allianz Arena against Chelsea. Had he scored, Bayern Munich would have led Chelsea 2–1. The match, however, ended in a penalty shootout which Chelsea won. That was the fourth major cup final that he had been on the losing side during the last two years (FIFA World Cup final, two Champions League finals and the DFB-Pokal). Three days later in the same stadium, and while playing as a second-half substitute for the Netherlands in a friendly against Bayern Munich, he was jeered by some disgruntled Bayern fans every time he touched the ball (due to his penalty miss in the Champions League final, and as he did not play on Bayern's side during that match due to a decision taken by Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk). The match had been organised to compensate Bayern, since Robben aggravated an injury playing for the Netherlands at the 2010 World Cup, and went on to miss several months of the 2010–11 season. He finished the 2011–12 season with 19 goals in 36 appearances.
On 1 March 2014, Robben scored a hat-trick in Bayern's 5–1 win over Schalke 04. On 19 March, he signed a contract extension with Bayern which will keep him at the club until 2017. On 9 April, Robben scored Bayern's third goal in a 3–1 Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United, to secure qualification to the semi-finals. On 17 May, Robben scored Bayern's opening goal in a 2–0 extra-time defeat of Borussia Dortmund in the 2014 DFB-Pokal Final, giving him his third league and cup double in five seasons with the club. His goal also made him the first player to score in three separate DFB-Pokal finals. On 13 July, after winning the third-place match at the 2014 World Cup, Louis van Gaal invited Robben to follow him to Manchester United, but the latter ruled out the move. He finished the 2013–14 season with 21 goals in 45 appearances.
On 21 February 2015, Robben scored twice in a 6–0 win against SC Paderborn, giving him the record of scoring against every Bundesliga team he had faced. He ended 2014–15 alongside teammate Robert Lewandowski as joint second-top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 17 goals. This was despite the player missing the last two months of the season through injury. He finished the 2014–15 season with 19 goals in 30 appearances.
Robben's first goal of the Bundesliga season came from a penalty kick in a 3–0 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen on 29 August. However, an injury suffered six days later when playing for the Netherlands against Iceland in qualification for UEFA Euro 2016 kept him out of Bayern's next nine fixtures. On 24 October, Robben returned to the Bayern team, playing 65 minutes and scoring the opening goal of a 4–0 win against 1. FC Köln, the club's 1,000th Bundesliga victory. He made his first Champions League appearance of the season on 4 November, scoring after coming on as a substitute in Bayern's 5–1 win over Arsenal. He finished the 2015–16 season with seven goals in 22 appearances.
Robben won his seventh Bundesliga title and set a Dutch record by winning his 11th career domestic league title surpassing Dutch legend Johan Cruyff's 10 career domestic league titles. He finished the 2017–18 season with seven goals in 34 appearances.
On 11 May 2018, Robben signed a one-year contract; extending his stay until the end of the 2018–19 season.
On 18 May 2019, he scored his last league goal for Bayern in Bundesliga making it a 5–1 victory against Frankfurt, which meant Bayern winning their 28th Bundesliga title and Robben winning his eighth. On 25 May 2019, Robben won his fifth DFB-Pokal as Bayern defeated RB Leipzig 3–0 in the 2019 DFB-Pokal Final. He finished the 2018–19 season with six goals in 19 appearances. In 201 Bundesliga matches he scored 99 goals.
On 4 July 2019, Robben announced his decision to retire from football.
On 15 July 2021, Robben announced his second and final retirement from professional football.
On 28 June 2010, Robben started his first match against Slovakia in which he went on to score the first goal in the second round as the Netherlands won 2–1. He also won the man of the match award. Robben scored the third goal with a well-placed header in the semi-finals against Uruguay which the Netherlands won 3–2 to reach the final. Robben played for the full match in the final as the Netherlands lost 1–0 to Spain. Robben had Netherlands's best opportunity of the match when played in on goal by Wesley Sneijder in the 62nd minute of the match, but was denied by Iker Casillas. Robben was nominated for the 2010 World Cup Golden Ball, the tournament's best player, which was won by Diego Forlán.
In the quarter-final, Robben scored the Netherlands' second kick in a 4–3 penalty shootout defeat of Costa Rica. On 11 July, Robben was named on the ten-man shortlist for FIFA's Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player.
On 28 August 2015, Robben was named captain of the Netherlands, replacing Robin van Persie.
