Patrick Kluivert

Patrick Kluivert

Patrick Kluivert (born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a striker for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. He was part of Ajax’s Golden Generation of the 1990s, scoring the winner in the 1995 UEFA Champions League Final at the age of 18. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers chosen by Pelé as part of FIFA’s centenary observances. He is the former director of football for Paris Saint-Germain in France. In 2015, he took over as head coach of the Curaçao national team for the country’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying and the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualifying campaigns

About Patrick Kluivert in brief

Summary Patrick KluivertPatrick Kluivert (born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a striker for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. He was part of Ajax’s Golden Generation of the 1990s, scoring the winner in the 1995 UEFA Champions League Final at the age of 18. He spent six years with Spanish club Barcelona where he formed a successful partnership with Rivaldo. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers chosen by Pelé as part of FIFA’s centenary observances. He is the former director of football for Paris Saint-Germain in France. In 2015, he took over as head coach of the Curaçao national team for the country’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying and the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualifying campaigns. In 2016, it was announced that he would take over the Ajax A1 selection, coaching his son, Justin KluiverT, before taking a position as director ofFootball for PSG. He has also been assistant manager of Cameroon and assistant manager to Louis van Gaal with the Dutch national football team when they finished third at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. His son Justin is also a professional footballer and played for Ajax and FC Barcelona in the Dutch Eredivisie. His father, a professional football player, was born in Suriname and his mother in Curaça. He learned to play football on the street. He joined the Ajax Youth Academy at the aged of seven and played several different positions as a youth, including defender.

He also played for Dutch national teams under-15, under-16 and under-17. He made his debut in the senior team of Ajax on 21 August 1994 at the Age of 18 in a Dutch Supercup win against the old arch rival Feyenoord, in which he scored his first goal. The 1994–95 season also saw him make his mark – along with a host of youngsters from the Ajax youth academy, including Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, and Edwin van der Sar – on the European stage with a triumph in the Champions League. With 40 goals in 79 appearances, he is the third highest top goalscorer for Oranje. He ended his career with 39 goals from 70 matches at Amsterdam club Ajax. In 1996, he joined A.C. Milan on a free transfer after rejecting a new contract with the club. He then played for Inter Milan on loan until the end of the season. In 1999, he signed for Spanish side Barcelona, where he won the Spanish La Liga championship. He went on to play in three European Championships and the 1998 World Cup, and was joint top scorer at Euro 2000 where upon the scoresheet he tallied a total of 5 times. In 2000, he played in the European Champions League final against A. C. Milan in Vienna, Austria. In 2001, he moved to French club PSG, playing in the French Ligue 1 for two seasons.