Ruud Krol

Rudolf Jozef "Ruud" Krol, born 24 March 1949, is a Dutch former footballer who earned 83 caps for the Netherlands. He spent the bulk of his playing days at his hometown club, Ajax, and later moved into coaching. Widely considered one of the finest defenders ever, Krol operated primarily as a sweeper or left-back, but his two-footed passing, composure, tactical awareness, and ability to launch attacks after regaining possession allowed him to cover any defensive role or even sit in midfield as a defensive midfielder.

Krol began at Ajax under Rinus Michels, playing just one match in his debut season (1968–69). After left-back Theo van Duivenbode left for Feyenoord in summer 1969, Krol became a regular. He missed Ajax’s 1971 European Cup final due to a broken leg but featured in the 1972 and 1973 finals. While teammates like Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens moved on, Krol stayed at Ajax after becoming captain in October 1974, remaining until June 1980. He then spent four months with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the North American Soccer League before joining Napoli in September 1980, where he played four seasons and earned the nicknames Grande Rudy and Il Tulipano Azzurro. He finished his playing career at Cannes in France’s Ligue 2, retiring in 1986.

Krol debuted for the Netherlands in 1969 against England and retired from international duty in 1983. He was a key part of the Total Football side of the 1970s. At the 1974 World Cup, where the Dutch reached the final, he played left-back, setting up Cruyff’s goal against Brazil and scoring a long-range strike against Argentina. He was also in the squad for Euro 1976, where the team finished third.

By the 1978 World Cup, Krol had shifted to sweeper and taken the captaincy after Cruyff’s retirement; the Dutch again lost the final. He captained the side at Euro 1980, where they failed to advance past the first round, and played in qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup and Euro 1984, with his last international match in 1983. His 83 caps made him the Netherlands’ most-capped player until Aron Winter surpassed him at Euro 2000. Krol captained the team 45 times, third most behind Virgil van Dijk and Frank de Boer.

As a manager, Krol started with K.V. Mechelen in July 1989 but was sacked in January 1990. He later became head coach of Egypt, assistant manager of the Netherlands under Frank Rijkaard and Louis van Gaal, and assistant at Ajax under Ronald Koeman, taking over as interim manager after Koeman’s resignation in February 2005. He managed Ajaccio in Ligue 2 from 2006 to 2007. Krol led Zamalek from 1997 to 1999, winning the Afro-Asian Club Championship in 1997, and returned in August 2007 as a stabilizing presence after several managerial changes, winning the Egypt Cup in 2008 before leaving.

He then signed a three-year deal with Orlando Pirates in South Africa, winning the MTN8, Nedbank Cup, and the national league in his final season, though his contract was not renewed. In September 2013, he took charge of Tunisia’s national team for the World Cup playoff against Cameroon while also managing CS Sfaxien. That year, he won the CAF Confederation Cup and Tunisian championship with Sfaxien. He quit as Tunisia’s interim coach after the World Cup playoff loss and resigned from Sfaxien after the second leg of the Confederation Cup final on 30 November 2013. In January 2014, he was appointed head coach of Tunisian side ES Tunis.

Krol married Yvonne van Ingen on 6 July 1972; they have a daughter. On 26 September 1974, he and teammate Arie Haan opened a snack bar on Reguliersbreestraat in Amsterdam. His father, Rudolf Josef “Kuki” Krol (1922–2003), was a member of the Dutch resistance during the Nazi occupation and helped hide George Horn, brother of referee Leo Horn, allowing him to survive the war.

During the 1974 World Cup, Krol scored an own goal against Bulgaria.

As a player, Krol won six Eredivisie titles (1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80) and four KNVB Cups (1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1978–79) with Ajax, plus three European Cups (1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73), two UEFA Super Cups (1972, 1973), and the Intercontinental Cup (1972). With the Netherlands, he was a World Cup runner-up in 1974 and 1978, took third at Euro 1976, and won the Tournoi de Paris in 1978. Individually, he was named to the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 1974 and 1978, and to the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament.