Philippe Senderos

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Philippe Senderos

Senderos with Switzerland in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Philippe Sylvain Senderos
Date of birth	(1985-02-14) 14 February 1985 (age 28)
Place of birth	Geneva, Switzerland
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position	Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Fulham
Number	4
Youth career
1992–2002	Servette
2003–2004	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2003	Servette	26	(3)
2004–2010	Arsenal	84	(4)
2008–2009	→ Milan (loan)	14	(0)
2010	→ Everton (loan)	2	(0)
2010–	Fulham	44	(1)
National team‡
	Switzerland U-17
2005–	Switzerland	47	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:58, 31 December 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:27, 10 June 2012 (UTC)

Philippe Sylvain Senderos (born 14 February 1985) is a Swiss footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Fulham and the Switzerland national football team. Previously he has played for Servette, Arsenal, A.C. Milan and Everton. He is described in the Fulham website as being "[t]ough and often uncompromising in the tackle and cultured on the ball."^[2]

Club career [edit]

Servette [edit]

Philippe Senderos came up through the youth team set up at Swiss club Servette. After a few appearances in his first season, he soon became a regular player in the first team. On 27 July 2002, Senderos scored a brace (and his first goal) in a 2–0 win over Luzern. Senderos signed for Arsenal in December 2002, though he remained working at Servette until the following summer.^[3] Shortly joining Arsenal, Senderos father and agent say he rejected a move to Real Madrid in favour of joining Arsenal.^[4] He claimed he made a right decision joining the Gunners.^[5]

Arsenal [edit]

Shortly after joining Arsenal, his start did not come as planned after he suffered a recurrence of a back problem for six weeks^[6] and another injury on a fractured bone in his foot, leaving him out for the rest of the season.^[7] During the season, Arsenal would become undefeated and winning the league. He made his debut in a 2–1 win against Manchester City in the League Cup in the 2004–05 season.^[8] During the 2004–05 season, the club would win two title: FA Cup (which he started in, filling for Sol Campbell) and FA Community Shield. After the season, Senderos committed his long-term future by signing a improved five-year deal.^[9] During the 2005–06 season he scored his first Arsenal goal in a 2–1 loss to West Bromwich Albion,^[10] and again in a 7–0 win over Middlesbrough.^[11] He produced some fantastic performances in Arsenal's run to the final of the Champions League in 2005–06, but towards the end of his career at the club his performances became more and more erratic.

A.C. Milan [edit]

Senderos fell out of favour with Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.^[12] In August 2008 Senderos joined Italian club Milan on a season-long loan.^[13] Senderos described joining Milan as a "dream come true".^[14] He quickly picked up an injury and struggled to make the first team ahead of Paolo Maldini and Kakha Kaladze, but finally made his first full appearance for the Rossoneri in a UEFA Cup Group Stage tie against Portuguese side Braga, and came on as a substitute for his first Serie A appearance against Fiorentina, after half the season had gone. Despite wanting his move at Milan to be permanent,^[15] Senderos returned to Arsenal after 14 appearances.

Everton [edit]

Senderos made only two appearances for Arsenal in 2009–10, both in the League Cup, and in January 2010 joined Everton for the remainder of the season,^[12] and wore the number 23, vacated by the departure of Lucas Neill.^[16] He made his first appearance for the club in a 1–0 win away against Wigan Athletic.^[17] He returned to Arsenal at the end of the season having made only three appearances for Everton (two in the Premier League and one in the Europa League).

Fulham [edit]

In June 2010, Senderos signed a three-year deal with Fulham on a free transfer.^[18] On 9 August while training, Senderos tore his Achilles tendon, keeping him out for six months.^[19] He underwent surgery and was expected to be out for 6 months.^[20] He finally made his debut for Fulham on 30 April 2011 against Sunderland. He made his second appearance for Fulham against Birmingham, helping the team to a clean sheet with a number of good tackles and clearances. On 21 April 2012, he scored his first Premier League goal since joining Fulham as they beat Wigan Athletic 2–1 at Craven Cottage.^[21]

On 1 March 2013, Senderos signed a one-year contract extension keeping him at Craven Cottage until June 2014.^[22]

International career [edit]

Senderos in action for Switzerland in 2012 in a match against Argentina

Senderos is a former youth international and has played at all levels of football from the U15s upward for Switzerland, though he was also eligible to play for Spain or Serbia through his parents. He was captain of the Swiss U-17 squad that won the 2002 U-17 European Championships.^[23]

He made his full international debut in March 2005 in Switzerland's 0–0 draw against France in Paris. After playing in Switzerland's successful qualifying campaign, he was named in their 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. He started alongside Patrick Müller in all three of Switzerland's group matches, managing to score a goal in the third match against Korea Republic. He broke his nose and suffered shoulder ligament damage in the match, which ruled him out of the remainder of Switzerland's World Cup campaign.^[24] Senderos was also part of the Swiss squad at the UEFA Euro 2008 finals, appearing in all three group matches as the team failed to qualify for the knockout stages.

