Wesley Sneijder

Wesley Sneijder (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɛsli ˈsnɛidər] ); born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch footballer playing as an attacking midfielder for Internazionale. He was named UEFA midfielder of the season as well as one of the three best midfielders in the world for 2010 by FIFA.

Due to his impeccable placement and confirmed ability to score from free kicks, Sneijder earned the reputation as a dead-ball specialist. With short stature, he is quick, strong on the ball, and his passing range is enhanced by his ambidexterity.

A product of the Ajax Academy, he previously played for AFC Ajax with whom he won six trophies and during which time he was awarded the Johan Cruijff Award (for best young player in Holland) in 2004. He was later sold to Real Madrid for €27 million in 2007, winning La Liga in his first season with the club and later being sold to Internazionale for €15 million.

Sneijder previously represented various Youth squads for the Netherlands. He is now a regular player for the Dutch national team, having made his debut in April 2003 at the age of 18, and having represented his country at the World Cup in 2006 and 2010 as well as UEFA Euro 2004 and 2008. Individually he was awarded the 2010 Bronze Boot, the 2010 Silver Ball and included in the team of the tournament for UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup as well as named man of the match for six out of eleven games played by "Oranje" at these two tournaments.

Real Madrid

Sneijder was the second of three Dutchmen to sign for Real Madrid 2007–08 season, joining Royston Drenthe and Arjen Robben. He also was given the number 23, which had been previously worn by David Beckham for four seasons at Real. In his first La Liga match for Real, he scored the winner in the Madrid derby against Atlético Madrid. On the second matchday, he scored two goals against Villarreal CF, one of them on a direct free-kick. Sneijder capped a fine first season in Spain by hitting a stunning free kick in the last game of the season against Levante UD at the Bernabéu, taking his goal tally to nine in the La Liga season, a season which also saw Real retain their title.

On 3 August 2008, Sneijder was stretchered off in the pre-season friendly at Arsenal with a suspected cruciate ligament injury after a collision with Abou Diaby. Sneijder had an MRI which confirmed the extent of the injury to be not as bad as first feared. It was expected that he would be out for at least three months.However, he managed to recover in time and was included in the starting eleven for the Champions League clash against Juventus in Turin.
On 2 September 2008, AS reported that after Robinho's departure to Manchester City for €42 million, Sneijder would now be Real Madrid's new number 10. One day later, Real Madrid confirmed on their web site Sneijder's new number, 10. His previous number, 23, was taken over by his fellow Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart, whose preferred number is 23.

Internazionale

On 27 August 2009, Sneijder was bought by Internazionale from Real Madrid for a reported fee of €15 million. He was given the number 10 shirt and made his debut a day after he signed the contract. He made an immediate impact by being on the winning side in the Milan derby (4–0) against AC Milan. On 3 October 2009 he scored his first, decisive goal, in the 92nd minute against Udinese in a 2–1 win, after a brilliant match. His second goal was scored on 24 October 2009 against Catania, directly from free kick, and he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Inter in a dramatic 2–1 win against Dynamo Kiev in the 89th minute. His next goal was also scored off a hard-swerving free kick in a Coppa Italia game against Livorno. On 9 January 2010 he scored two stunning free kicks against Siena in the game which Inter won 4–3, however on 24 January he received a straight red card in the Milan derby. On April 6 Sneijder scored a free kick against CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final in the sixth minute, making it 2–0 on aggregate to Inter. On 20 April 2010 he scored Inter's equalising goal during their UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona. He leveled the game by firing in right-footed from a Diego Milito pass. Inter went on to win the game 3–1. Sneijder was given the nickname 'The Sniper' by the Media for his ability to deliver perfect passes and score from amazing distances.
On 22 May 2010, Inter won the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich by 2–0. Both goals were scored by Diego Milito, with Sneijder supplying the assist for the first goal.
On 21 August 2010, Inter started the 2010–11 season by winning the 2010 Italian Super Cup with a 3–1 win against Roma. On 26 August 2010, Sneijder was named by UEFA as the best club midfielder of the Champions League 2009–10 season. The day after in Monaco, Inter lost to Atlético Madrid in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup. He scored his first goal of the season in a 2–2 draw against FC Twente in the Champions League on 14 September 2010, and followed that up with another goal in Inter's second game against Werder Bremen in a 4–0 win at the San Siro on 29 September 2010. On 26 October 2010, Sneijder was shortlisted for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or award, which Lionel Messi won.
On 28 October 2010, Sneijder signed a five year contract extension with Inter, tying him to the club until 2015. Inter finished second in Group A of the Champions League and were drawn against FC Bayern Munich (whom they had beaten in the previous year's Final), in the Round of 16. In the first leg, Sneijder and Inter were uninspired and lost 1–0 to a late Mario Gomez goal at the San Siro. On 15 March 2011, Sneijder helped Inter turn it around scoring in the 63rd minute leading to a 3–2 win (3–3 on aggregate, Inter were through on away goals) at the Allianz Arena, booking a place in the quarter-final against FC Schalke 04.The first leg of that quarter-final ended 5–2 to Schalke. Sneijder also played in the second leg of the tie but could not prevent his team from losing 2–1 and 7–3 on aggregate.

International Career

Sneijder was in the starting line-up for their first match in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark.Sneijder scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Japan. In the first two matches of the group stage at the FIFA World Cup 2010 he was selected as the man of the match in both of them. In the Netherlands' round of 16 match against Slovakia, Sneijder scored in a 2–1 victory. He also provided what was at first thought to be an assist for the first goal against Brazil in the quarter finals, but was later credited with the goal. He then scored the first header of his career direct from a corner and consigned Brazil to a 2–1 defeat, bringing his goal total in the tournament to four. Sneijder was again named man of the match on FIFA's website.
In the semi final against Uruguay, Sneijder scored in the 70th minute, taking his total in the competition to five, raising him at the time to first place in terms of goals scored, along with David Villa. The Netherlands won the match 3–2 and progressed to the final. Sneijder was yet again named on FIFA's website as the Budweiser man of the match according to the public online vote. In the World Cup Final, the Dutch lost to Spain 1–0 after extra time, conceding the only goal of the match after 116 minutes.