The world of football/soccer is filled with many personalities and one of them is Frank Rijkaard. He is currently the manager for the Turkish team Galatasaray SK. Because of his career in football/soccer first as a midfielder followed by managerial work, he deserves a tribute from the underwriter.
Frank Rijkaard was born on the 30th of September 1962 to a Surinamese father and a Dutch Mother in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His career took him to different teams such as Ajax, Sporting CP, Real Zaragoza, and Milan. He started with Ajax at the age of seventeen in 1980 and scored in his first match against a powerful team called the Go Ahead Eagles
He was with Ajax two times from 1980 to 1987 and again from 1993-1995. During this period, Frank Rijkaard scored 46 goals within 246 appearances for the Ajax team. It was during his time with Ajax that the team won the Dutch League five times, the Dutch Super Cup two times, the KNVB Cup three times, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1987, and the UEFA Championship League in 1995.
Mr. Rijkaard closed his second season with Ajax after the 1995 UEFA Victory by being named in Pele’s list of the 125 World’s Greatest Footballer otherwise known as the FIFA 100. His record with Ajax in total was 65 goals within 261 games. He was unable to accomplish anything in Sporting CP nor Real Zaragoza taking into account the time restraints and bureaucracy that existed in the two teams.
His period with Milan [between the years 1988 to 1993] was marked by victories in the Italian League two times, Italian Super Cup two times, European Cup, European Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup [the last three were two times each]. He also scored 16 goals within 142 games.
Frank Rijkaard was also an active participant with the Dutch National Team where he scored 10 goals within 73 games. He lead the team to the UEFA European Football Championship in 1988. The total in his playing career was 81 goals within 414 appearances with honors such as being the Best Foreign Player for Serie A and Dutch Footballer of the Year.
After his career as a midfielder, Frank Rijkaard switched to becoming a manager of the Dutch National Team, Sparta Rotterdam, and Barcelona before accepting his current position with Galatasaray SK. In spite of the people doubting his managerial abilities, he was able to take the Dutch National Team to the Euro 2000 Semi Finals. He then transferred to Sparta Rotterdam where he was fired after the team’s relegation.
Frank Rijkaard signed with Barcelona and while the beginning was not great, he was able to achieve the UEFA Championship League, La Liga, and La Supercopa de Espa~na. For his efforts, he was named UEFA Manager of the Year, and was the recipient of the Onze D’Or as well as the Don Balon Award. It remains to be seen what will happen in Galatasaray SK but he is deserving of a tribute for his career in football/soccer.
El Noticiero de Alvarez Galloso 