.jpg) Van Nistelrooy in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 July 1976[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Oss, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1981–1990 | Nooit Gedacht | ||
| 1990–1991 | RKSV Margriet | ||
| 1991–1993 | Den Bosch | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1997 | Den Bosch | 69 | (17) |
| 1997–1998 | Heerenveen | 31 | (13) |
| 1998–2001 | PSV Eindhoven | 67 | (62) |
| 2001–2006 | Manchester United | 150 | (95) |
| 2006–2010 | Real Madrid | 68 | (46) |
| 2010–2011 | Hamburger SV | 36 | (12) |
| 2011–2012 | Málaga | 28 | (4) |
| Total | 449 | (249) | |
| International career | |||
| 1997–1998 | Netherlands U21 | 4 | (0) |
| 1998–2011 | Netherlands | 70 | (35) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021–2022 | Jong PSV | ||
| 2022–2023 | PSV Eindhoven | ||
| 2024 | Manchester United (assistant) | ||
| 2024 | Manchester United (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈryt fɑn ˈnɪstəlroːi]; ; born 1 July 1976), commonly known as Ruud van Nistelrooy (/væn ˈnɪstəlrɔɪ/), is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all-time, van Nistelrooy has been the top scorer in three separate UEFA Champions League seasons, and is the sixth-highest goalscorer in the competition's history with 56 goals. He has also been the top scorer in three different European domestic leagues. In 2004, he was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world's greatest living players.[4]
Van Nistelrooy began his career with Den Bosch, before moving onto Heerenveen, eventually making a name for himself at PSV Eindhoven, where he won two Eredivisie titles. His goalscoring record at PSV attracted attention from Manchester United; a deal was in place in the summer of 2000, but because of injury problems, his move was secured a year later for a then British record fee of £19 million. His time at United was successful, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, Football League Cup, and FA Community Shield, along with winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year twice. Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in just 219 games for United, as well as becoming at the time their all-time European record goalscorer, but fell out of favour towards the end of his tenure. Real Madrid then secured his services in 2006. Although an injury blighted the end of his days with Madrid, he won La Liga twice and the Supercopa de España before signing for Hamburger SV during the January transfer window in 2010. After one and a half seasons with Hamburg, he moved back to Spain with Málaga in the summer of 2011. He retired as a player in 2012.
Internationally, Van Nistelrooy represented the Netherlands on 70 occasions, netting 35 times. He was part of the Euro 2004, 2006 World Cup, and Euro 2008 squads.
- ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Netherlands" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
- ^ "Ruud van Nistelrooy". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
PremProfilewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2013.