Date of Birth
15 Aug 1976
Birthplace
Maastricht
Nationality
Dutch
Signed for LFC
2005
LFC Debut
13 Jul 2005
LFC Appearances
47
LFC Goals
2
International Caps
54
International Goals
7
Versatile Dutch international Boudewijn Zenden was captured on a free transfer from Middlesbrough in July 2005 and played his part in helping Liverpool reach the Champions League final in 2007.
Zenden, who was commonly known as Bolo, became the third Dutchman to play for Liverpool following in the footsteps of Sander Westerveld and Erik Meijer. He was a useful outlet for Rafael Benitez because he could play central midfield, left midfield and even played at left back on a few occasions.
The Dutchman's best moment was the 2007 Champions League semi-final at Anfield. He was a surprise choice to start the game but he did a good job on the left side of midfield and scored a penalty in the shoot-out that Liverpool went on to win.
He also played in the Champions League final against AC Milan and in the 2005 Super Cup final he showed his versatility by playing in three positions during the win over CSKA Moscow in Monaco.
Bolo began his career at PSV Eindhoven and collected a Dutch Championship winner's medal in 1996, before he moved to Spanish giants Barcelona. Benitez first came across Zenden when he played for Barcelona and helped the Catalan club win the Spanish title in his first season at the Nou Camp.
He then moved to the Premier League in 2001 when he joined Chelsea for a fee of £7.5 million, before spending the whole of the 2003-04 season on loan with Middlesbrough, scoring the winner against Bolton Wanderers in the Carling Cup final as the club won their first ever major trophy.
He joined Marseille on a two-year deal in July 2007 after his contract had expired at Liverpool. A quirk of fate brought him back to Merseyside much earlier than he could have expected with Marseille and Liverpool being paired in the same Champions League group. Zenden played at Anfield when Marseille won 1-0 in September but Liverpool gained their revenge in December when a convincing 4-0 away win ensured that they progressed to the knock-out stage of the competition and Marseille couldn't.
Other Clubs:
PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Marseille