Robben, master of dribbling

Facing adversity as a way of life. That would be a good slogan to summarize what was the career and life of Arjen Robben, next to Sneijder, the great star of Holland at South Africa World Cup. The Dutch winger is a master of dribbling, both on the playing field, where very few have been comparable, as well as outside of him: at 20 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and that did not prevent him from becoming one of the best players of his generation. He saved the entrance of the disease with an exquisite class.

Back then, Robben played on Chelsea after what Roman Abramovich disbursed, in summer 2004, 18 million euros to PSV for the services of the Dutch. The winger announced that he had overcome the disease in December of that same year, when he had missed some games due to a mysterious injury of which no one knew anything. Robben asked the club not to reveal what was happening to him while fighting cancer. The tumor was removed in one operation and in less than a month he was again dribbling on the grass. “Now that it's all over I want to announce it, why should I feel uncomfortable talking about something like that?”, he explained at the press conference in which he revealed the ordeal that he had lived.

After that episode, his tendency to injury marked his life. His fragility made him miss countless games throughout his career, something that largely deprived him of shining in the Real Madrid as much as I could have shown. With the arrival of Cristiano, Kaka and Benzema the white club looked for a way out and Robben ended up calling the Bayern in the summer of 2009.

Great year. His first season at the Bavarian club was spectacular. He quickly became the star of the German giant, whom he led in the conquest of the Bundesliga and the Pokal and whom he guided to the end of the Champions, in which Bayern fell to Inter from his friend Sneijder, also reviled the previous summer by Real Madrid. After the final, he fell injured again and almost missed the World. Van marwijkThe Netherlands coach waited until the last minute and included him in the list. Despite missing the first two games, Robben quickly re-emerged as the leader. His dribbles and goals were vital to get the Netherlands into the final of a World Cup in which, much to his regret, he was also the protagonist …