Ruud Krol

Ruud Krol

Ruud Krol in 1974
Personal information
Full name	Rudolf Jozef Krol
Date of birth	(1949-03-24) 24 March 1949
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height
Position(s)	Left back, Sweeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1968–1980	Ajax	339	(23)
1980	Vancouver Whitecaps	14	(0)
1980–1984	Napoli	107	(1)
1984–1986	Cannes	63	(0)
Total		523	(24)
International career
1969–1983	Netherlands	83	(4)
Managerial career
1989–1990	Mechelen
1990	Servette
1991–1993	Netherlands U-21 (Assistant)
1994–1995	Egypt U-23
1995-1996	Egypt
1997–1999	El Zamalek
1999	Al-Wahda Abu Dhabi
1999–2001	Netherlands (Assistant)
2002–2005	Ajax (Assistant)
2006–2007	Ajaccio
2007–2008	Zamalek
2008–2011	Orlando Pirates
2012–2013	Sfaxien
2013	Tunisia
2014	Espérance
2014	Al-Ahli Tripoli
2015	Raja Club Athletic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rudolf ("Ruud" or "Rudi") Jozef Krol (born 24 March 1949) is a retired Dutch footballer who was capped 83 times for his native country. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax, and he became a coach after retirement. One of the best defenders of his generation, Krol mainly played as a sweeper or left-back, however he could play anywhere across the back four or as a defensive midfielder.

Playing career

Club

He began his career at Ajax under manager Rinus Michels. In his first season at the club he did not play much. After the departure of left back Theo van Duivenbode in the summer of 1969 to Feyenoord, Krol became a regular player. When Ajax reached the UEFA European Cup in 1971, and won, Krol did not play because of a broken leg. Krol did play in the European Cup finals of 1972 and 1973. While others such as Johan Cruijff and Johan Neeskens left for pastures new, Krol, captain since the departure of Piet Keizer in October 1974, stayed at Ajax until 1980.

He moved to the North American Soccer League to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps for one season. He then joined S.S.C. Napoli where he played for the next four seasons. His last club before he retired in 1986 was the French club AS Cannes, at the time in Ligue 2 (the French 2nd division).

National team

Internationally, Krol made his debut for the Netherlands in 1969 against England, and would go on to earn 83 caps, retiring from international football in 1983. He was a crucial component in the Total Football side of the 1970s. A versatile defender, he could play in any position along the back four or midfield. In the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in which the Netherlands reached the final, Krol primarily played at left-back. He created Cruijff's goal against Brazil and scored a 25-yard screamer against Argentina. They fell at the final hurdle, losing 2–1 to West Germany.

By the time the 1978 FIFA World Cup came about, Krol had switched to playing as a sweeper and had earned the captain's armband after the retirement of Cruijff. Krol had a fine tournament featuring in the FIFA All Star Team. He was, however, unable to prevent the Netherlands from falling to their second Final defeat, this time losing 3–1 to Argentina. In 1979, Krol would finish third in the European Footballer of the Year competition behind the winner Kevin Keegan and the second placed Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Krol played for the Netherlands as captain at the 1980 European Championship, but they disappointed, being knocked out in the first round by West Germany and Czechoslovakia. They also failed to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He played for part of the qualifying for Euro 84, and played his last international in 1983, in a 1–0 European Championship qualifying defeat against Spain.

Krol attained the Dutch caps record on 2 May 1979, when he equaled the total of Puck van Heel. He would become the outright owner of the title, most capped Dutch player, in his next game, his 65th cap, on 22 May 1979 (see 1979 in association football). The game was a FIFA Jubilee Match against Argentina which Argentina won on penalties 8–7. He would remain the most capped Dutch player until 29 June 2000, when the then Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard brought on Aron Winter as a substitute during a Euro 2000 game against Italy.

Krol is one of only four players to score both a goal and an own goal in the World Cup; the others being Ernie Brandts (another Dutch player), Mexico's Gustavo Peña and Serbia's Siniša Mihajlović.

Managerial career

In his managerial career, he has been head coach of Egypt, and has been assistant manager of the Netherlands (under Frank Rijkaard and Louis van Gaal) and Ajax (under Ronald Koeman). He became interim manager of Ajax after the resignation of Koeman. He was manager of AC Ajaccio in France Ligue 2 from 2006 to 2007. He returned as manager of Egyptian giants Zamalek in August 2007. He had previously managed them from 1994 to 1999, winning the Egyptian Cup in 1999, the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1996 and the Afro-Asian Club Championship 1997, the last two being the biggest club level prizes available to CAF clubs. Krol's return to Zamalek was meant to be a stabilizing presence, the club having gone through several managers in the preceding two seasons. His stay however would be a short one. He ended his sole season by winning one Egyptian Cup with Zamalek, within one season he would leave and sign a three-year contract with the South African giants Orlando Pirates.

In the three years with the Orlando Pirates he won two South African cups (and a finalist once) and won the national league, all in his last year in charge of the team. Those cups include MTN8 and Nedbank Cup. Despite that success his contract was not renewed.

He won the Tunisian championship with CS Sfaxien, one of the best teams in Africa, in 2012–2013, after a fierce battle with the other 3 of the Tunisian big 4. After that success, he was contacted to lead the Tunisian national team in the play off qualifying to the 2014 world cup against Cameroon. He accepted that role and simultaneously became manager of CS Sfaxien and Tunisia in September 2013. He won the 2013 CAF Confederation Cup with Sfaxien. He resigned from his duties as Sfaxien coach after the second leg of the final against TP Mazembe in 30 November 2013. He quit as the national team interim coach following Tunisia's loss in the World Cup play-off.

In January 2014, he was appointed new Head Coach of Tunisian side Espérance.

Honours

Club

Ajax

• Eredivisie (6): 1969-70, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80,
• KNVB Cup (4): 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1978-79
• European Cup (3): 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73
• UEFA Super Cup (2): 1972, 1973
• Intercontinental Cup: 1972

International

Netherlands

• FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1974, 1978
• UEFA Euro third place: 1976

Coaching achievements

Ruud Krol in 2005

Egyptian Olympic Team (U23) 

• All African Games: Gold Medal 1995

Egypt National Team 

• 1996 African Cup of Nations: Second Round

Holland National Team (ass. Coach under Frank Rijkard)

• EURO 2000: Semi-final

Ajaccio

• France League 2 third place: 2007

Zamalek SC

• Afro-Asian Club Championship: 1997
• Egyptian Premier League: runner up 1998,2008
• Egypt Cup: 2008

Orlando Pirates

• Premier Soccer League : champion 2011 – runner up 2009
• Nedbank Cup : champion 2011 – runner up 2010
• Telkom charity cup : champion 2010,2011
• MTN 8 : champion 2010, 2011

CS Sfaxien

• Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 : Champion 2013
• CAF Confederation Cup: Champion 2013

Esperance

• Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 : Champion 2014

Raja Casablanca

• UNAF Club Cup : Champion 2015

Club Africain

• Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 : 2015

Individual Honours

Player

• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2): 1974, 1978
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament: 1976
• FIFA XI: 1979
• Ballon d'Or – third place: 1979
• Guerin d'Oro (Serie A Footballer of the Year): 1981

Coaching achievements

• PSL Coach of the Season: 2010-11

Personal life

On 6 July 1972 Krol married Yvonne van Ingen. The couple has a daughter. On 26 September 1974, together with teammate Arie Haan, he opened a snackbar on Reguliersbreestraat in Amsterdam.