Player profile

The midfield playmaker has excelled in his debut season with Inter Milan, winning the Champions League, Serie A and Copa Italia treble under Jose Mourinho. Sneijder made his international debut aged just 18 against Portugal in April 2003 and has already won more than 50 international caps.

The 5ft 7in (1.70m) free-kick specialist will be playing in his fourth major tournament having also featured at the 2006 World Cup and the 2004 and 2008 European Championships. He was named in Uefa’s team of the tournament at Euro 2008.

Sneijder joined the Ajax academy as a seven-year-old and made his first-team debut aged 18. After 57 goals in 180 games in Amsterdam he became the second most expensive Dutch footballer ever when joining Real Madrid for £18m in 2007. He spent two injury-hit seasons at the Bernabeu, netting 11 goals in 52 La Liga appearances before a £13m switch to Serie A last summer.

Sneijder comes from a football family: his father was a talented player and his older brother Jeffrey has played in the Dutch Second Division, while younger brother Rodney plays for the Ajax youth academy.