Background and career
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈryt fɑn ˈnɪstəlroːi]; born 1 July 1976), commonly known by his anglicised name of Ruud van Nistelrooy (), is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is currently working as an assistant coach of the Netherlands national football team. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Nistelrooy was the top scorer in three UEFA Champions League seasons and is the all-time Dutch top goalscorer in the competition's history with 56 goals. He has also been the top scorer in three European domestic leagues. In 2004, he was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world's greatest living players. Van Nistelrooy began his career with Den Bosch, before moving onto Heerenveen, eventually making a name for himself at PSV Eindhoven, where he won two Eredivisie titles. His goalscoring record at PSV attracted attention from Manchester United; a deal was in place in the summer of 2000, but because of injury problems, his move was secured a year later for a then British record fee of £19 million. His time at United was successful, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, Football League Cup, and FA Community Shield, along with winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year twice. Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in just 219 games for United, as well as becoming at the time their all-time European record goalscorer, but fell out of favour towards the end of his tenure. Real Madrid secured Van Nistelrooy's services in 2006. Although an injury blighted the end of his days with Madrid, he won La Liga twice and the Supercopa de España before signing for Hamburger SV during the January transfer window in 2010. After one and a half seasons with Hamburg, he moved back to Spain with Málaga in the summer of 2011. He retired as a player in 2012. Internationally, Van Nistelrooy represented the Netherlands on 70 occasions, netting 35 times. He was part of the Euro 2004, 2006 World Cup, and Euro 2008 squads.
Born in Oss, North Brabant, Van Nistelrooy started his career in 1993, aged 17, with Dutch Eerste Divisie side Den Bosch, where he was converted from a central midfielder to centre-forward, after playing for local clubs Nooit Gedacht and RKSV Margriet. After netting 12 goals in 31 games in the 1996–97 campaign, he transferred for €360,000 to Heerenveen the next year, and scored 13 goals in 31 matches in his only season with the club.
Van Nistelrooy was signed by PSV Eindhoven ahead of the 1998–99 season for €6.3 million, a then-record transfer sum between two Dutch teams. Manager Bobby Robson started with him as a substitute, but he went on to score 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 25 November 1998. Van Nistelrooy capped off the year by winning the Dutch Player of the Year award. The following season, he won his second Eredivisie scoring title with 29 goals. Van Nistelrooy looked set to complete a club record £18.5 million transfer to English club Manchester United in the summer of 2000. He was to be unveiled at a press conference four days later, but this was instead used to announce that the transfer had been postponed over concerns about his fitness, having not played for a month due to problems with his knee. The transfer was then cancelled after PSV refused to agree to further medical tests, and the next day he suffered a rupture to his anterior cruciate knee ligaments during a training session, leaving him injured for a year.
A year later, Van Nistelrooy signed a five-year contract with Manchester United after passing his medical. He downplayed United's £19 million investment to reporters, saying, "The price is not heavy for me – it lifts me up because it means United have big confidence in me." According to a 2001 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson said that his son, Darren, who was at try-outs for Eredivisie rival Heerenveen at the time, begged his father, "You've got to sign Van Nistelrooy right away, he's fantastic. We've been watching him." Ferguson sent team representatives to PSV's next league game and signed Van Nistelrooy the next day.
Van Nistelrooy made his debut in the Charity Shield against Liverpool, scoring in a 2–1 loss. On 19 August, Van Nistelrooy made his Premier League debut against Fulham at Old Trafford, and scored two goals to help United to a 3–2 win. He scored his first Champions League goals on 17 October in a 3–2 loss to Deportivo La Coruña. On 22 December, Van Nistelrooy scored his first Premier League hat-trick in a 6–1 win against Southampton. In the FA Cup, Van Nistelrooy started on the bench for the third round tie against Aston Villa due to a groin strain, but was substituted on for Luke Chadwick in the second-half with United 2–0 down and scored two "sublime" goals in three minutes to help United advance to the fourth round with a 3–2 win. In total, during his first season, Van Nistelrooy netted 23 goals in 32 league games. He broke the record he shared with Mark Stein, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry, by scoring in eight consecutive league games. He also scored ten Champions League goals, and was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year.
The following season, he finished as the top Premier League scorer with 25 goals in 34 games, with a goal on the final day against Everton earning him the Golden Boot ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry. His tally included three hat-tricks against Newcastle United, Fulham, and Charlton Athletic. He also scored in each of the final eight games of the season as United won the title. Van Nistelrooy won the Premier League Player of the Season in 2003. He was accredited with spearheading the title win for United with a goal tally that was described as "astonishing". After scoring 12 Champions League goals in nine consecutive matches, he was named by UEFA as the best striker in Europe.
