Frank Rijkaard

His father Herman (1935–2010) was a Surinamese footballer who arrived in the Netherlands along with the father of Ruud Gullit and his mother Neel is Dutch; the two boys grew up playing football together in the city.

Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder.

Regarded as one of the best midfielders in footballing history, Rijkaard was described by British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph as having been "a stylish player of faultless pedigree".

Rijkaard played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan.

Rijkaard was just 17 when Ajax coach Leo Beenhakker gave him his senior squad debut on 23 August 1980.

He made an immediate impact, scoring the third goal in a 4–2 away victory over Go Ahead Eagles, the first league match in the 1980–81 season.

He would play another 23 games for Ajax in his first season, netting four goals.

In 1981–82, he won his first league championship with Ajax and went on to successfully defend the title the following season.

Rijkaard stayed at Ajax for seven-and-a-half seasons.

During this period, he won the Dutch league championship three times (1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85) and the Dutch Cup three times (1982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87).

On the international stage, Rijkaard made his debut for the Netherlands in 1981.

In the 1986–87 season, he won the Cup Winners' Cup with Ajax over Lokomotiv Leipzig, winning 1–0.

In September 1987, what would have been Rijkaard's third season (1987–88) under Dutchman Johan Cruyff as head coach, Rijkaard stormed off the training field and vowed never to play under him again.

He was subsequently signed by Sporting CP, but he signed too late to be eligible to play in any competition.

He was immediately loaned out to Real Zaragoza, but upon completing his first season at Zaragoza was signed by AC Milan.

Rijkaard played for five seasons at Milan.

With AC Milan, he won Serie A titles, as well as the 1988–89 and 1989–90 European Cup (Champions League) titles.

He earned 73 caps for the Netherlands national team.

He was part of the team that won the 1988 Euro and finished third in the 1992 Euro.

He was part of the Dutch side that won UEFA Euro 1988 with a 2–0 win in the final over the Soviet Union, playing at centre-back alongside Ronald Koeman.

He won a total of 73 caps and scored 10 goals.

Playing alongside fellow country-men Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit, Rijkaard won the European Cup twice (in 1989 against Steaua București and 1990, against Benfica) and the domestic Serie A championship twice.

He also played in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

In the 1990 European Cup Final, he scored the only goal to win the cup for Milan.

Rijkaard also played for the Netherlands during the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups and at Euro 1992.

Rijkaard was the cause of an incident with Rudi Völler when West Germany played the Netherlands in the second round of the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Rijkaard was booked for a tackle on Völler and, as Rijkaard took up position for the free kick, he spat in Völler's hair.

Völler complained to the referee and was booked as well.

From the resulting free kick, Völler then handled the ball and then went to the ground (according to his own account) to avoid a collision with Dutch keeper Hans van Breukelen, while others, notably Rijkaard and van Breukelen, saw Voller's handball and his resulting action as a dive in hopes for a penalty.

At Euro 1992, Rijkaard set-up Dennis Bergkamp's only goal of the match in the Netherlands' opening win against Scotland, and scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win over Germany in their final first round match, which allowed them to top their group.

At the semi-final stage against eventual champions Denmark, after setting up Bergkamp's opening goal, Rijkaard scored a late equalizer for the Netherlands in a 2–2 draw, but the Dutch went out on penalties, despite Rijkaard successfully netting his spot-kick.

After five seasons in Italy, Rijkaard returned to Ajax in 1993.

With Louis van Gaal at the helm, Rijkaard and Danny Blind formed the experienced defensive core of the Ajax team that won the first two of three consecutive Dutch championships.

With Ajax, he won five Eredivisie titles and the 1994–1995 Champions League.

Ajax were the unbeaten champions of the Netherlands in the 1994–95 season, and carried that success into Europe.

He made his final appearance for the Netherlands in the 3–2 defeat against eventual winners Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup.

In his final game, Rijkaard won the Champions League with a 1–0 victory over his former club Milan in the 1995 final at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna.

In his managerial career, he is most well known for his five-year tenure at Barcelona where he won the 2004–05 and 2005–06 La Liga titles, as well as the 2005–06 Champions League.

He has also managed the Netherlands national team, Sparta Rotterdam, Galatasaray and the Saudi Arabia national team.

Rijkaard was born in Amsterdam.