Ruud
Gullit (born as Ruud Dil, September 1st
1962 in
Amsterdam) is a Dutch footballer turned manager, who played
professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. Raised in the school of ‘Total
Footall’, he remains one of the most prestigious and accomplished
players of the beautiful game and his incredible versatility allowed
him to play as defender, midfielder and forward.
In 1982, on his 19th birthday, Ruud made his international debut. He went on become the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the
European Footballer of the Year in 1987 and the World Soccer Player
of the Year in 1987 and 1989. Gullit made appearances for many top
European teams, notably, PSV Eindhoven, AC Milan, UC Sampdoria and
Chelsea FC.
He finally ended his playing career at Chelsea FC
where he was promoted to manager. He made an exceptional start to his
managerial career by guiding Chelsea to FA Cup victory. This was the
club's first piece of silverware in over a quarter of a century,
making Gullit the first foreign manager to win the FA cup. In so
doing he made another historic first by becoming the first black
manager to achieve the milestone of winning a major trophy not just
in England, but in Europe.
He has consistently shown his commitment to campaigns against racism,
not only in football, but also in his vehement support of South
Africa's struggle against apartheid. He dedicated both his World and
European Footballer of the Year awards to Nelson Mandela, who at the
time was imprisoned in South Africa for his humanitarian fight
against Apartheid. In 1996, the Dutch Sports Ministry honoured Gullit
with the role of European Ambassador for the campaigns against Racism
and Violence in Football.
‘The more you stand up for your
rights, the bigger a player you are, the more hostility you will
face. I just said to myself during these trying periods, ‘Okay,
Ruud, when you stick up for yourself you know what happen.’ I
haven’t changed my attitude: I’ve always done what I felt had to
be done, what was right.’ Ruud
Gullit
‘Ruud, I have lots of friends now. When I was on the inside, you were one of
the few’ Nelson Mandela
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