Rutgerus Johannes Martinus "Ruud" van
Nistelrooij (commonly spelled as van
Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch
footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish La Liga club Real
Madrid. He is currently the second-highest
goalscorer in Champions League history with 60 goals. He is a
three-time Champions League top scorer, as well as a top scorer in
three different European domestic leagues.
Club career
Early career
Born in
Oss
, North Brabant
, Van Nistelrooy started his professional career in
1993 with Dutch second division side Den
Bosch, where he was converted from a central defender to centre forward after
playing part-time for Nooit Gedacht and Magriet. After
netting 12 goals in 31 games in the 1996–97 campaign, he
transferred for
€360,000 to
Heerenveen the next year, and scored 13 goals
in 31 matches in his only season with the club. He was then signed
by
PSV Eindhoven the next season for
€6.3 million, a then-record transfer sum between two Dutch
teams.
He scored 31 goals in 34 matches, the highest season total in the
Eredivisie and second-highest in Europe
overall, in addition to scoring all three of PSV's goals in a
Champions League match against
HJK
Helsinki on 25 November 1998. Van Nistelrooy capped off the
year by winning the Dutch Player of the Year award. The next
season, he won his second Eredivisie scoring title with 29 goals.
According to a 2001 interview with
The Telegraph, Manchester United coach
Alex Ferguson said that his son
Darren, who was at tryouts for Eredivisie
rival
Heerenveen at the time, begged
his father,
"You've got to sign Van Nistelrooy right away, he's
fantastic. We've been watching him." Ferguson sent
team representatives to PSV's next league game and signed Van
Nistelrooy the next day.
Van Nistelrooy looked set to complete an
£18.5 million transfer to Manchester
United in the summer of 2000. A press conference had been called to
confirm Van Nistelrooy's arrival, but instead this was used to
announce that the transfer had been delayed over concerns about his
fitness. Days later, he suffered ruptured cruciate knee ligaments
during a training session and the deal was axed. When the
transaction was completed in April 2001, United were forced to pay
PSV an additional £500,000 for the player's services.
Manchester United
Van Nistelrooy signed a five-year contract after passing his
medical. He downplayed United's £19 million investment to
reporters, saying
"The price is not heavy for me - it lifts me
up because it means United have big confidence in me." During
his
first season,
Van Nistelrooy scored 23 goals in 32 league games, ending the year
on a league record eight-game consecutive scoring streak. The
following season, he broke the record of the previous mark of seven
he shared with Mark Stein, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry. He also
scored 10
Champions League
goals, and was named the
PFA Players' Player of the
Year.
Champions
League goals in 10 games. He finished as the top Premier League
scorer with 25 in 34 games, including three hat-tricks, and he
ended the season on another eight-game scoring streak. He started
the
2003–04 season
by scoring twice in his first two league matches, which boosted his
consecutive games record to 10. He scored his 100th goal for the
club in a 4–3 victory over
Everton on 7
February 2004. He scored two goals, one a penalty, in United's
victory over
Millwall in the
2004 FA Cup Final.
Van Nistelrooy missed most of the
2004–05 season due to
injury, but nonetheless scored a
Champions League-best
eight goals. One of them was his thirtieth career European goal,
which he scored in a 2–2 Champions League group stage draw with
Lyon on 16 September 2004,
overtaking
Denis Law's previous club
record of 28 goals. Law later said to reporters,
"I'm delighted
for Ruud. It could not happen to a nicer guy."
Manchester United were eliminated by eventual finalists
Milan in the knockout stage after going scoreless
in both legs.
At the start of the
2005–06 season, Van
Nistelrooy scored in United's first four Premier League games. He
finished as the second-highest league scorer with 21 goals, behind
Arsenal's
Thierry Henry. By the end of his fifth season
with United, Van Nistelrooy had amassed 150 goals in fewer than 200
starts.
Van Nistelrooy was benched for the
League Cup final against
Wigan Athletic, fuelling
speculation of a rift between him and coach
Alex Ferguson, which Van Nistelrooy denied. He
was nonetheless left on the bench for six consecutive league
matches, and though he then returned to the starting line-up and
scored match-winners against
West
Ham United and
Bolton
Wanderers, fresh doubt spread over Van Nistelrooy's future when
he was benched for United's season finale win over
Charlton Athletic. Ferguson claimed
that Van Nistelrooy was angry at the decision and left the stadium
three hours before kick-off.
