Ruud Gullit

Ruud Gullit was born in Amsterdam on September 1, 1962.

Source Wikipedia

After playing with amateur teams Meer Boys and DWS, he began his professional journey with Haarlem where he played for three seasons starting from 1979, two in the top tier, playing 101 games with 36 goals.

In 1982 he signed for Feyenoord where he stayed for another three seasons winning the League and national cup in 1983-84, making 109 appearances with 45 goals.

The big jump came in 1985 when he joined PSV. He won the Eredivise twice, playing 75 games with 53 goals and even reached the national team. His rise to fame stirred the attention of AC Milan whom he joined in 1987.

With the Rossoneri he won everything possiblle: the scudetto three times (1987-88, 1991-92, 1992-93), two European Cups (1988-89, 1989-90), two Intercontinental Cups (1989, 1990), the UEFA Super Cup twice (1989, 1990), and the Italian Supercoppa three times (1988, 1992, 1994). He was part of Arrigo Sacchi’s formidable team and in the 4-4-2 he played in various positions: second striker, centre forward and midfielder. He dominated the game physically and had great skills.

After some physical issues and a not-so-great relationship with Fabio Capello, in 1993 he joined Sampdoria on loan taking them to third place and winning a Coppa Italia, a trophy that he had not won with Milan. In that season he was the star of the team and his great year saw him decide to go back to the Rossoneri. But he only stayed until November after a falling out with the club and retuned to Genoa on a permanent basis. He made 171 appearances with 56 goals with Milan.

After a year with Sampdoria, he signed for Chelsea. Here he went back to play in defence, a role he had at the beginning of his career. In 1998 he became player-manager and won the FA Cup, the youngest manager to do so and the first non-British coach. In February 1998, at 36, he resigned as manager and quit active football to concentrate on a coaching career.

At International level, Gullit played 66 times for the Netherlands with 17 goals. He was one of the stars of the team that won the European Championship in 1988 beating the USSR in the final with one of his goals. He played in the 1990 World Cup losing in the Round of 16 to West Germany. Just before the 1994 World Cup he quit the national squad.

After his experience with Chelsea in 1998 he joined Newcastle taking them to the FA Cup final. But after getting just one point in the first five games of the 1999-00 season, he resigned. In March 2003 he was chosen as under-19 coach for the Netherlands and a year later became co-head coach with Dick Advocaat for the 2004 Euros.

In 2004 he became head coach for Feyenoord but quit at the end of the season. In November 2007 he was chosen as manager for LA Galaxy but resigned in August 2008. After working for Milan as scout, in January 2011 he signed for Terek Groznyj in the Russian Premier League. With the team second from last, in June he was sacked. Back with the national team in 2017 and Advocaat in May 2017, he resigned in November after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

He is currently doing punditry for beIN Sports and Ziggo Sport.

Ruud Gullit was one of the best players of the 1990s. To quote Vujadin Boskov, he was like a deer coming out of the forest. Majestic, powerful, strong, great vision of the game, he was the ideal player for AC Milan and won everything. A pleasure to watch.

Source

Wikipedia