He was part of the Swiss national team at the 2010 World Cup. In the first match, where Switzerland shocked Spain 1–0,^[25] he was substituted in the 36th minute after injuring his ankle seriously in an accidental collision with teammate Stephan Lichtsteiner. Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said after the match, "He has a sprained ankle, possibly a ruptured ligament. If that is the case, it would be very difficult to replace him."^[26]

International goals [edit]

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	29 February 2005	GSP Stadium, Nicosia	Cyprus	1–0	3–0 Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	12 November 2005	Stade de Suisse, Bern	Turkey	1-0	2-0 Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	23 June 2006	AWD Arena, Hannover	South Korea	1-0	2-0 Win	Fifa World Cup 2006
4.	10 October 2009	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	1-0	3-0 Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2
5.	10 October 2009	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2-0	3-0 Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2

Personal life [edit]

Senderos is a child of Serbian (Zorica Novković) and Spanish (Julián Senderos) immigrants. On 20 July 2009, Senderos married his Iranian girlfriend Sara.^[27]

Senderos speaks six languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Serbian.^[28] His brother Julien is a professional basketball player currently with Meyrin Grand-Saconnex and the Swiss national team.^[29]

During his time at Arsenal, fans dubbed him Swiss Tony. The name came from a character from The Fast Show, and was a pun on his nationality, and similar playing style to Tony Adams.^[30][31] In June 2012, it was reported that Senderos converted to Islam^[32] but he later denied this on his official Facebook page in August 2012.^[33]

Honours [edit]

With Arsenal [edit]

Winner

• FA Cup: 2005
• FA Community Shield: 2004

International [edit]

• UEFA U-17 European Champion: 2002

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Philippe Senderos

• Official website
• Profile at fulhamfc.com
• Philippe Senderos at National-Football-Teams.com
• Philippe Senderos career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at sporting-heroes.net
• Premier League profile

Switzerland Squad v t e Switzerland squad – 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship Winners (1st Title) 1 König 2 Barnetta 3 Bühler 4 Siqueira 5 Senderos (c) 6 Verdon 7 Milosavac 8 Antić 9 Dugić 10 Ziegler 11 Maksimović 12 Würmli 13 Preisig 14 Burki 15 Schneuwly 16 Diethelm 17 Iten 18 Schlauri Coach: Frei v t e Switzerland squad – 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 1 Wölfli 2 P.Degen 3 Jaggy 4 Senderos 5 Eggimann 6 Rochat 7 Lichtsteiner 8 Barnetta 9 Shala 10 Chiumiento 11 Vonlanthen 12 Benaglio 13 Cerrone 14 Nef 15 Montandon 16 Callà 17 Bah 18 Kulaksızoğlu 19 Baumann 20 Zambrella 21 D.Degen 22 Portmann Coach: Challandes v t e Switzerland squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Zuberbühler 2 Djourou 3 Magnin 4 Senderos 5 Margairaz 6 Vogel (c) 7 Cabanas 8 Wicky 9 Frei 10 Gygax 11 Streller 12 Benaglio 13 Grichting 14 D. Degen 15 Džemaili 16 Barnetta 17 Spycher 18 Lustrinelli 19 Behrami 20 Müller 21 Coltorti 22 Yakin 23 P. Degen Coach: Kuhn v t e Switzerland squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Benaglio 2 Djourou 3 Magnin 4 Senderos 5 Lichtsteiner 6 Huggel 7 Cabanas 8 Inler 9 Frei (c) 10 Yakin 11 Streller 12 Derdiyok 13 Grichting 14 Gygax 15 G. Fernandes 16 Barnetta 17 Spycher 18 Zuberbühler 19 Behrami 20 Müller 21 Jakupović 22 Vonlanthen 23 Degen Coach: Kuhn v t e Switzerland squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Benaglio 2 Lichtsteiner 3 Magnin 4 Senderos 5 von Bergen 6 Huggel 7 Barnetta 8 Inler 9 Frei (c) 10 Nkufo 11 Behrami 12 Wölfli 13 Grichting 14 Padalino 15 Yakin 16 G. Fernandes 17 Ziegler 18 Bunjaku 19 Derdiyok 20 P. Schwegler 21 Leoni 22 Eggimann 23 Shaqiri Coach: Hitzfeld