On 9 May 2006,
Setanta Sports
reported that Van Nistelrooy's exclusion from the squad was due to
a training session fight between him and team-mate
Cristiano Ronaldo. Van Nistelrooy
allegedly criticised Ronaldo's tendency to hold onto the ball
instead of passing to his team-mates, which sparked the fight,
after which Van Nistelrooy remarked,
"Go crying to your
daddy." The article claimed that this was not a reference to
Ronaldo's father (who had died earlier in the season), but to
United's Portuguese assistant coach,
Carlos Queiroz.
Van Nistelrooy signed with Spanish side
Real Madrid on 28 July 2006, departing
Manchester United after five seasons with a total of 150 goals in
220 appearances, as well as the club's all-time European scoring
record with 38 goals.
Real Madrid
On 15 July 2006, Ferguson confirmed that Van Nistelrooy wanted to
leave Manchester United, and Real Madrid announced two weeks later
that he had signed a three-year contract after being purchased for
€24 million.
Van Nistelrooy scored a
hat-trick in his
second league match against
Levante and,
on 12 November 2006, he scored all four of Real Madrid's goals in a
4–1 victory over
Osasuna. He won the
league's
Pichichi award
with 25 goals as Real Madrid took home the
2006–07 title, and he also equalled
the longest consecutive scoring streak in La Liga history with
seven straight matches, tying a league record shared by
Hugo Sánchez.
In January 2008, Van Nistelrooy signed a contract extension keeping
him with Madrid until 2010, with the expiration date one day shy of
his 34th birthday. He underwent ankle surgery in March, and
returned for the
El Clásico
derby against
Barcelona on 7 May, in
which he netted a penalty two minutes after coming on as a
substitute. He finished the season with 20 goals in 32
appearances.
In November 2008, Real Madrid announced that Van Nistelrooy would
miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season after exploratory
arthroscopic surgery revealed a partially torn
meniscus in his right knee, with an
expected recovery time of six to nine months following a second
operation to repair the damage.
Van Nistelrooy travelled to the United States
to see specialist Richard Steadman, who had previously
operated on the same knee back in 2000. At the time of his
injury, he had 10 goals in 12 club appearances for the season.
Following the injury, he was de-registered by Real Madrid for the
rest of the 2008–09 season, and his shirt number was given to
Dani Parejo.
In the last preseason
game before the start of La
Liga, Van Nistelrooy stepped on the pitch for the first time
since his injury and played the last fifteen minutes of the game
against Rosenborg
, substituting Kaka. Van Nistelrooy came on
for
Cristiano Ronaldo in the 80th
minute against
Xerez in his first La Liga
match since recovering from his injury. In the 81st minute, he
provided the assist for a
Benzema
goal, following it with his own 88th minute goal. However, during
his strike, he picked up a thigh injury. It was revealed by Real
Madrid that he would be out from first team action for up to 6
weeks. On October 27 Van Nistelrooy made his second comeback of the
season coming on as a substitute for
Raul in
the 71st minute against Alcorcon in the
Copa del Rey
International career
Van Nistelrooy has 64 caps and 33 goals for the
Netherlands. His first
tournament was
Euro 2004, where he
and the
Czech
Republic's
Milan Baroš were the
only players to score in all three group stage matches.
As the Dutch failed to qualify for the
2002 FIFA World Cup, Van Nistelrooy had
to wait four years to play in his first and last World Cup. During
a
2006
World Cup qualifying match, he scored in the Dutch's 4-0
hammering of bottom-placed Andorra and was yellow-carded for going
to Andorra player
Antoni Lima and
celebrating in front of him, following an incident six minutes
before when Nistelrooy missed a penalty and Lima laughed at him He
was a part of coach
Marco van
Basten's squad for the
2006
World Cup finals, for which he served as the official FIFA/SOS
ambassador. He started, and was substituted, in all of the
Netherlands' group stage matches, and scored his lone goal against
the
Côte
d'Ivoire. Van Nistelrooy was benched for the Netherlands' final
match, which saw them eliminated in the knockout stage by
Portugal.
Van Basten left the striker off the squad for a friendly against
the
Republic
of Ireland on 16 August 2006.
Dirk
Kuyt replaced Van Nistelrooy in their next match against
Portugal in September. After
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was unavailable for
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers
against
Bulgaria and
Belarus due to
injury, Van Nistelrooy refused Van Basten's request to take his
place on the roster.
On 23 January 2007, Van Nistelrooy announced his retirement from
international football following some disputes with coach Marco van
Basten. However, after several phone conversations and at the
persuasion of veteran
Edwin van der
Sar, both player and coach put aside their differences. Van
Basten announced four months later that Van Nistelrooy was
returning to the
Oranje. On 8 September, Van Nistelrooy
filled Huntelaar's spot, as previously requested, for the qualifier
against Bulgaria, scoring in a 2–0 victory, and scored the winning
goal four days later in injury time of the Netherlands' win over
Albania.
