| Player Profile | ||
|
Birthplace: | Kampen,Holland |
| Birthday: | 17/7/1972 | |
| Height: | 190cm-6ft 3in | |
| Weight: | 86kg-13st 8lb | |
| Full International: | Holland(29caps,3goal) | |
| Position: | Defender | |
| Squad Nombor: | 6 | |
| Debut: | 9/8/1998 | |
| Appearances(1998-2000): | 96(1 as subs) | |
| Goals: | 1 |
| STRIKE/FORWORD |
| Andy Cole |
| Dwight Yorke |
| Teddy Sheringham |
| Ole Gunnar Solskjaer |
| MIDFIELD |
| Nicky Butt |
| Roy Keane |
| Ryan Giggs |
| Paul Scholes |
| David Beckham |
| DEFENDER |
| Jaap Stam |
| Denis Irwin |
| Gary Neville |
| Philip Neville |
| Ronny Johnsen |
| GOALKEEPER |
| Mark Bosnich |
| Massimo Taibi |
 |
| HISTORY |
| Newton Heath--Busby |
| McGuinness--Ferguson |
| 1998/99: The Treble |
| Records |
| Competitions Winner |
| History |
| In 1994, Jaap Stam was turning out for little known Dutch club Cambuur Leeuwarden. A move that year to top division side Willem II was the turning point of his career, as several top-level performances for them attracted the attention of Holland's biggest clubs. In 1996, PSV Eindhoven came in for Stam, and he won his first international cap in the same year. His debut, against Germany, ended in a 1-0 loss, and he has been a fixture in the Holland team ever since. Europe's top clubs began to take notice of Stam, and in 1998, Manchester United paid a world record fee for a defender, �10.6 million, to bring him to Old Trafford. This dream move for Jaap - he idolised United as a child -came just three months after he was named Holland's Footballer of the Year. The year got even better during the summer, as he reached the semi-finals of the World Cup with Holland, falling to Brazil. Strong in the air and good on the ball, Stam can rightly claim to be one of the best defenders in the world. Once he'd settled in at United, many of his performances earned him rave reviews. In January 1999, he picked up Sky TV's Man of the Match award for the FA Cup game against Middlesbrough and scored his first goal for the club in a 6-2 drubbing of Leicester City at Filbert Street. An achilles tendon injury later threatened to ruin the Treble run-in for Stam and United, and he was only fit enough for a substitute's role in the FA Cup Final. However, he was back in his usual place as the kingpin of the defence for the Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich. There is no doubt that United followers have taken him to their hearts, proved by the rousing renditions in the Nou Camp stadium of "Jip Jaap Stam is a big Dutchman......" Any doubters from the start of his United career - particularly among the media - should now count his medals. Did You Know? One of the United fans' songs about Jaap Stam takes its tune from the theme to the Batman television series. |
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