Frank Rijkaard
Rijkaard and Gullit (AC Milan)
Frank Rijkaard & Ruud Gullit
Frank Rijkaard- AC Milan
1995
Ajax-AC Milan 1-0. Patrick Kluivert, Frank Rijkaard and Edgar David.
Frank Rijkaard - Netherlands 1980 - 1987 and 1993 - 1995 (261 matches / 59 goals)
PSVEindhoven v Ajax in 1986; RuudGullit and FrankRijkaard
Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten
Barcelona, Spain
Coach Frank Rijkaard (R) of Barcelona embraces his player Bojan Krkic as he is substituted at the end of the La Liga match between Barcelona and Murcia at the Camp Nou Stadium on January 12, 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona won the match 4-0.
Seville, Spain
Coach Frank Rijkaard of Barcelona gestures to his players during the La Liga match between Sevilla and Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium on February 9, 2008 in Seville, Spain. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Frank Rijkaard and Edwin van der Sar look on during his Testimonial at the Amsterdam Arena on August 3, 2011.
Melbourne, Australia
Saudi coach Frank Rijkaard gestures during the Group D 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier match between Australia and Saudi Arabia at AAMI Park on February 29, 2012.
Rijkaard and Gullit (AC Milan)
Frank Rijkaard & Ruud Gullit
Frank Rijkaard- AC Milan
Ajax-AC Milan 1-0. Patrick Kluivert, Frank Rijkaard and Edgar David.
Frank Rijkaard - Netherlands 1980 - 1987 and 1993 - 1995 (261 matches / 59 goals)
PSVEindhoven v Ajax in 1986; RuudGullit and FrankRijkaard
Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten
Barcelona, Spain
Coach Frank Rijkaard (R) of Barcelona embraces his player Bojan Krkic as he is substituted at the end of the La Liga match between Barcelona and Murcia at the Camp Nou Stadium on January 12, 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona won the match 4-0.
Seville, Spain
Coach Frank Rijkaard of Barcelona gestures to his players during the La Liga match between Sevilla and Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium on February 9, 2008 in Seville, Spain. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Frank Rijkaard and Edwin van der Sar look on during his Testimonial at the Amsterdam Arena on August 3, 2011.
Melbourne, Australia
Saudi coach Frank Rijkaard gestures during the Group D 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier match between Australia and Saudi Arabia at AAMI Park on February 29, 2012.
Herman Rijkaard
rank Rijkaard and Carmen Sandries getting married on 10 October 1985
Arrigo Sacchi
Ethnicity:
Franklin's mother was Dutch and his father was Surinamese.
Rijkaard was born on 30 September 1962 in Amsterdam, Netherlands to Dutch Surinamese immigrant Herman Rijkaard and his Dutch wife. His father was a professional footballer who played for Surinamese club SV Robinhood and Dutch first division club FC Bauw-Wit.
Franklin started playing as a central defender for Ajax in his second season and at the conclusion of the season in 1982, Ajax were crowned champions of the Dutch first division. A year earlier he had also made his international debut for Netherlands. He helped the club win the league title as well as the Dutch Cup the following season as he continued to excel in his role as central defender.
In the season that began in 1985, Rijkaard started playing in the midfield and alternated between right wing and central midfield and at the end of the season he helped Ajax win the Dutch Cup. During his seven and a half year stint at the club he helped the club win three league titles and four Dutch cups along with a Cup Winners Cup. However, due to disagreements with manager Johann Cryuff his time at the club came to an end.
Following his sudden departure from Ajax in 1987, Rijkaard was signed up by Portuguese club Sporting CP but by the time he had signed the deadline had passed and he was rendered ineligible. Instead he was loaned out to Spanish side Real Zaragoza, with whom he played for a season. Subsequently he moved to Italian side AC Milan.
After joining AC Milan in the summer of 1988, he developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the game and his tough tackling style coupled with the eye for a pass helped the club win the European Cup at the end of the season. That year he was also an important member of the Dutch national team that won the European Championships and his role as the central defender alongside Ronald Koeman made the Dutch an extremely hard side to score against.
Franklin was part of the Dutch team at the 1990 World Cup in Italy but in a knockout round match against Germany, he was sent off after spitting at German player Rudi Voller. He represented the Netherlands at the European Championships that took place two years later and the World Cup two years after that but the Dutch team could not win any of the tournaments. He played 73 times for the Netherlands and scored 10 goals.
Franklin formed the midfield backbone of AC Milan which is regarded as one of the greatest football sides ever grouped and during his five year tenure at the club he helped them win two league titles as well as two European Cup crowns. He left the club in 1993 and returned to his old club Ajax. He played for Ajax for two seasons and helped the club win the league as well as European Cup in his second season.
After the end of his playing days, Rijkaard served as an assistant coach to Guus Hiddink for the Dutch national team and in 1998 he was appointed as the manager. Two years later he guided the national team to the semi final of the European Championships but the Dutch were defeated in the semi-final by Italy. He resigned after the tournament and took over as the manager of Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch league. He was sacked after the club got relegated.
In 2003, he was appointed as the manager of Barcelona at a time when the club was going through sporting and administrative crisis. In his first season the club finished at the 2nd spot and over the next two seasons he brought in a new crop of players as Barcelona won the league twice in a row. In his third season at the club, he guided the club to a UEFA Champions League trophy as well. Following the success of the first three seasons, he had very little success with Barcelona as they failed to win the league or the UEFA Champions League. He was sacked on 8th May 2008 following a heavy loss against Real Madrid. The following year he became the manager of Turkish club Galatasaray but he was sacked after 16 months in the job.
Franklin was appointed the manager of the Saudi Arabia national football team on 28th June 2011 but the results were not up to the mark as the team failed to qualify for the World Cup and were knocked out of the Gulf Cup of Nations. He was sacked after 18 months in charge following the team’s exit from the Gulf Cup of Nations. Subsequently, he was made the Advisor of Player Development at Montverde Academy, a prep school in Florida, United States.
Regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in footballing history and as one of the best players of his generation, in 2010 Rijkaard was described by British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph as having been "a stylish player of faultless pedigree".
Rijkaard was included in the ‘FIFA 100’ by Pele, which is a list of the 100 greatest living players in the world.
He was also inducted into the illustrious AC Milan Hall of Fame.
He was awarded the UEFA Manager of the Year award for the 2005-06 season.
Quotations: "You gain many impressions from the past. You still have it in your mind when you become a coach, and if something happens you can recall how it was dealt with. But I strongly believe that you cannot copy anyone. The decisions that a great coach made years ago will not necessarily work today."
Physical Characteristics: Height: 1.90 M
In 1985, Rijkaard married Carmen Sanders but the marriage did not last long. They had a daughter, Lindsay. He got married to Monique Olgers in 1989 but this marriage also failed. The year of their divorce is unknown. The couple had a son, Mitchel. He had an affair with household nanny Stefanie Rucker. The couple has two sons named Santi and Ceejay.
He was a Surinamese footballer who played as a forward for S.V. Robinhood in the SVB Hoofdklasse, F.C. Blauw-Wit in the Dutch Eredivisie, and for IJ.V.V. Stormvogels in the Eerste Divisie.
He is a FIFA certified players' agent who represents various players internationally.
He was twice manager of Milan (1987–1991, 1996–1997), with great success.