During the course of a match Robben would often drift to the left wing, with his teammate, in the case of Bayern Munich, Franck Ribéry, switching over to the right. Another factor in his playing style is his relationship with the right-sided full-back. At Bayern, this partnership with Philipp Lahm had benefits for the team's efficiency and chemistry. Robben's defensive work improved when he went to Bayern where he often tracked back and covered for his partner when he pushed forward and became a temporary right back.
Robben was often accused of diving, and at times he openly admitted to the charges. In December 2011, Robben apologised for a dive against VfL Bochum in a DFB-Pokal match which earned him a yellow card, saying, "I must not do things like this." In July 2014, Robben admitted to diving in the first half of Netherlands' match against Mexico in the last 16 round of the 2014 World Cup, but maintained that he had not dived for the decisive penalty he won in stoppage time which Netherlands converted to win 2–1. Following the incident, Robben's former manager at Chelsea, José Mourinho, said that Robben's speed and creativity cause opponents who cannot stop him to foul him, but "sometimes Robben tries to get an advantage, or to get a penalty".
Earlier in his career, Robben also drew criticism from pundits and other players for his perceived selfishness, his lack of composure in important games, and for his struggles with injuries throughout his career, which were initially thought to have limited his potential; however, he worked to develop his physique and the mental aspect of his game, and became a more consistent and world class team player as his career progressed, who was known for providing a good number of assists as well as scoring goals himself.
Robben scored his first ever international goal in October 2003 during a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier against Moldova. He ultimately decided to retire from international duty in 2017 following their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Chelsea
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Netherlands
Individual
Post-retirement
In August 2025, Robben competed in the at the CUPRA FIP Bronze tournament in Westerbork, appearing on the professional padel circuit. According to the International Padel Federation (FIP), he and partner Werner Lootsma won a qualifying match before being eliminated in the first round of the main draw.
Personal life
Robben married his girlfriend Bernadien Eillert on 9 June 2007 in Groningen. The two met while in high school in the city, at the Kamerlingh Onnes, and have two sons, Luka (born 2008) and Kai (born 2012) and a daughter, Lynn (born 2010). Robben's father, Hans, works as his sports agent.
Sponsorship
Robben has a sponsorship deal with German sportswear and equipment supplier Adidas. Robben featured in EA Sports' FIFA video game series before his retirement, and was the third-highest-rated player in FIFA 15.
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition FC Groningen 2000–01 Eredivisie 2 2001–02 Eredivisie 10 PSV Eindhoven 2002–03 Eredivisie 13 2003–04 Eredivisie 8 Chelsea 2004–05 Premier League 9 2005–06 Premier League 7 2006–07 Premier League 3 Real Madrid 2007–08 La Liga 5 2008–09 La Liga 8 Bayern Munich 2009–10 Bundesliga 23 2010–11 13 2011–12 Bundesliga 19 2012–13 Bundesliga 13 2013–14 Bundesliga 21 2014–15 Bundesliga 19 2015–16 Bundesliga 7 2016–17 Bundesliga 16 2017–18 Bundesliga 7 2018–19 Bundesliga 6 Groningen 2020–21 Eredivisie 0 —
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year Netherlands 1 2 3 2 0 2 1 4 0 2 5 6 2 1 6
Honours
PSV
See also
External links
Categories: 1984 Births, Living People, People From Bedum, Footballers From Groningen, Dutch Men's Footballers, Men's Association Football Wingers, Psv Eindhoven Players, Fc Groningen Players, Chelsea F.c. Players, Real Madrid Cf Players, Fc Bayern Munich Footballers, Eredivisie Players, Premier League Players, La Liga Players, Bundesliga Players, Uefa Champions League–winning Players, Netherlands Men's Youth International Footballers, 21st-century Dutch Sportsmen, Netherlands Men's Under-21 International Footballers, Netherlands Men's International Footballers, Uefa Euro 2004 Players, 2006 Fifa World Cup Players, Uefa Euro 2008 Players, 2010 Fifa World Cup Players, Uefa Euro 2012 Players, 2014 Fifa World Cup Players, Dutch Expatriate Men's Footballers, Expatriate Men's Footballers In England, Expatriate Men's Footballers In Spain, Expatriate Men's Footballers In Germany, Dutch Expatriate Sportspeople In England, Dutch Expatriate Sportspeople In Spain, Dutch Expatriate Sportspeople In Germany
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