Ruud van Nistelrooy (surname originally spelled van Nistelrooij) (born 1 July 1976 in Oss, North Brabant) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Real Madrid and is a member of the Netherlands national football team. He previously starred for Manchester United, where he holds the record for being the club's top scorer in European competition, despite having only played for them for five seasons.

He has been the top scorer in three different European leagues as well as having been the top goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League on three occasions.

Career

Club careers

The Netherlands

Van Nistelrooy started his professional career in 1993 with the Dutch second division side FC Den Bosch, where he was converted from a central defender to centre forward after playing part-time for Nooit Gedacht and Magriet. After netting 12 goals in 31 games in the 1996-97 campaign, he transferred for €350.000 to SC Heerenveen the next year, and scored thirteen goals in 31 matches in his only season with the club. He was then signed by PSV Eindhoven the next season for €6.3 million, a then-record transfer sum between two Dutch teams.

He scored an impressive 31 goals in 34 matches, the highest season total in the Eredivisie and second-highest in Europe overall, in addition to scoring all three of PSV's goals in a Champions League match against HJK Helsinki on November 25, 1998. Van Nistelrooy capped off the year by winning the Dutch Player of the Year award. In his second season at the club, he had netted another 29 goals and again finished with the Eredivisie scoring title.

Just days after an £18.5 million transfer to Manchester United in the summer of 2000 was shelved after United's medical staff had found problems with his medial ligaments, Van Nistelrooy suffered a knee injury during a training session. When the transaction was finalized in April 2001, United were forced to pay PSV an additional £500,000 for the player's services. After he successfully passed a medical, Van Nistelrooy joined Manchester United for a total of £19 million, and signed a five-year contract with the then reigning Premier League champions.^[1]

Manchester United

During his first season, van Nistelrooy scored 23 goals in 32 league games, ending the year on a league-record eight-game consecutive scoring streak. He also scored ten Champions League goals, and ended his debut season by being named the PFA Players' Player of the Year, scoring 36 goals in the process. Van Nistelrooy held the record for most goals in a debut season in the English Premier League (23) until Fernando Torres of Liverpool broke his record by scoring his 24th on the last day of the 2007/8 season.

In the 2002-03 season, van Nistelrooy scored 44 goals in 52 games in all competitions. He scored 12 Champions League goals in 10 games, as well as two in Champions League qualifying. He was the leading scorer in the Premier League scoring 25 goals in 34 games, including three hat-tricks, and he ended the season with another eight-game scoring streak.^[2]

Van Nistelrooy started the 2003–04 season by scoring twice in his first two league games, which boosted his consecutive-games record to ten. He scored his 100th and 101st goals for the club in a 4–3 victory over Everton F.C. on February 7, 2004, while also breaking Denis Law's European club goalscoring record.^[3]

He missed a large part of the 2004–05 season due to injury, but nonetheless scored a Champions League-best eight goals despite Manchester United's elimination in the knockout stage by A.C. Milan. He is currently the third-highest European scorer in the UEFA Champions League, behind Raúl and Andrey Shevchenko, with 57 goals.

At the start of the 2005–06 season, van Nistelrooy scored in United's first four Premiership games. He went on to finish as the second-highest scorer in the Premiership with 21 goals, behind Thierry Henry of Arsenal.

The Dutchman struck 100 goals in his first three seasons in Manchester, and overtook Denis Law's title as the club's all-time top scorer in European competition in his fourth term, and by the end of his fifth year at Old Trafford he'd reached 150 goals in fewer than 200 starts.

Exit from Manchester United

Van Nistelrooy was an unused substitute in the League Cup final against Wigan Athletic, fueling speculation of a rift between him and Ferguson, which van Nistelrooy denied. He was nonetheless left on the bench for six consecutive league matches, and though he then returned to the starting lineup and scored match-winners against West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers F.C., his earlier lack of playing time enabled Thierry Henry to overtake him as the Premiership's leading scorer. Fresh doubt spread over van Nistelrooy's future when he was benched for the season finale against Charlton Athletic, won 4-0 by United. Ferguson claimed that van Nistelrooy was angry at the decision and left the stadium three hours before kick-off.

On 9 May 2006, Setanta Sports reported that van Nistelrooy's exclusion from the squad was due to a training-session fight between him and teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. Van Nistelrooy allegedly criticised Ronaldo's tendency to hold onto the ball instead of passing to his teammates, which sparked the fight, after which the Dutch international remarked, "Go crying to your daddy." The article claimed that this was not a reference to Ronaldo's father (who had died earlier in the season), but to United's Portuguese assistant coach Carlos Queiroz.^[4] Both players have since denied that the incident ever took place.

Van Nistelrooy signed with La Liga side Real Madrid C.F. on July 14, 2006, departing Manchester United after five seasons with a total of 150 goals in 200 starts and nineteen substitute appearances, as well as the club's all-time European scoring mark with 38 goals.

