I only came to know at the start of the World Cup that veteran left back Giovanni Van Bronckhorst was the player chosen to captain the Netherlands side. Not only is Gio a player representing my favourite nation in football but he also once played for my favourite club side – Arsenal FC. At 35 years of age, Gio is winding down his professional playing career – on 12 May 2010, he announced that he will end his playing career after the World Cup in South Africa.

The Dutch player with Indonesian heritage started his career with RKC Waalwijk before moving to his hometown club Feynoord Rotterdam for 4 years. Post that he moved for a highly successful spell at Glasgow Rangers and then to an injury plagued time at Arsenal (he however won the League and two FA Cups with them) and then left to join Barcelona, winning two La Liga titles and the Champions League before moving back home to Feynoord and winning a second Dutch Cup with them.

Funnily enough for a player who scores ever so rarely his 6th goal for the Dutch national side came in the semi-finals of this tournament against Uruguay and what a cracker it was! Now he wants a fairy-tale ending, bowing out of his playing career by captaining his national side to a World Cup final win in his very last match. He’ll get the opportunity in a few short hours from now as his Dutch teammates and he face off against the mighty talented Spanish team. Will Gio get to fulfill a dream for most players? Let’s find out.