Euro 2008 Player Profile: Philippe Senderos

Name: Philippe Sylvain Senderos
Date of Birth: 14th February 1985
Place of Birth: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 1.90m
Position: Centre Back
Current Club: Arsenal FC, number 6
Club History: 1992-2001 Servette FC (youth club), 2001-2003 Servette FC (26 App, 3 Goals), 2003-onwards Arsenal FC (64 App, 4 Goals)
Switzerland Stats: 2005-onwards 26 Appearances, 3 Goals

His mother is Serbian and his father is Spanish, but he has chosen to play for Switzerland being born and having always lived in Geneva. He has played from the under-15 onwards. He captained European Under-17 Champions Switzerland in 2002.
At the time he received offers and inquiries from Juventus, ManU, Arsenal, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Inter and Milan.
He was a main protagonist of Arsenal’s extraordinary Champions’ League run in 2005-2006 as a centre back together with Kolo Touré. He missed out on final due to injury.
He scored his first Premiership goal on the 7th of October 2007 vs. Sunderland and was named Man of the Match after a Blackburn Rovers fixture on the 11th of February 2008.
He scored against South Korea at the World Cup and broke his nose at the same time. He was celebrating with blood all over him – unforgettable. A shoulder ligament damage ruled him out of the game against Ukraine.
He speaks 6 languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian) would like to learn a new one and was the one to teach Fabregas English.
His brother is a professional Basketball player in Switzerland.
The Arsenal deal in 2003 was rumoured to be around 2.5 Million Pounds.
Wenger has said of him: “I am a big believer in this boy. He will be a major asset in the future”.

He hosts his own Euro 2008 page here

If Senderos has pushed aside his “Anfield Fears” and has reverted to being the solid and aggressive central defender he was, the Senderos-Muller duo can turn out to be Switzerland’s strongest key to success.

The goal vs. Korea