At
Euro 2008, Van Nistelrooy scored
for the Netherlands in their decisive 3–0 victory over
Italy in the group stage, and
scored the equaliser in their eventual 3–1 loss to
Russia in the quarter-finals.
On 4 August, he again announced his retirement from international
competition.
Personal life
Family
Van Nistelrooy married his girlfriend, Leontien Slaats, in July
2004. The couple had their first child, a girl named Moa Annette,
in September 2006, and a son named Liam in March 2008.
Charity work
Van Nistelrooy and his wife are both heavily involved with the
charity organization
SOS
Children's Villages. The organisation has been around since
1949 and is an international development charity which serves to
protect the interests and rights of children. Van Nistelrooy was
officially appointed "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages" Ambassador
in the Netherlands on 1 September 2001.
On 17
November 2009, Van Nistelrooy and his wife hosted SOS at Real Madrid
City
. The purpose of the event was to help create
a calendar which would be sold to benefit the organization.
Statistics
Club
| Club |
Season |
League |
Cup |
League Cup |
Europe |
Other |
Total |
| Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
| Den
Bosch |
1993–94 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
– |
– |
|
|
2 |
0 |
| 1994–95 |
15 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
– |
– |
|
|
17 |
3 |
| 1995–96 |
21 |
2 |
|
|
– |
– |
|
|
21 |
2 |
| 1996–97 |
31 |
12 |
|
|
– |
– |
|
|
31 |
12 |
| Total |
69 |
17 |
2 |
3 |
– |
– |
|
|
71 |
20 |
| Heerenveen |
1997–98 |
31 |
13 |
5 |
3 |
– |
– |
|
|
36 |
16 |
| Total |
31 |
13 |
5 |
3 |
– |
– |
|
|
36 |
16 |
| PSV
Eindhoven |
1998–99 |
34 |
31 |
5 |
1 |
– |
7 |
6 |
|
|
46 |
38 |
| 1999–2000 |
23 |
29 |
2 |
0 |
– |
8 |
3 |
|
|
33 |
32 |
| 2000–01 |
10 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
– |
– |
|
|
12 |
5 |
| Total |
67 |
62 |
9 |
4 |
– |
15 |
9 |
|
|
91 |
75 |
| Manchester
United |
2001–02 |
32 |
23 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
49 |
36 |
| 2002–03 |
34 |
25 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
11 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
52 |
44 |
| 2003–04 |
32 |
20 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
44 |
30 |
| 2004–05 |
17 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
16 |
| 2005–06 |
35 |
21 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
47 |
24 |
| Total |
150 |
95 |
14 |
14 |
6 |
2 |
47 |
38 |
2 |
1 |
219 |
150 |
| Real Madrid |
2006–07 |
37 |
25 |
3 |
2 |
– |
7 |
6 |
|
|
47 |
33 |
| 2007–08 |
24 |
16 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
|
|
34 |
20 |
| 2008–09 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
|
|
12 |
10 |
| 2009–10 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
1 |
| Total |
68 |
46 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
19 |
13 |
|
|
97 |
64 |
| Career total |
385 |
233 |
37 |
27 |
9 |
5 |
81 |
60 |
|
|
512 |
324 |
National team
All-time national team
performance
| National Team |
Year |
Friendlies |
International
Competition |
Total |
Goals per match |
| App |
Goals |
App |
Goals |
App |
Goals |
| Netherlands |
1998 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
| 1999 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
|
| 2000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
| 2001 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
|
| 2002 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
|
| 2003 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
5 |
|
| 2004 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
6 |
11 |
6 |
|
| 2005 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
5 |
9 |
5 |
|
| 2006 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
|
| 2007 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
|
| 2008 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
|
| Total |
|
27 |
6 |
37 |
26 |
64 |
33 |
|
Honours
Club
- PSV Eindhoven
- Manchester United
- Real Madrid
Individual
References
- Van Nistelrooy delighted after last year's
delay - The Telegraph, 4/27/01. Retrieved on
11/14/08.
- Van Nistelrooy in melting pot - The Telegraph,
5/9/01. Retrieved on 11/10/08.
- Real's Van Nistelrooy out for season after knee
injury - AFP, 11/13/08. Retrieved on 11/14/08.
- 2006 FIFA World Cup preliminaries: Netherlands vs
Andorra
- uefa.com - UEFA EURO 2008 - Fixtures & Results
- Match Specific
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