Mark Burton is a retired association football player who represented New Zealand at international level. He plays as an attacking midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

.

Career

As a teenager, Burton was recommended to SV Werder Bremen

SV Werder Bremen

SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...

 by compatriot and New Zealand football legend Wynton Rufer

Wynton Rufer

Wynton Alan Whai Rufer, CNZM, , is a retired New Zealand footballer, who played as a striker. He spent most of his professional career in Germany with Werder Bremen, winning a total of six titles. He also appeared for the New Zealand national team in its first FIFA World Cup participation, in 1982...

 who played for Bremen at the time. After spending several years in their youth and amateur sides, he moved to lower division teams VfL Osnabrück

VfL Osnabrück

VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis, but is by far best known for its football section.- Foundation to WW2 :...

, Kickers Emden

Kickers Emden

BSV Kickers Emden is a German association football club, located in Emden, Lower Saxony.-History:The club first began playing in 1928 as a section of the gymnastics club Emder Turnverein, which was founded in 1861...

 and VfB Lübeck

VfB Lübeck

VfB Lübeck is a German association football club playing in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein in the country's north. In addition to its football side the 1,000 member sports club also has departments for badminton, women's gymnastics, handball, and table tennis....

 before returning to New Zealand.

International

He also played for the New Zealand national football team, the All Whites and collected 28 caps (6 goals) in official FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 internationals between 1996 and 2003. He twice played at the FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup

The FIFA Confederations Cup is an association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup winner and the host nation, to bring the number of teams...

 and also twice at the OFC Nations Cup

OFC Nations Cup

The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the Oceania Football Confederation member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name Oceania Nations Cup...

. At the 2002 OFC Nations Cup

2002 OFC Nations Cup

-Results:-Match Schedule:-------------------- and progress to the knockout tournament.-Results:-Match Schedule:-------------------- and progress to the knockout tournament.-Knockout Rounds:-Semi-Finals:----...

 in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament Award was presented for the first time, with Burton being deemed the best player of the tournament.

External links