In June 2008, van Nistelrooy responded to reports of Real Madrid's approach for Ronaldo by telling the daily newspaper Marca that he would "be an important signing for Madrid because this is a club which signs the best players in the world, and that's what Cristiano is", and that it would be a "great signing". ^[5]

Real Madrid

On 14 July 2006, Ferguson confirmed that van Nistelrooy wanted to leave Manchester United, and Real Madrid announced on 27 July 2006 that van Nistelrooy was transferring to Real (there had been speculation about a possible move to Bayern Munich).^[6] His transfer fee was reported to be €18 million (£12.3m), and he signed a 3-year contract with the club on 28 July.

2006–2007 season

In his second match in the Spanish Primera División, van Nistelrooy scored a hat-trick against newly promoted Levante UD. He scored two goals on a Real Madrid 5-1 win over Dynamo Kyiv in the first group stage of the UEFA Champions League. During the el clasico match on 22 October 2006, van Nistelrooy scored seven minutes into the second half to help defeat league champions FC Barcelona. On 12 November 2006, he scored all four of Real Madrid's goals in a 4-1 win against CA Osasuna.

Real Madrid went on to win the 2006/2007 La Liga title on the final day of the season. Van Nistelrooy finished top scorer in his first season at the club with 25 goals, and equalling the longest consecutive scoring streak in La Liga history by hitting the target in seven straight matches; a feat only achieved by Hugo Sanchez.^[7]

2007–2008 Season

Van Nistelrooy scored his first league goal for the new season against Villarreal CF that got Real Madrid in first place in the league for the defending champions. On 18 September Van Nistelrooy scored the winning goal against Werder Bremen, as well as setting up a Raúl header in the 16th minute, to give Real Madrid the 3 points of the group stages in the UEFA Champions League. On October 3, 2007, he scored two goals against Lazio in the second match in the group stages. Against Levante, van Nistelrooy scored two goals in the last 15 minutes giving Real Madrid three more points. In March 2008, van Nistelrooy underwent surgery to repair his ankle^[8]. He made his return in the El Clásico match on 07 May 2008, scoring a penalty two minutes after coming on as a substitute^[9].

Van Nistelrooy extended his current contract until 2010, keeping him in the Spanish capital until one day before his 34th birthday.^[10] Despite an injury-plagued season, the striker managed to score 20 goals in 32 appearances in 2007-08.

In 2007, Van Nistelrooy was selected as a nominee for the FIFA World Player of the Year.^[11]

International career

Euro 2004

In Euro 2004 van Nistelrooy and the Czech Republic's Milan Baroš were the only players to score in all three group stage matches.

2006 World Cup

Van Nistelrooy played in the 2006 World Cup, for which he served as the official FIFA/SOS ambassador.^[12] He was substituted in all three group stage matches, and scored against the Ivory Coast. He was dropped for the Netherlands' knockout stage loss against Portugal.

Netherlands coach Marco van Basten left van Nistelrooy off the squad for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland.^[13] Dirk Kuyt replaced van Nistelrooy in their next match against Portugal.^[14]

Euro 2008

Qualifiers

After Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was injured and unavailable for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Belarus, van Nistelrooy rejected van Basten's request to take his place on the roster.

On 23 January 2007, van Nistelrooy announced his retirement from international football.^[15] However, he has been quoted as saying he would like to represent the Netherlands at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. However, after several phone conversations, van Nistelrooy and van Basten restored the peace between them and the latter announced on May 25, 2007, that van Nistelrooy would return to the Oranje and that they would work together again.^[16][17] Confirming this fact, van Nistelrooy was among the 33-player provisional squad, and then confirmed among the 20-player definitive squad, for a friendly match between the Netherlands and Switzerland, which took place on 22 August 2007.^[18][19] On September 8, 2007, Van Nistelrooy scored in his first competitive international match back from retirement in the Euro 2008 Qualifying 2-0 home win over Bulgaria^[20], and only four days later scored the winning goal in injury time of the Netherlands's away clash with Albania.

Tournament

On June 9, 2008, Van Nistelrooy scored in the Netherlands' 3-0 win over Italy, and in a 3-1 quarterfinal loss to Russia. He finished the tournament with both goals.

Pelé endorsement

Van Nistelrooy was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.^[21]

Personal life

Van Nistelrooy married his girlfriend, Leontien Slaats, in July 2004. The couple had their first child, a girl named Moa Annette on 26 September 2006 and their second child, a boy named Liam on 22 March 2008.^[22][23][24]

Awards and honours

Club

•  Dutch Eredivisie: 1999–2000, 2000–2001 : With PSV Eindhoven
•  Dutch Johan Cruijff-schaal: 1999, 2000 : With PSV Eindhoven

•  English Premiership: 2002-03 : With Manchester United
•  Community Shield: 2003 : With Manchester United
•  FA Cup: 2004 : With Manchester United
•  English League Cup: 2006 : With Manchester United

•  Spanish La Liga: 2006–2007, 2007–2008 With Real Madrid

Individual

•  Dutch League Top Scorer: 1998–1999, 1999–2000
•  Dutch Player of the Year: 1999, 2000
•  Champions League Top Scorer: 2001-02, 2002-03
•  Champions League Most Valuable Striker: 2001–2002
•  UEFA club forward of the year: 2002–2003
•  Barclaycard player of the year: 2002
•  PFA Player of the Year: 2002
•  English Premiership Top Scorer: 2002-03
•  Spanish La Liga Top Scorer: 2006–2007