Frank Rijkaard is a Dutch retired defensive midfielder and current football coach. He was born on 30 September 1962 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Frank started out his professional career with the Dutch giants Ajax in 1980. He got off to a flying start as he scored a brilliant goal in his debut game against Go Ahead Eagles. Rijkaard went on with three Eredivisie titles, three Dutch Cups and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup together with the club. Overall, he made 248 appearances in all competitions for Ajax during a seven-year stint.
In the 1987/88 season, Rijkaard played on loan at Spanish Real Zaragoza amassing 11 league matches. The next campaign he moved to Italy to record Serie A, Supercoppa Italiana, European Cup, European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup (each title twice) together with the top-flight AC Milan during a five-year spell. In 1993, Rijkaard returned to Ajax. He was a crucial part of the team who won the UEFA Champions League in 1995 beating Milan in the final. In between 1981 and 1994, Rijkaard was a regular international for the Netherlands national team amassing 73 caps for his country.
In 1998, Frank Rijkaard embarked on his managerial career as a coach of the national team. But he achieved his major managerial success with Spanish heavyweights Barcelona. Rijkaard was at the helm of the club since 2003 till 2008 leading them to two consecutive La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups and the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League trophy. He also amassed a number of individual awards such as the Best Coach of the Year during his tenure at Barca. Since 2011 till 2013, Frank Rijkaard coached the Saudi Arabia national team.
Found a mistake? Highlight it with mouse and press CTRL + Enter. Thank you!
There are no comments.