Ruud Van Nistelrooy
City of Birth
Oss, Holland, 1/7/1976
Weight
78.91 kg
Height
188 cm
Team
Manchester United
Position
Forward
Appearances with Club
48
Goals Scored with Club
36
International Caps
18 (Holland)
International Goals
8
Born in Oss, in the south-central region of the Netherlands, Ruud van
Nistelrooy became interested in sport as a schoolboy. A real talent,
he played football, tennis and gymnastics. As a boy in his village
team he played as a sweeper, but his footballing career took off in
1993, when he moved to the then Second Division side FC Den Bosch. Here,
at his first professional club, he was able to show off his developing
skills, playing up front behind the forward line.
After four years gaining experience, Ruud van Nistelrooy progressed into
the Dutch First Division with SC Heerenveen, where he became a real
striker. His new coach told him that he needed to improve his game, and
in order to do so he should go and watch Dennis Bergkamp play. Van Nistelrooy
would drive 200 kilometres on his own to watch Bergkamp and studied every
detail; every move, every touch of the ball, every run he made. It began
to pay off and Ruud was rewarded with 13 goals from 30 appearances.
On his 22nd birthday, van Nistelrooy signed for PSV Eindhoven for ￡4.2
million, a record transfer between Dutch clubs. He made an immediate
impact, scoring his first League goal for PSV against his former Club
in the August. By the end of October, Ruud made his presence known when
he scored a hat-trick for PSV against Sparta. He was in such good form
that, on 18th November 1998, he made his international debut for Holland
in a 1-1 draw with Germany.
At the end of his first season, in May 1999, he finished as top scorer in
the Dutch League with 31 goals, and earned himself second place in the
European Golden Boot rankings. He was also voted Dutch Player of the Year
by his fellow professionals.
Van Nistelrooy gained an awesome scoring record with PSV, netting 60 goals
during the two seasons he was playing. In the 1999/2000 season he scored
two hat-tricks against Ajax, and after the second one, in Eindhoven, he
said he hadn't been playing that well.
Manchester United first looked likely to secure Ruud van Nistelrooy's
signature in the April of 2000, but medical tests showed a weakness
in his right knee, sustained in a friendly against Silkeborg that same
month. United had wanted to open his knee up but Ruud refused, knowing
that would put him out of Euro 2000, and he desperately wanted to
perform in front of the Dutch fans. In hindsight he agreed that he s
hould have gone ahead with the operation. Two days later, back in
Eindhoven, Ruud collapsed in agony at PSV's training ground having
ruptured the cruciate ligament in the same knee.
With his knee clamped in a support brace in a clinic in Vail, Colorado,
Ruud was forced to watch Euro 2000 on satellite television. He touched
the hearts of the Dutch nation by cheering Holland's goals like an
eight year old fan, waving his crutches wildly in the air.
He received many words of encouragement from players such as Ronaldo,
a former PSV player, and Marc Overmars. Conversations with Sir Alex
Ferguson also inspired Ruud, with tales of the full recoveries made
by Roy Keane and Lothar Matthaus from the same injury.
The contact between Sir Alex and van Nistelrooy was a constant source
of strength in the player's rehabilitation. Working with a personal
trainer, Ruud set out on his remarkable road to recovery. Hours were
spent in the swimming pool building up his strength, then hours were
spent on the training ground working on his skill and fitness, all the
time improving his knee.
By March 2001, Ruud was able to complete his comeback with PSV, and
continued to score goals, netting twice on his return to the First
Team. Finally, on 23 April 2001, after turning down a late offer from
Real Madrid, Ruud was able to complete his dream move to Manchester
United, for a British record transfer fee of ￡19 million.
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